Microsoft is many things, but one attribute people often miss is that they’re energy efficient. It might sound odd, but it’s true. Microsoft prides itself and searching for their software to run more efficiently, both for a positive user experience and for the environmental benefits that come from it. As stated on their website, Microsoft believes that technology empowers people and organizations to achieve a more sustainable planet. It’s a statement we appreciate, and you should too.
Most recently, Microsoft did testing on their new Internet browser, Edge. Microsoft tested Edge’s energy efficiency against that of Chrome, Mozilla Firefox and Opera. The study produced some interesting results. All of the browsers were tested using Windows 10 software on a Surface Book. The top two contenders were Opera and Edge. With battery-saving power features, Opera held up for nearly 6 hours and 18 minutes. However, Edge surpassed this reaching 7 hours and 22 minutes. The Surface Book using Edge lasted 3 hours longer than Chrome, giving it a 70% increase in battery life.
The results of this study are certainly worth noting, as energy efficiency is an important part of technology in all forms. Microsoft advised it is currently working toward a new updates to increase their energy efficiency in all of their products. They expect power-saving features to be added to the new Windows 10 Anniversary update. These include minimizing the impact of background activity and peripheral content such as advertisements. While these implementations may seem small, they can make a big difference when it comes to total energy efficiency.
Overall, running Edge gives Windows 10 users an estimated 36-53% of battery life when compared to other Internet browsers. Fortunately, this has given reason for competitors to value energy efficiency more than they used to. Last year, Google had promised many improvements to make Chrome use less power and memory. With Microsoft’s Windows updates due this summer, we’ll see how much better the results are once they are applied in the real world and not in a single test.