Fedora 43 on a Zephyrus G15 feels like a competent, modern Linux desktop that has quietly misplaced one of the platform’s core selling points: raw responsiveness. On paper, a Ryzen 9 5900HS, RTX 3080 and NVMe SSD should make a fresh install feel instant; in practice, the system is usable but rarely feels fast, which makes the experience hard to recommend enthusiastically to anyone coming from Windows.
Hardware and installation
This install runs on an ASUS Zephyrus G15 with a Ryzen 9 5900HS (16 threads), RTX 3080, 32 GB RAM and a 1 TB NVMe SSD, used for development and 3D work. The ISO download and verification process is still a strong point, with clear, functional documentation and tooling that make it straightforward for long‑time Linux users to confirm image integrity.
Installation, however, exposed a rough edge: the system refused to boot the new install while a mini SD card was inserted, only succeeding after removing it and reinstalling. It is a small, almost old‑school quirk, but on a flagship distribution in 2025, friction like this feels out of place and undermines the story of a polished, mainstream desktop experience.
GNOME’s strengths and compromises
Once installed, Fedora 43 presents the familiar GNOME desktop: visually clean, opinionated, and increasingly “appliance‑like.” Automatic display scaling is a genuine highlight; a 15″ 1440p internal display and a 34″ 1440p ultrawide external monitor come up with sensible, matching scaling without manual tuning, which is exactly the kind of detail that used to require hand‑holding.
Individual GNOME applications remain a strong suit. Files still offers one of the smoothest ways to work with SFTP mounts from the file manager, GNOME Disks continues to be a practical tool for handling ISOs and storage tasks, and the Image Viewer stays refreshingly focused and efficient for browsing and managing photos. These pieces show a desktop that has matured in some thoughtful ways, even as its overall feel drifts away from the lean setups long‑time users remember.
Performance and the “new normal”
The real disappointment is how the system feels in daily use. Opening core applications such as GNOME Terminal, Text Editor, and Files introduces noticeable delays, the same hesitant feeling seen in recent Ubuntu releases on similarly capable hardware. The machine is not thrashing, and resources are plentiful, yet the interface behaves as if it is constantly walking through molasses.
This seems less like a Fedora‑specific bug and more like the new baseline for mainstream Linux desktops: heavy compositing, multiple background services, and layers of indirection that trade immediacy for integration and abstraction. That might be acceptable if it unlocked a clearly superior experience, but here it mostly erodes one of Linux’s historic differentiators. For a Windows user expecting Linux to feel lean and snappy, Fedora 43 in its default GNOME configuration will not deliver a “wow” moment.
Tools, terminals and power‑user friction
The new default terminal fits into this pattern. It does the job, but lacks the raw responsiveness and simplicity of lighter alternatives, and is an early candidate for replacement with something like xfce4‑terminal. Long‑time users who cut their teeth on lighter environments and transparent, instantly appearing terminals are likely to feel that the modern stack adds friction where there used to be none.
Across the system, Fedora 43 feels tuned more for the median GUI user than for someone who prioritizes low latency and control. There is power and flexibility under the surface, but exposing it now requires more deliberate customization instead of coming “for free” with the defaults.
Verdict
On this Zephyrus G15, Fedora 43 is solid but unremarkable: a stable, reasonably cool‑running distribution with a polished GNOME environment and some excellent individual tools, held back by a sluggishness that simply should not exist on such hardware. It is perfectly serviceable as a workstation, yet it no longer embodies the “lightning fast” ethos that once defined desktop Linux. For curious Windows users, that makes Fedora 43 less a revelation and more an ordinary option. Fine if you are already committed to Linux, but not compelling enough in its default form to convert on performance alone.