Windows 7: A 'greener' OS?

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>> Sumi Das: Microsoft's new operating system, Windows 7, has been designed to be more energy-efficient. Here to talk about some of the new power management features is Rob Bernard. He's the chief environmental strategist for Microsoft. Rob, thank you for being with us.

>> Rob Bernard: Thank you.

>>

Das: Okay, before we jump into the features of Windows 7, set the scene for us. We know that PCs have a reputation for being energy hogs, but how much energy exactly are we talking about?

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Bernard: So if you look at the IT industry overall -- not just PCs but also servers --

>>

Das: Of course.

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Bernard: -- and things like smart phones, there have been a number of studies that say about two percent of worldwide energy use are actually consumed by the IT industry, which puts it on par with the airline industry.

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Das: Now let's talk about the specifics of Windows 7. What can users expect in terms of power management features with this new OS?

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Bernard: So when we designed Windows 7, we actually made energy efficiency a core tenet of the design principle. So as a result, hopefully users won't actually see or notice anything differently.

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Das: It'll be happening in the background?

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Bernard: It'll be happening in the background, and what'll happen is, they'll actually be consuming a lot less power.

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Das: How much less power?

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Bernard: Well, it depends on their use, but NRDC, for example, did a study that users could save up to about fifty dollars a year in their energy costs, so you can equate that to a fair amount of energy.

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Das: And there are a number of features that the consumers can control themselves on Windows 7. Tell us what those are.

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Bernard: Sure. So for most users we found that they actually don't change the system. But if I wanted to optimize, really go deep and get energy efficiency --

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Das: You can customize it for you, the way you use your computer?

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Bernard: Yes, absolutely, and --

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Das: Okay.

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Bernard: -- since so many people today are using laptops, I think over half of the people that buy machines now are buying laptops, there's actually a whole center for optimizing your battery use and consumption.

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Das: Any other features that the consumers will notice?

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Bernard: Yes, and, you know, when I'm using my laptop, there are a lot of things I'm not actually using. So right now we're not using the DVD drive. I don't have something hooked up with Bluetooth. We're not plugged into a network. All of those things now are turned off by defaults, so that we actually aren't consuming energy for parts of the operating system or the laptop that we're not using.

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Das: We know that PCs are generally more efficient than they were, let's say, five years ago. How do you separate the benefits of Windows 7's features versus just the improvements that have been made to PCs?

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Bernard: Well, the way we actually look at this is it can't be just the operating system or just the chip or just the hardware, the power supply. The approach that we've taken in Windows 7 design is actually design it with all of those partners in mind and do it cooperatively. So as a result, we've seen laptops go from, you know, upwards of seventy or eighty watts to now, this laptop is probably about twenty watts. And so it's the intersection of all of those partners working together that's going to change the way power gets used.

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Das: Great. Rob, thanks for joining us today and walking us through those features.

>>

Bernard: Thank you.

>>

Das: I'm Sumi Das. Thanks for watching.

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==== Transcribed by Automatic Sync Technologies ====