Linux uses less power than Windows?

[Stewart C. Russell]

The following story turned up on TalkEnergy:
<http://www.talkenergy.com/article.pl?sid=04/11/13/1229220&mode=thread&tid=33>

"Cameron Spitzer writes "I've observed that a PC running Linux uses 
significantly less energy than one running Microsoft Windows. There seem 
to be at least three reasons.

     * A modern desktop PC or lightly loaded server spends most of its 
time waiting for the next interrupt. Interrupts come from timer ticks, 
keystrokes, mouse motion, or data ready on a disk, modem, or network. In 
the Microsoft system, the CPU "idles" at full speed and full power 
during this wait time. When Linux is idle, the CPU halts in a low power 
state.
     * The Linux file system and memory management are more efficient 
than Microsoft's, so the same application program runs with a lot less 
disk activity.
     * Most Microsoft boxes directly connected to the Internet are 
infected with spyware and trojans, and loaded with programs that are 
supposed to defend against those things, which generate more activity 
than the intentional software. Linux is pretty much immune to that stuff.

You don't have to install Linux any more to try it on your PC. There are 
plenty of "Live CD" demonstrators now. "


-- So, could there be even a grain of truth in this? I'm thinking no, or 
at very best, "it depends".

cheers,
  Stewart
--
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