“For several years, users’ experience in Linux has depended more
on the desktop than the distribution. Fedora 14 and Ubuntu 10.10
(Maverick), conveniently released within a few weeks of each other,
do little to challenge that assertion. Changes are occurring in the
back ends, but, from a users’ perspective, both these recent
releases are hard to review because the interfaces have barely
changed.“However, comparing these recent releases does show some
distinct differences in emphasis that might affect your decision
about which one to use. The difference is not just that Ubuntu is
more commercial, but that it also modifies what it ships far more
than Fedora, and, increasingly, tends to be developed with the
assumptions that users will be content to work in the ways that the
software dictates.“As contemporaries, Fedora 14 and Ubuntu 10.10 provide an apt
comparison. In past releases, the two distributions have been the
most downloaded distributions on Distrowatch — although Ubuntu
usually has 20-40% more downloads — and there is no reason to
think these latest releases will be much different.”