Operating systems “green” with envy over Windows 7

As we await for the release of Microsoft’s next operating system, Windows 7 promises to build upon Windows Vista’s power management features.

Windows 7 has been designed with energy efficiency in mind. Microsoft made improvements to both the core operating system and worked with industry partners to help improve the energy efficiency of the whole platform. The power consumption features are listed below:

Here are some of Windows 7 Power Management Features:

• Idle Power Management: Helps to save energy by ensuring that the PC is not performing unnecessary activities when it is idle. For example, if a user walks away from a computer, Windows takes advantage of idle time to scale the hardware down to the lowest available power consumption level. Another feature that helps reduce idle power consumption is Adaptive Brightness, which allows the display to dim after a short period of inactivity and, in turn, reduces the amount of power used.
• Active Power Management: Includes new features to help improve energy efficiency when the PC is in use, as well as extend mobile PC battery life. For instance, with new networking power improvements, Windows automatically places the network adapter into a low-power state when a user disconnects his or her network cable.
• New Diagnostics: New tools will help improve IT administrators’ ability to diagnose and troubleshoot power problems across their enterprises. For example, the diagnostic tools in Windows 7 can help IT professionals determine which applications or devices are negatively impacting energy efficiency and how much normal degradation has occurred to the battery of a mobile PC. These tools will enable more efficient power management of PCs across organizations.
• Improved Remote Management: IT administrators deploy policies that place PCs automatically in “sleep mode” when they are not in use. Windows 7 also improves the IT administrators’ ability to manage such PCs remotely by enabling as default a function that allows the PCs to be “woken up” through a simple network message.

For more details about the energy efficiency features in Windows 7, check out Windows 7 Power Management whitepaper here. You can also visit the Windows 7 Power Management webpage (http://www.microsoft.com/environment/windows7.aspx), the Software Enabled Earth Blog (http://blogs.msdn.com/see/)

Thanks to Isabella Mise from High Road Communications for sharing this info with us.