Ubuntu Download Speeds Beat Windows XP's

Ubuntu Download Speeds Beat Windows XP's 515

Posted by timothy on Thursday January 15, 2009 @05:52PM from the aggregated-circumstances dept.

narramissic writes "Doing a download speed test of his Time Warner cable connection, James Gaskin discovered something odd, something that he is quick to note isn't a rigorous benchmarked lab test. The discovery: His Ubuntu machine 'returned a rating from the Bandwidth.com test of 22-25mbps over several tests' while the same test done from a Windows XP PC returned a rating of 12-14mbps. The two computers used in the test are 'almost identical: both off-lease Compaq small form factor D515s, part of the very popular corporate desktop D500 family. Both have Pentium 4 processors running at 2GHz. The Ubuntu machine has 768MB of RAM, while the XP box has only 512MB of RAM. Both run Firefox 3 as their browser.' Gaskin's question: Can a little extra RAM make that much difference in Internet download speeds or does Ubuntu handles networking that much faster than Windows XP?"

Ubuntu Download Speeds Beat Windows XP's

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Linux on the desktop (Score:5, Funny)

by Yvan256 ( 722131 ) writes: on Thursday January 15, 2009 @05:54PM (#26474407) Homepage Journal

If you can prove to people that you can download pr0n faster using Linux, they WILL switch!
I'm kidding! I'm kidding!
(or, am I?)

It's the bot net (Score:5, Funny)

by thetoadwarrior ( 1268702 ) writes: on Thursday January 15, 2009 @05:55PM (#26474421) Homepage

His window machine's contribution to a bot net is probably hogging some bandwidth.

Re:It's the bot net (Score:4, Funny)

by hendrix2k ( 1099161 ) writes: on Thursday January 15, 2009 @05:57PM (#26474481)

I believe WinAntiVirus Pro 2009 can clear that up. And probably increase d/l speeds too!

Re:Even if the answer is no... (Score:5, Funny)

by Fred_A ( 10934 ) writes: <fred@NOspam.fredshome.org> on Thursday January 15, 2009 @05:58PM (#26474503) Homepage

The test was done on machines with differing configurations, so therefore is not valid. But interesting nonetheless.
Yeah, I wasn't even the same *operating system* !
I mean, apple and oranges !

Re:swap the ram and find out (Score:1, Funny)

by Anonymous Coward writes: on Thursday January 15, 2009 @05:59PM (#26474521)

Better yet, swap the hard drives.

Re:Linux on the desktop (Score:5, Funny)

by Anonymous Coward writes: on Thursday January 15, 2009 @06:00PM (#26474533)

all i saw was "download pr0n faster" and i'm compiling a stage1 right now!!!!!

More differences.. (Score:5, Funny)

by mugnyte ( 203225 ) writes: on Thursday January 15, 2009 @06:07PM (#26474703) Journal

One machine has a Hello Kitty sticker on it and faces West. Irrelevant? WE REPORT, YOU DECIDE!
Maybe the tester is too close to a mental energy vortex...

Re:Linux on the desktop (Score:5, Funny)

by wsanders ( 114993 ) writes: on Thursday January 15, 2009 @06:10PM (#26474769) Homepage

Especially if you have had to drop out of college because an evil computer company sold you a Linux PC instead of a Windows one, you are at least not stuck with slow pr0n downloads.

Re:Even if the answer is no... (Score:5, Funny)

by Ethanol-fueled ( 1125189 ) * writes: on Thursday January 15, 2009 @06:11PM (#26474799) Homepage Journal

Already been said, but the article is terrible(WTF is wrong with you, Timothy) because the comparisons were done on two separate configurations. Would it have been that difficult to try fresh-out-the-box installs of each OS on the same box and/or maybe tried fresh-out-the box installs on the other box as well?

TFA might as well have been titled, "My left nut is larger than my right nut but does it produce more sperm than my right nut? Discuss." The sad thing is that people are discussing things other that what a stupid fucking article this is.

Re:Even if the answer is no... (Score:2, Funny)

by Hairy Heron ( 1296923 ) writes: on Thursday January 15, 2009 @06:16PM (#26474877)

Yes, because the only major difference, the 256 megs of more RAM, really is what gave them double internet speeds on the test. Hahahahaha, yeah right. I guess I'm going to have to go stick another gig of RAM in my box so I can get 4x the internet bandwidth of what I have now!

Re:Even if the answer is no... (Score:5, Funny)

by Foofoobar ( 318279 ) writes: on Thursday January 15, 2009 @06:24PM (#26474983)

"My left nut is larger than my right nut but does it produce more sperm than my right nut? Discuss."
That's not your left nut. That's your head. Disgust.

Re:Linux on the desktop (Score:5, Funny)

by peragrin ( 659227 ) writes: on Thursday January 15, 2009 @06:41PM (#26475291)

Actually OSX is superior to Linux in Pron browsing. you only have one mouse button to worry about.

Re:Linux on the desktop (Score:5, Funny)

by WasteOfAmmo ( 526018 ) writes: on Thursday January 15, 2009 @06:46PM (#26475369) Journal

Brings a new meaning to the saying "if you build it, they will come!"
Sorry, someone had to say it. Besides I had to do something while waiting for the compile to be done...oops, gotta go!

Re:swap the ram and find out (Score:3, Funny)

by noidentity ( 188756 ) writes: on Thursday January 15, 2009 @06:49PM (#26475425)

Let's not jump on the guy. He didn't write the /. article. He wrote a single-page blog post about something interesting he spotted. Maybe he's out swapping the RAM right now. Blame the Slashdot submitter and editors.
Come on man, it's proof, PROOF that Windows is half the speed of Linux. Who are you to question this informal result? I say we go to town with it and make everyone switch!!!11

Re:A bogus test (Score:5, Funny)

by rbochan ( 827946 ) writes: on Thursday January 15, 2009 @06:52PM (#26475473) Homepage

...Swap the OS on both machines and see if the results hold...
Sure, then he'll have to buy another XP license just for the test.
Is that you Steve?

Re:Linux on the desktop (Score:5, Funny)

by SanityInAnarchy ( 655584 ) writes: <ninja@slaphack.com> on Thursday January 15, 2009 @06:56PM (#26475557) Journal

Except that to right-click on OS X, you need ctrl+mousebutton, which means you need two hands instead of one.

Re:Even if the answer is no... (Score:5, Funny)

by camperdave ( 969942 ) writes: on Thursday January 15, 2009 @06:56PM (#26475559) Journal

Hmm... They both seem to get to the "Sorry, we can only stream to the United States" screen at about the same speed.

Ubuntu and my penis. (Score:1, Funny)

by TW Atwater ( 1145245 ) writes: on Thursday January 15, 2009 @07:00PM (#26475615)

For every month I use Ubuntu, my penis grows three inches longer, so every couple of months I switch back to Windows and after a few weeks, it's back to normal. I would try OS X, but a friend had it, and he turned gay.

Re:Linux on the desktop (Score:4, Funny)

by Hottie Parms ( 1364385 ) writes: on Thursday January 15, 2009 @07:01PM (#26475635)

two-handed browsing + pr0n != a non-sticky situation

Re:Linux on the desktop (Score:1, Funny)

by Anonymous Coward writes: on Thursday January 15, 2009 @07:07PM (#26475715)

noooooooooo osx is horrible for porn it only has one mouse button which means your right hand needs to be on the keyboard a lot more. it's torture...

Re:Linux on the desktop (Score:5, Funny)

by marcosdumay ( 620877 ) writes: <marcosdumay&gmail,com> on Thursday January 15, 2009 @07:32PM (#26476033) Homepage Journal

Hey, greatest post of the year!
Ok, about compiling [xkcd.com]...

Re:Linux on the desktop (Score:1, Funny)

by Anonymous Coward writes: on Thursday January 15, 2009 @07:46PM (#26476165)

cumpiling on your hard drive?

Too Easy To Just Test For Yourself (Score:3, Funny)

by Nom du Keyboard ( 633989 ) writes: on Thursday January 15, 2009 @07:53PM (#26476255)

Can a little extra RAM make that much difference in Internet download speeds

This is too easy to test by swapping the memory between the two machines to actually pose as a question on Slashdot. How lazy can you be about this?

Re:Linux on the desktop (Score:5, Funny)

by sharkey ( 16670 ) writes: on Thursday January 15, 2009 @08:04PM (#26476389)

Be sure to use "-march=female -O69 CFAGS=no -fundo-bra -fomit-shemale-pointer" for optimal pr0n performance.

Re:Linux on the desktop (Score:2, Funny)

by Hottie Parms ( 1364385 ) writes: on Thursday January 15, 2009 @08:48PM (#26476863)

If it involves porn, it's serious.

Re:No, haven't RTFA, thank you very much (Score:4, Funny)

by totally bogus dude ( 1040246 ) writes: on Thursday January 15, 2009 @09:03PM (#26476979)

How cunning.

Re:Linux on the desktop (Score:4, Funny)

by ravenshrike ( 808508 ) writes: on Thursday January 15, 2009 @09:15PM (#26477075)

Unless you're a leftie but mouse rightie.

Re:TCP/IP is native to UNIX/Linux/BSD (Score:3, Funny)

by Glonoinha ( 587375 ) writes: on Thursday January 15, 2009 @09:18PM (#26477111) Journal

It was originally implemented in Windows 98, and it was the BSOD stack.

Re:Linux on the desktop (Score:4, Funny)

by PixetaledPikachu ( 1007305 ) writes: on Thursday January 15, 2009 @09:31PM (#26477229)

cumpiling on your hard drive?
Most likely on your keyboard

Re:Linux on the desktop (Score:5, Funny)

by kelnos ( 564113 ) writes: <[bjt23] [at] [cornell.edu]> on Thursday January 15, 2009 @09:31PM (#26477231) Homepage

I'd be impressed that the XP system was able to squeeze 14Mbps out of a 10Mbps ethernet port.

Re:Even if the answer is no... (Score:5, Funny)

by Junior J. Junior III ( 192702 ) writes: on Thursday January 15, 2009 @09:45PM (#26477365) Homepage

There are many good reasons to criticise Virgin, but they don't fuck around
Well, to be perfectly honest, that's always been my number one criticism of Virgin.

Re:Linux on the desktop (Score:4, Funny)

by Mr Z ( 6791 ) writes: on Friday January 16, 2009 @01:05AM (#26478643) Homepage Journal

Ah, so that's why they're called Sticky Keys. [microsoft.com]

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Ubuntu Download Speeds Beat Windows XP's 515

Ubuntu Download Speeds Beat Windows XP's More Login

Ubuntu Download Speeds Beat Windows XP's

Linux on the desktop (Score:5, Funny)

It's the bot net (Score:5, Funny)

Re:It's the bot net (Score:4, Funny)

Re:Even if the answer is no... (Score:5, Funny)

Re:swap the ram and find out (Score:1, Funny)

Re:Linux on the desktop (Score:5, Funny)

More differences.. (Score:5, Funny)

Re:Linux on the desktop (Score:5, Funny)

Re:Even if the answer is no... (Score:5, Funny)

Re:Even if the answer is no... (Score:2, Funny)

Re:Even if the answer is no... (Score:5, Funny)

Re:Linux on the desktop (Score:5, Funny)

Re:Linux on the desktop (Score:5, Funny)

Re:swap the ram and find out (Score:3, Funny)

Re:A bogus test (Score:5, Funny)

Re:Linux on the desktop (Score:5, Funny)

Re:Even if the answer is no... (Score:5, Funny)

Ubuntu and my penis. (Score:1, Funny)

Re:Linux on the desktop (Score:4, Funny)

Re:Linux on the desktop (Score:1, Funny)

Re:Linux on the desktop (Score:5, Funny)

Re:Linux on the desktop (Score:1, Funny)

Too Easy To Just Test For Yourself (Score:3, Funny)

Re:Linux on the desktop (Score:5, Funny)

Re:Linux on the desktop (Score:2, Funny)

Re:No, haven't RTFA, thank you very much (Score:4, Funny)

Re:Linux on the desktop (Score:4, Funny)

Re:TCP/IP is native to UNIX/Linux/BSD (Score:3, Funny)

Re:Linux on the desktop (Score:4, Funny)

Re:Linux on the desktop (Score:5, Funny)

Re:Even if the answer is no... (Score:5, Funny)

Re:Linux on the desktop (Score:4, Funny)

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