Microsoft Partners With University On Sustainability Tool

Microsoft is working with Reading University on the development of an energy efficiency tool to measure the environmental benefits of moving to Windows 7, according to reports.

As reported by BusinessGreen.com this week, Microsoft is working with the University on modeling the benefits that companies can realise by migrating to Windows 7. According to the software giant, the latest iteration of its operating system uses 30 percent less energy than Windows XP.

“IT accounts for somewhere between three and five per cent of global carbon emissions and when you consider that there are a billion Windows PCs around the world, we have the ability to deliver substantial carbon savings,” Darren Strange, head of environmental sustainability at the company told BusinessGreen.com. “We are currently working on modeling the savings that Windows 7 can deliver with a team at Reading University.”

Online Efficiency Tool

Microsoft said that it plans to use the results of the study to produce an online tool which will allow companies to calculate energy savings which could be achieved by migrating to the new operating system.

However, while Windows 7 may be more energy efficient than Windows XP, using less power is only one metric which can be applied to the total carbon and energy footprint of a PC. For example, a study from the University of Tokyo revealed that as much as 75 percent of the total carbon footprint of a PC is incurred during its manufacture in terms of material extraction and other factors.

Microsoft made similar energy efficiency claims for Vista when it was launched in 2007. However, the need to upgrade hardware put many users off migrating to the operating system and green groups attacked the software giant for pushing the idea of scrapping perfectly functional PCs in order to adopt its latest OS.

Energy-Hungry Hardware

“Vista requires more expensive and energy-hungry hardware, passing the cost on to consumers and the environment,” a spokesperson for the Green Party said at the time. “This will also further exclude the poor from the latest technology, and impose burdensome costs on small and medium businesses who will be forced to enter another expensive upgrade cycle.”

Analyst Gartner has warned companies that waiting much longer to upgrade form Windows XP could impact their productivity. The analyst has also warned about the costs of migrating to Windows 7 due to the demand for skilled IT professionals.