The difference is in what they're made of: linen + resin, canvas + resin, or glass fiber (fiber glass) + resin.
As you can imagine, canvas will be rougher than linen, therefore giving you better traction, but not as smooth.
However, there's a wide variety of textures available with G10, since it's glass fibers, and can be made into whatever texture you want. I've seen completely smooth G10, and I've had some pretty good grippy G10 scales on some folders.
I can't say anything about ESEE's G10 scales since I don't own any YET (all my ESEE's are micarta (two 5's & a 6) or have no scales - Izulas). But I can say that G10 is pretty strong stuff. They all give pretty good traction with wet hands, and are tough. I think G10 is a bit more resistant to chemicals and moisture, while linen and canvas tend to soak it up.
My preference on a bigger fixed blade knife would be canvas first, then G10 and linen tie. My preference on a folder would be G10, and not micarta.