Windows 7 uses less power than Windows XP – save cash and save the planet

A white paper released by Mindteck, an IT services and consultancy company, contains data about Windows PC power consumption during idle, low-use and high-use scenarios.

The paper, titled Enabling Green Computing with Windows 7, is primarily  concerned with the benefits of implementing power management policy on Windows 7 computers. However, of probably more interest to our clients, they also investigated the difference between Windows 7 and Windows XP.

Power consumption (Watts)
OSWindows XPWindows 7Percent improvement
PC ConfigurationIdleLowHighIdleLowHighIdleLowHigh
Older Desktop (P4)64.268.7106.257.366.179.410.75%3.78%25.24%
High-end Desktop (Core i7)50.554.378.045.249.166.810.50%9.54%14.36%

Windows 7 performs better even with older hardware (Dell Pentium 4 Desktop). These results are for the standard out-of-the-box drivers, but Windows 7 still performs better in every scenario with manually updated drivers for the specific chipset.

Android OS – Good for Business?

Having upgraded from a Nokia N95 to a HTC Desire with Android OS a few months ago, I am now able to give my opinion on the phone and the OS for business users.

What I needed from a business phone:

  • Call and Text – Pretty standard these, you wouldn’t buy a phone that couldn’t do this!
  • Email on the Go.
  • Remote Access to PC/Servers.
  • Twitter.

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