As a side note – at least on systems I’ve tested, Consolas looks best at 13pt size (where 12pts looks problematic and anything less is not really readable) and Inconsolata looks best at 12pt (and scales both up and down much better) – so if you prefer your fonts smaller you’d better go with Inconsolata while, at least IMO, at the best font size Consolas is slightly better then Inconsolata.

All tests where done with anti-aliasing and full hinting – I guess FreeType’s anti-aliasing is either not as good as ClearType or simply not that compatible and Consolas was designed for ClearType with no affordance for other anti-aliasing technologies.