I currently have ubuntu and windows XP on my netbook (mini-HP 1 gig RAM) and I am currently only using windows. I find inkscape sometimes slow when doing CPU intensive task like displaying filters, converting to PNG, etc.

I was wondering if Inkscape was running faster on Linux. One of my friend said yes. I tried searching for benchmark for Inkscape and I could not find any. Another of my friend said that the software was linux native, so it should run faster.

So I was wondering if some of you had experienced a change of performance between the linux and windows version of the software.

The co-creator of my Inkscape-created webcomic switched from Windows to Linux a while back. He found it to be a significant improvement, but that was mostly down to Linux in general running more happily on his low-spec machine. A memory upgrade had far more impact, in his case, than the change of OS ever did - though he now prefers Ubuntu to XP, so still creates the comics on Linux. With 1G of RAM I doubt that memory is limiting your speed.

For things like filters I would imagine that most of the speed issues are to do with the complexity of the calculations involved - i.e. the processor rather than the OS. In theory Inkscape might run slightly faster on Linux when drawing the UI elements, as GTK (the UI toolkit Inkscape uses) has a long history on Linux, less so on Windows. But I doubt you'll see enough improvement to make it worthwhile switching just for that.


As you say you've already got Ubuntu on your machine, I would suggest just giving it a try. You can install Inkscape via the Add/Remove Programs or Ubuntu Software Centre option at the bottom of the Applications menu - it's literally just a few clicks away. So give it a go, and report back with your findings in case it helps someone else.

You might just have to accept that the processor in your netbook is a bit on the slow side - but even with a quad core 3.2GHz processor I still usually work with filters switched off for speed.

I think I'll make some test. I'll make a list CPU intensive task, use a chronometers and try to see the difference. It won't be very scientific, but it could give an approximation.

I made some tests, it's not very scientific and I could only test 1 type of operation (export) because that is the only thing I could actually time which has a clear beginning and a end. I have used 2 different files I had previously worked on. Each file has various set of filters which needs to be rasterised in the conversion process so it takes time. So here are the results

File 1
Conversion to PDF in 300 DPI rasterised filters
Windows 2:40 min
Linux 2:14 Min

Conversion to PNG in 150 dpi
Windows 1:34 Min
Linux 1:20 Min

File 2
Conversion to PDF in 300 DPI rasterised filters
Windows 2:20 min
Linux 35 secs (the output is buggy)

Conversion to PNG in 300 DPI
Windows 8:50 min
Linux 8:38 min

So this is it. In general, linux seems slightly faster, but it might be different for other type of operation than exportation.