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This review first appeared in issue 354 of PC Pro.
Fedora Linux is refreshed every six months, with version 39 shipping in November 2023, 20 years (and one day) since the first iterationās debut. It was originally a spin-off of Red Hat Linux, but the tables have been turned and it now forms the basis of Red Hat Enterprise Linux and CentOS Stream.
Of the five versions on offer, we reviewed the desktop build, which sits alongside server, cloud, containerized and IoT editions. Each release receives support for 13 months, with version 40 scheduled to appear in April 2024, and build 39 reaching end of life in November 2024.
Fedora has a free-to-download media creation tool, much like Microsoftās equivalent for Windows, and the Raspberry Pi imager for the single-board computers. This writes the latest build to a bootable thumb drive. Use this to start up, and youāll encounter one of the best installers weāve come across. Itās simple, straightforward and painless.
System requirements are 4GB of memory and a 40GB SSD, although Fedora Project notes that itās possible to run the OS on less than this.
Our installation featured a slim selection of pre-installed applications, including Firefox 119, Rhythmbox Music Player, Boxes virtual machine environment and the latest edition of LibreOffice ā release 7.6. However, we needed to install our own email client, as well as common creativity tools such as GIMP and Inkscape. You can do this through the integrated software tool, where we found 61 updates waiting to be processed on first launch. This isnāt as drastic as it sounds, as many of them were fonts and codecs.
The Flatpak package manager is enabled and, if you prefer to update manually, Fedora uses the DNF package manager for RPM.
Where some distributions are just now managing the transition from the X11 display server technology to Wayland, Fedora began that process several releases back, and release 39 marks the 14th edition since it completed the transition. Waylandās frequently touted benefits, not just by Fedora but in general, include greater security and better performance.
The default desktop environment is Gnome 45, which isnāt a huge step up from 44. There are some welcome touches, though, such as subtly redesigned window elements, where two-tone colorways and full-height sidebars tidy things up. Thereās also an improved workspace indicator in the top left corner. Click it once and you get an overview of your open windows, some of which might otherwise be hidden, alongside a quick way to switch between desktops. Itās useful, but you can achieve the same result by pressing the Super key.
Thereās also a new Image Viewer, which Fedora notes has also been rewritten for high performance, while Gnome search has also been reworked with a focus on speed. The improvements donāt only apply in the Files app, but across several core Gnome tools, such as Software and Characters.
If you donāt get on with Gnome, there are several alternative builds ā Spins in Fedora parlance ā running the lightweight XFCE desktop, KDE Plasma or Cinnamon, among others. Cinnamon, as used by Linux Mint, is often touted by advocates of Windows-to-Linux switching as a reason to choose that distro.
Thereās also a handful of immutable deployments, which keep OS code and apps separate, as with Nitrix. By making the core of the OS read-only, it canāt be hijacked by malicious actors or corrupted by a bad or incomplete update. The result is a more secure environment, for use in sensitive workplaces such as finance and government.
Fedora scored 1,105 in our Geekbench single-core test and 3,053 in the multicore section. These figures were broadly similar to what we saw in the Red Hat Enterprise Linux-based Rocky Linux, which, while slightly lagging in the single-core tests, was around 1.8% faster on the multicore tests. In neither case should it make any noticeable difference in day-to-day use.
With one of the best thought-out installers and a wide choice of desktop environments, thereās much to like about Fedora, which is why itās our runner-up to Ubuntu. The default installation was minimal, but many will appreciate this, and all the tools you could possibly need are waiting in the software manager.
That Fedora is a primary source for Red Hat Enterprise Linux should fill you with confidence, and the fact itās available with a variety of desktops will make it immediately familiar, whether switching from Windows or a Debian-based rival.
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