Linux is generally as fast or faster than Win95, with some important exceptions.
1) Most X wordprocessors do their kerning using floating-point operations. Linux emulates the FPU in the kernel if you lack one, but it's a BIG speed hit. WinWord uses integer math. So the net result is that WinWord/Win95 display characters and menues, etc., nearly instantly, while Maxwell/Linux take around 3-5 seconds PER CHARACTER.
2) More Win95/DOS games, drivers, and apps are optimized for the X86 processor. Linux apps are usually written in portable C/C++, which is not as fast.
3) DOS apps run faster under Win95 (which is really DOS based) than under DOSEMU under Linux.
However, for most other things, Linux is faster. The multitasking works better, the system doesn't crash, it has better disk access, uses memory more effectively, etc. There just aren't as many SX-friendly apps (or apps in general) for it as for Win95.
BTW, GeoWorks is faster than either, has even less app support, but doesn't need as much because it comes with a functional wordprocessor, flatfile database, spreadsheet, web browser (well, that's almost functional), PIM, etc.
Fringe
(who likes Linux lots, but reluctantly works mostly in Win95)
> How does running Linux on the PC100 compare with running Win95 or
> Win3.1? What's the speed like?
>
> Julie