One of the salient differences between computer electronics devices and computers is that when you press theon-button on the former, they (usually) switch on and work, whereas the computer's on-button generally functions as some kind of Pavlovian signal for you to go and get your morning coffee. This however is set to change (hoorah!) "in the next few years" (booh!), Intel VP Louis Burns told the Intel Developer Forum yesterday. Burns (a name, surely, resonating of an early career in the heatsink testing department) "previewed an instant on/off technology," (it says here), "allowing consumers to press the 'on' button and the PC is ready in a few seconds." In addition: "If the PC loses power, this technology quickly recovers without losing data or rebooting the PC under normal operation."
Magic? Well, history tells us it'll probably have to be, given the level of success exhibited by previous heroic efforts by Wintel in this field. For more years than we care to remember (which is handy for the spnimeisters) Intel has been rolling out a baffling series of overlapping initiatives in the areas of power management and suspend and resume, while its old friends in Redmond have been lobbing in their own versions, often related, always confusing if you already thought you knew what was going on (but had forgotten by the time you got back with the coffee). Names like "instant-on", "always-on", "OnNow" mean anything to you? Nope, nor us, but we think we once knew what we thought they were, and words like "in a few seconds" are very familiar to us indeed.
News source: The Register
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