Hands on: Fedora Linux 39 review
Why You Can Trust Techradar
We spend hours testing every product or service we review so you can make sure you buy the best product. Learn more about how we test it.
This comment first appeared in issue 354 PC Pro.
Since its debut, Fedora Linux has been refreshed every six months every six months, with version 39 (one day) in November 2023 (one day). It was originally a spin-off of Red Hat Linux, but the table has turned around and now forms the foundation of Red Hat Enterprise Linux and Centos stream.
In the five versions provided, we looked at the desktop organization building that sat on the server with the server, cloudcontainer and IoT version. Each release will receive 13 months of support, with 40 versions scheduled to appear in April 2024 and 39 were built at the end of life in November 2024.
Fedora has a free download media creation tool, much like MicrosoftEquivalent to Windows and Raspberry pi Imager for single-board computers. This writes the latest version to the bootable thumb drive. Use it to boot and you will encounter one of the best installers we have encountered. It’s simple, straightforward and painless.
The system requirements are 4GB of memory and 40GB SSD, although the Fedora project states that it is possible to operate the OS in less than this.
Our installation features streamlined pre-installed applications including Firefox 119, Rhythmbox music player, box virtual machine environment and the latest version of Libreoffice – Version 7.6. However, we need to install our own email client as well as common creativity tools like GIMP and Inkscape. You can do this through an integrated software tool, where we found 61 updates waiting to be processed on first startup. This is not as intense as it sounds, as many of them are fonts and codecs.
FlatPak package manager is enabled, if you want to manually update Fedora, use RPM to use DNF package manager.
If some distributions are currently managing the transition from X11 display technology to Wayland, Fedora began several versions of the process, and since the transition was completed, the 14th edition has been released. Wayland is often touted for the benefits of not only Fedora, but also, in general, higher security and better performance.
The default desktop environment is Gnome 45, which is not a huge step compared to 44. However, there are some welcome touches, such as the cleverly redesigned window elements, with two-toned color schemes and full-height sidebar tidying. There is also an improved workspace indicator in the upper left corner. Click once and you will get an overview of the open window, otherwise some of them might be hidden, and a quick way to switch between desktops. It’s useful, but you can achieve the same result by pressing the Super key.
There is also a new image viewer, Fedora Notes has also rewritten high performance, and Gnome Search has also been redesigned with the emphasis on speed. These improvements are not only for file applications, but also for several core gnome tools such as software and characters.
If you don’t join the gnome, there are several alternative builds – the spin of the fedora – running lightweight XFCE desktop, KDE plasma or cinnamon, etc. The cinnamon used by Linux Mint is often touted by the advocates of Windows-Linux Switching as a reason to choose this distribution.
There are also some unchanged deployments that separate OS code from application sequence, just like Nitrix. By making the core of the operating system read only, it cannot be hijacked by malicious actors or destroyed by bad or incomplete updates. The result is more Safe environment for sensitive workplaces, e.g. finance and the government.
Fedora scored 1,105 in our Geekbench single-core test and 3,053 in the multi-core section. These numbers are roughly similar to what we see in Rocky Linux based on Red Hat Enterprise Linux, and although slightly behind in single-core testing, it is faster than about 1.8% in multi-core testing. Under no circumstances should any significant difference be made in daily use.
With the best thoughtful installer and choice of a variety of desktop environments, Fedora has a lot to like, which is why it’s second-place in Ubuntu. There are few installations by default, but many people will appreciate this and all the tools you may need are waiting Software Manager.
Fedora is the main source of Red Hat Enterprise Linux and should give you confidence that in fact, it can be instantly familiar with whether it’s converting from Windows or Debian-based competitors.
