January 1, 2026
Blue screen of surprise
Windows 11 Outperforming Linux on an Intel Arrow Lake H Laptop
Windows 11 Just Beat Linux on a Fancy ThinkPad—and the Internet Lost It
TLDR: Windows 11 beat Ubuntu on Lenovo’s Arrow Lake ThinkPad, defying years of Linux wins. Commenters are split between a simple bug, core scheduling or thermal quirks, and battery-life worries—everyone wants real answers before calling this a trend.
Plot twist: Windows 11 just outran Linux on a high‑end Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen 8 powered by Intel’s new Arrow Lake chip. The reviewer, who almost always sees Linux dominate creative tools and 3D rendering, spent two months rechecking, tried newer Linux kernels, and even looped in Lenovo and Intel—yet Windows kept winning. Phoronix says the hardware looks fine, which only made the comment section explode.
Top reactions? Suspicion and memes. jgtrosh demanded a real explanation instead of “this fits expectations.” josteink floated that Windows might be better at juggling mixed “big” and “little” CPU cores and power settings, while others joked Windows is just ignoring the speed limit and blasting past Linux’s thermal rules. RicoElectrico took the optimistic angle: if the gap is big, “one thing is massively broken,” easy fix. jezze went full detective: “Something smells fishy.” And skibidithink brought back a classic gripe—battery life—asking if Linux has improved and why tests don’t include it.
The vibe? Linux loyalists stunned, Windows fans smug, everyone clutching popcorn. Some fear a new trend; most say it’s a weird one-off until more laptops are tested. Either way, the internet turned this laptop into a courtroom drama: is Windows beefed up, or did Linux skip leg day? Verdict pending.
Key Points
- •Windows 11 outperformed Ubuntu 24.04.3 LTS across many workloads on a Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen 8.
- •The test system used an Intel Core Ultra 7 255H (16 cores: 6 P, 8 E, 2 LPE), 64GB LPDDR5-7467, NVMe storage, and NVIDIA RTX Pro 1000.
- •Linux has historically led in performance, especially in creator workloads like Blender, but this result reversed that pattern.
- •Lenovo’s BIOS/thermal and power teams and Intel liaisons reviewed the findings and indicated the hardware is working as expected.
- •Follow-up tests with the OEM kernel, Linux 6.18 Git, and varied Linux tunables ruled out platform/firmware bugs; Windows remained ahead.