bug/feature is_home not functional

When I select to show some page as a homepage in 2.1, the function is_home do not return true for such page, i have to use is_page (but then it returns true for all pages). I belive it is bug, but maybe it is “a feature” i do not understand. If so, then is there any function, who return “true” if i am on the homepage, which works even if i show a selected page there?