Hippies Unite For Windows 7!

Hippies love Windows 7!  Or at least that’s what Microsoft is hoping will happen with the energy conservation efforts that have been added to Windows 7.

One of the biggest initial criticisms of Windows Vista was regarding laptop power consumption. Machines that previously had been loaded with Windows XP and had a good track record for battery life suddenly with Windows Vista no longer had a good battery life. With something like battery life being so important Vista was instantly despised by most users that needed to work without being plugged in to a power outlet. While the magnitude of the problem was eventually reduced by patches and updates the damage had been done and Vista was forever labeled as a power hog.

With Windows 7 there were bound to be changes made to address the power consumption problems but the question is “Did they do enough?”.  The most obvious change that Windows Vista users will notice is that for maximum power consumption Aero is turned off.  This is especially interesting due to the amount of criticism Aero initially received when it came to power consumption.  Microsoft on many occasions claimed that Aero had very little impact on battery life.

Power consumption is extremely important not just to hippies but to people that are actually responsible.  Whether its the few dollars it adds to your electric bill or the extra few minutes it allows you to work without power it all adds up.  The outcry against Vista didn’t happen until it was released to the general public and was being used by vast numbers of people.  If power consumption is going to be an issue we may not know until that final release is on the retailers shelves and installed to all of those OEM computers.

A blog post by Microsoft might draw some attention to it but one thing is for sure this will be a major issue for Windows 7 whether wasteful or efficient.

Check It Out>  DABCC, MSDN Blogs