Retailer PC World claims that it is working on the world's most energy-efficient and environmentally friendly PC, based partly on recycled components.
While this could be easily achieved using Vista Basic and it's superior to XP power management options, it seems the Green Party is more dazzled by the full capability of Vista Ultimate rendering capabilities citing it to be less 'green' than it's predecessor.
Vista has been roundly criticized by technologists and environmental campaigners alike for the fact that it will require more expensive and powerful hardware to run optimally. A spokesman for the Green Party suggested on Tuesday that the choice of Vista for a a so-called green machine could be a mistake, and called on retailers to offer more PCs without Windows pre-installed.
"It would be a good thing if PC World was to offer operating systems other than Vista. XP or no operating system pre-installed at all would be ideal," the Green Party spokesman told ZDNet UK.
Last month, the Party criticized Vista for requiring "more expensive and energy-hungry hardware, passing the cost on to consumers and the environment." This point has also been made by other experts in recent months.
News source: ZDNet UK
While this could be easily achieved using Vista Basic and it's superior to XP power management options, it seems the Green Party is more dazzled by the full capability of Vista Ultimate rendering capabilities citing it to be less 'green' than it's predecessor.
Vista has been roundly criticized by technologists and environmental campaigners alike for the fact that it will require more expensive and powerful hardware to run optimally. A spokesman for the Green Party suggested on Tuesday that the choice of Vista for a a so-called green machine could be a mistake, and called on retailers to offer more PCs without Windows pre-installed.
"It would be a good thing if PC World was to offer operating systems other than Vista. XP or no operating system pre-installed at all would be ideal," the Green Party spokesman told ZDNet UK.
Last month, the Party criticized Vista for requiring "more expensive and energy-hungry hardware, passing the cost on to consumers and the environment." This point has also been made by other experts in recent months.
















Computers ever expanding power is the reason to why we have working climate models
Computers ever expanding power is the reason why we can research faster and achieve greener technologies
Its not enough to be the good guy... you need to have the logic to understand what you are saying
Think about how long we have had climate models and ideas for green technologies ( many of which have yet to be implemented! ). They haven't changed much lately ( in fact, the focus has been on productivity and making machines faster, not implementing the green technologies ). Further, many new discoveries have been made using older technologies. It doesn't take much to look outside and see the smog covered cities and increase in respiratory problems and glaciers melting. It's simple common sense over greed and the instinctual drive to produce oneself and the drive to produce overabundances of materials that become heaping piles in third-world countries just so we can have a POS robot running around doing vacuuming only for us to have to pick up after it with a good old-fashioned vacuum cleaner (and other BS technologies like that robot and unnecessary power-consuming GUIs that could have been programmed to take less resources).
So selling a 'green PC' with no operating system automatically makes it environmentally friendly?
I think not. At some point an OS will be installed, and who says it won't be the evil non environmently friendly Vista Ultimate.
im sorry...is this not a choice?
i thought your options were to buy such a PC...or alternatively...not buy such a PC.
im sorry...is this not a choice?
i thought your options were to buy such a PC...or alternatively...not buy such a PC.
Tossers.
It's not about what people say, it's about what they do. So far, very few politicans are really willing to do anything (in a whole number of area's) that will benefit people. IMHO, they can keep talking, talking and talking but unless they actually do something about, nothing will get done.
It's not about what people say, it's about what they do. So far, very few politicans are really willing to do anything (in a whole number of area's) that will benefit people. IMHO, they can keep talking, talking and talking but unless they actually do something about, nothing will get done.
For all we know PC World "forcing" a dad to buy an overpowered PC with Vista may spark his child's interest in technology and that child may grow up to develop a 100% Green energy source.
Also there are other concerns in the world than just Green ones. I doubt all the starving people in the world, all the homeless give a rat's arse about Green issues, and I don't blame them.
And for all we know, the Chernobyl disaster might have sparked a child's interest in nuclear science. That same child might one day develop a safe and energy efficient nuclear fusion plant. But does that mean that the Chernobyl disaster was no big deal, simply because in the future a kid might, just might, be inspired to help prevent such disasters? Do we need to destroy the environment in order to make people sensible? Can't we just learn from our mistakes?
Starving people might not care about Green issues, but then again, they don't pollute the environment as much as we do.
I was just thinking that... starving third world folks put out near zero emissions (unless you count natural bodily functions hehe).
Yeah, everyone loves installing their own OS...
And what are the chances it would be Vista anyway?
Ever heard about choice?
I used to run XP on an Athlon XP 4200+, with a GeForce FX 5900 and 1GB RAM. I run Vista on a new Core 2 Duo E6600, a GeForce FX 7900 and 2GB RAM, on 10000RPM Western Digital Raptors and my power usage has *decreased* when performing tasks like word processing, playing music, searching the web etc... Newer hardware may be able to use more power than older hardware, but they don't always, and thanks to some of the nice features of the Core 2 Duo and my motherboard (like dynamic over and under clocking, and turning off the second core if it's not in use), my electricity bill has gone down.
And no, the price of electricity hasn't dropped!
I frequently buy new PCs for clients and its remarkable how old some of the PCs are - frequently running Windows 98 and earlier - and often people would be perfectly (if not more) happy to just get a new computer with that Windows version on. Its something they know and understand.
I think this is what the Green Party are saying that PC World should support, though obviously there are issues with Microsoft's lack of support for old Windows versions too...
This isn't a pitch for Vista; the point is that everything involves trade-offs, and individuals can do only so much by themselves. And there are better ways for the government or politicians to address energy problems than by whining about the state of market demand. Even if that means regulation in the market, like setting deadlines for improving consumption or changing how power is taxed. The reason they sell Vista instead of Windows 95 is because people want it, and you can get other OSs elsewhere, so complaining about the store isn't important.
Microsoft does have this arrogant attitude of "we don't need to make software take less disk space, or less memory, etc because you know everyone has the capability" so they don't even try to find ways to improve the efficiency of their programs. And I think that needs to change. But the focus should be on optimizing what they're doing, not having them strip down improvements so people can feel better about themselves. People should want programs that are more efficient, for other reasons.
The fact that all the Green Party members do is whine that if only every person shut off their water faucet at the right time and turned off the lights when they left the room, that the world would be a much better place---and then warn about doomsday scenarios, limiting countries like the US while China is the world's largest pollutor---is why they aren't effective. Come up with fair and agreable plans on these problems, and there will be consensus to follow through.
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