Windows 7, a better power saver?

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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 from Microsoft. Rob, thank you for being with us.

>> Rob Bernard: Thank you.

>> Sumi 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?

>> Rob Bernard: So if you look at the IT industry overall, not just PCs, but also servers and things like --

>> Sumi Das: Of course.

>> Rob Bernard: -- Smart phones, there have been a number of studies that say about two percent of worldwide energies are actually consumed by the IT industry, which puts it on par with the airline industry.

>> Sumi 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?

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

>> Sumi Das: It'll be happening in the background?

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

>> Sumi Das: How much less power?

>> Rob Bernard: Well, but it depends on their use, but NRDC, for example, did a study that estimated that users can save up to about $50.00 a year in their energy costs. So you can equate that to a fair amount of energy.

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

>> Rob 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 --

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

>> Rob Bernard: Yes, absolutely.

>> Sumi Das: Okay.

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

>> Sumi Das: Any other features that the consumers will notice?

>> Rob 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 default so that we actually aren't consuming energy for parts of the operating system or the laptop that we're not using.

>> Sumi 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?

>> Rob Bernard: Well, the way we actually look at this is that it can't be just the operating system are just the chip or just the hardware or 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 70 or 80 watts, to now, this laptop is probably about twenty watts. And so it's the intersection of all those partners working together that's going to change the way power gets used.

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

>> Rob Bernard: Thank you.

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

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