Katya vs Julia - any advantages?

[castalla]

I have Julia installed - works fine. Are there any performance gains in Katya?

I use the distro mainly for BBC iPlayer - is Julia/Katya the best version for flash streaming?

[AlbertP]

Katya is a bit faster through its 2.6.38 kernel, and it boots faster, but it also needs a little more disk space so if you're having lack of space I'd stay with Julia.

And for flash streaming it doesn't really matter which version you have, though Katya may have better support for your graphics card (if your card is still quite new), which is also needed for video to work fast.

[castalla]

Thanks ... running from a persistent 4gb usb so maybe I'll just stay where I am!

[karashata]

As (somewhat) mentioned already, Katya should have better support for newer hardware since it uses a newer kernel than Julia. Other advantages include newer software all around, and possibly a few slight performance gains as bugs are squashed and features are added/tweaked.

That said, if Julia's working fine for you, I'd recommend sticking with it for now. Katya is still only in RC stage right now and has a few things to iron out before it will be fully ready (check the "Known Issues" section of the release notes for details.)

My own personal experience with it in its current state is that it works, but there are a number of things that need a little polish to really bring the overall user experience to that of Julia. (I made a list here of everything I've run into, though truthfully none of it really breaks the overall usability of the new version, just the experience...)

[craig10x]

There is a serious bug in the kernel that is in Katya and all the newest versions of distros that affects many (but not all) computers (netbook, laptops, even desktops)...so run the live dvd for awhile first if you are considering installing it...If the bug affects your system you may get a jump as high as 30% increase in your power consumption and may find your fan is running all the time to try to keep the computer cooler...

And the fix could be a long time in coming...
It's preventing me from even CONSIDERING installing any distros with it...I'm staying with Mint 10 for now for sure (no problem with that older kernel)...

[AlbertP]

30% is exaggerated and happens only on very few laptops. 20% can happen on some ones, but on my lappy I don't notice much increase. At the moment, my laptop is very silent, it makes less noise than when using Windows Vista.

You should just try how things are on your laptop, before saying that you won't use Mint 11.

[craig10x]

30% is exaggerated and happens only on very few laptops. 20% can happen on some ones, but on my lappy I don't notice much increase. At the moment, my laptop is very silent, it makes less noise than when using Windows Vista.

You should just try how things are on your laptop, before saying that you won't use Mint 11.

Then you are one of the lucky ones whose hardware (laptop) is not being affected by it...On my Toshiba Laptop with amd processor (64 bit) every distro i have run on live cd/dvd with the new kernel causes the problem on my laptop...Mint 11...Zorin 5 (based on ubuntu 11.04)...Kubuntu 11.04..everyone i tried...

In fact, prior to my recent re-install of mint 10 main edition, I was running LMDE on a hard install on this machine and once the new kernel came down in the updates...guess what? the power problem! At least on LMDE i did have the option of booting into the previous kernel (thoughtful option provided by default on debian distros) and guess what? on old kernel...NO POWER PROBLEM...

It's really bad on my laptop..The fan runs all the time to try to keep the laptop cool and sometimes the whole computer shuts down to protect it from overheating...

Still sound like a not so serious problem to you??? By the way Ubuntu and Debian has classified this as a MAJOR BUG in the new kernel and even the one after that...because although not everyone experiences it, MANY DO...enough to declare it a major bug of high importance...
I don't think the amount of power increase is being exaggerated at all...

And that is why i suggest that anyone considering installing Mint 11, should run it on the live demo for a few hours rather then just blindly installing it without first seeing IF it will affect their netbook/laptop/desktop (yes...it can affect any of them with no particular pattern)...

[AlbertP]

30% is exaggerated, 20% is not. That's what I meant.

[craig10x]

30% is exaggerated, 20% is not. That's what I meant.

No problem
But whatever the amount actually is, the problems being experienced by me is typical of those who are having the problem...and as i said, it isn't just a few people it is a lot...if it weren't a lot it wouldn't be a high priority issue with ubuntu and debian...

Your are among the lucky ones that aren't experiencing it so it would be easy for you to think it is a minor problem only being experienced by a handful...

And that just isn't the case...i still recommend anyone installing Mint 11 check it for awhile on live dvd first...to save yourself some POSSIBLE grief...

[donec]

My own personal experience with it in its current state is that it works, but there are a number of things that need a little polish to really bring the overall user experience to that of Julia. (I made a list here of everything I've run into, though truthfully none of it really breaks the overall usability of the new version, just the experience...)

Thanks for posting the link to your list as it was informative and has let me know that I should wait for the stable to be released before looking further.

[Tomtom]

There is a serious bug in the kernel that is in Katya and all the newest versions of distros that affects many (but not all) computers (netbook, laptops, even desktops)...so run the live dvd for awhile first if you are considering installing it...If the bug affects your system you may get a jump as high as 30% increase in your power consumption and may find your fan is running all the time to try to keep the computer cooler...

And the fix could be a long time in coming...
It's preventing me from even CONSIDERING installing any distros with it...I'm staying with Mint 10 for now for sure (no problem with that older kernel)...

Did anyone try the latest stable kernel (2.6.39.) to see if it fixes this bug?

[craig10x]

Tomtom...from the articles i read about the bug, it seems that (2.6.39) kernel has it also
So, they will need to fix it in both kernels...I think something was mentioned about first fixing it in 2.6.39 and then port the fix back to 2.6.38 or something like that...

The "irony" of it is that i was just running the live dvd of Mint 11 again and this new kernel has very good performance in fact things seem to even run a bit faster then on the previous kernel...But as soon as i started running the disc, the "vacuum cleaner" (that's what it sounds like to me when my fan is running all the time and on full speed...lol) came right on..where as a few minutes before when running Mint 10 (which is my installed system) was quiet as a mouse...not even coming on at all!

It's probably going to take a long time to fix too...I read that they first have to actually FIND the patches in the new kernel that are causing the problem...THEN once they do, figured out how to debug it...And as i mentioned, it is on the kernel that follows it as well....

The way things are going, i may just have to stay with Mint 10 until next year

[Andrew33]

Well, my personal vote would be for Isadora.....at least in it, everything works....including the Alps P/S 2 Alps Dual Point Touchpad. As soon as they popped out Julia & Katya, the Alps lost some functionality and no one is making any attempt to try and fix it or figure out why it's malfunctioning.....whether it's in the programming or the kernel.

[MrTolkinghorn]

As (somewhat) mentioned already, Katya should have better support for newer hardware since it uses a newer kernel than Julia. Other advantages include newer software all around, and possibly a few slight performance gains as bugs are squashed and features are added/tweaked.

That said, if Julia's working fine for you, I'd recommend sticking with it for now. Katya is still only in RC stage right now and has a few things to iron out before it will be fully ready (check the "Known Issues" section of the release notes for details.)

My own personal experience with it in its current state is that it works, but there are a number of things that need a little polish to really bring the overall user experience to that of Julia. (I made a list here of everything I've run into, though truthfully none of it really breaks the overall usability of the new version, just the experience...)

This is exactly why I LOVE Julia. I switched to the newest ubuntu, and was extremely unhappy with it, obviously, I shouldn't have gone with the bleeding edge, because 11.04 had just come out, but I was super unhappy. Saw mint, tried it, and absolutely loved its polish. I'm definitely not going to switch to katya until it's 100% stable.

[Thorny]

I installed Katya after checking everything out on the live disc and used it for a week, however I found that the system was not so responsive as Julia this was most apparent using the Mint Software Manager where typing into the search box caused the computer to hang for two or three seconds before the complete text appeared? Anyway I also found that in other areas that the system was just not as responsive as Julia, so last night it was back to Mint 10 for me!

[oysterboy]

I have Julia on my desktop and Isadora on my laptop. Both work perfectly so I see no reason to replace them by Katya. Did try Katya for a day, and encountered many annoying bugs, whereas Julia works flawlessly and has never let me down. I don't blame the Mint team, those problems may be caused by Natty which as far as I could see when trying it has miserable quality.

So speaking strictly for myself, I'll pass on Katya.