Chris Pepin

A helpful whitepaper from Microsoft on the new power management features in Windows 7.    While many of these features and capabilities are an evolution from the features in Windows Vista, many enterprise customers, including IBM, passed on Windows Vista.   With the end of Windows XP extended support as well as downgrade rights on the horizon, many enterprise customers are upgrading to Windows 7 and energy efficiency and green computing is a key consideration.  From a practical end-user perspective, extending the useful battery life of a laptop and being more productive for a longer period of time is a tangible result of this technology.  

Today, organizations focus on power management as a way to reduce costs and decrease their carbon emissions. One way to reduce the cost of running client computers is to reduce the power that is consumed. Regulatory compliance and a focus on green information technology (IT) provide additional motivation to better manage power consumption. Also, IT pros need to quickly identify and resolve energy inefficiencies on individual computers—especially portable computers—to enable higher levels of productivity for their users.

Multiple factors contribute to energy efficiency and portable computer battery life. A single component—whether a device, a device driver, the operating system, or an application—can significantly affect battery life. Optimizing for energy efficiency and battery life requires continuous investments by the entire ecosystem to ensure that platforms are optimally designed and configured. Microsoft is committed to making this ongoing investment to help extend battery life for portable computers and improve energy efficiency for all PCs and servers.

The Windows® 7 operating system provides several opportunities to decrease power consumption across the enterprise. The power management technologies in Windows 7 provide platform and processor efficiencies that reduce power consumption and can help lower energy costs. Windows 7 can also extend battery life for specific scenarios. Additionally, it provides diagnostic tools that enable OEM, IHVs, ISVs and IT pros to better manage and troubleshoot power management issues on computers and to extend the battery life for portable computers.

This white paper describes power management enhancements in Windows 7, including improvements that reduce power consumption, enhance user experiences, and enable greater enterprise power management.

Source: Microsoft