Ubuntu 13.04 Linux Can Outperform Apple OS X 10.8.3
Ubuntu Linux with the EXT4 file-system was faster at unpacking the Linux kernel source package over OS X 10.8.3 with its Journaled HFS+ file-system.
All three releases of Ubuntu Linux with their varying versions of the Linux kernel were also all significantly faster than Apple OS X 10.8.3 on the solid-state drive within the Apple MacBook Pro.
Switching over to graphics, the past three releases of Ubuntu are also running better than OS X 10.8.3 for the Intel Ironlake graphics found in this aging MacBook Pro.
Ubuntu Linux with its open-source driver stack had double-digit percentage gains over Apple OS X 10.8.3 with its Intel OpenGL stack for Nexuiz. Ubuntu 13.04 is still using Mesa 9.0.3 rather than Mesa 9.1, which may yield even more Intel DRI driver performance improvements.