5 Signs The Computer Industry Is Finally Going Green

With world leaders currently convening high-level negotiations on how best to address the rising threat of global warming, and public apprehension about the phenomenon at an all-time high, it’s encouraging to note several recent developments coming from the high-tech sector.

It’s about time. Our ever-shrinking world is abuzz with activity attempting to address the manmade rise of greenhouse gases. Eco-visionary James Lovelock published a radical idea in Nature to increase ocean uptake of CO2 through giant ocean tubes. New Zealand has kicked off an ambitious plan to get 90% of its energy from renewable sources by 2025. JC Penny, Office Depot and Kohl’s have announced green building plans. In May, General Electric said it had doubled sales from environmentally friendly products, to $12 billion over, in two years.

One need only take a look at any online discussion thread of green issues to see anxiety, and often outright ridicule, about the sizable ecological impact so many of us web surfers are having. Computers are hard to (and rarely) recycled, and when they are it’s typically in developing nations by people without proper training or safety gear. Often they are children. That’s distressing, because today’s computers are made with a sizable amount of lead, cadmium, brominated fire retardants and plastics that can leach toxic breakdown products.

While processor speed has faithfully followed Moore’s Law, energy use has also swelled, as more and more people are able to afford hardware, and mobile devices have proliferated. Of the $250 billion spent globally each year powering computers, about 85% of that energy was simply wasted idling.

Computers and related equipment have been blamed for causing as much global warming as the airline industry, Pat Gelsinger, senior vice president for Intel’s digital enterprise group, recently told the press.

The industry has been gradually finding a green conscience. True, there have been some eco-pioneers, from NEC’s short-lived PowerMate Eco to the debate over whether a black search engine (e.g. Blackle) would cut back on global power drain. Now we have sophisticated power saver and hibernation modes and laptops that sip rather than guzzle from the plug. The widespread adoption of liquid crystal displays (LCDs) represents a substantial savings over less-efficient cathode ray tube (CRT) technology . But some bright new signs recently coming out of Silicon Valley suggest great green things to come.

1. Dell Going Carbon Neutral

Computer giant Dell continues its ascent up the green path. This week Michael (as he is known on company blogs) announced the manufacturer’s latest goal: to become the first major computer company to become carbon neutral. That means reducing emissions across all Dell facilities and operations, buying renewable power and offsetting the remaining balance (including business travel), at least in part through a cooperative tree-planting program.

As if taking a play from Wal-Mart, Dell will also be requiring suppliers to account for and report their emissions. Michael underscored the firm’s commitment to roll out ever more energy-efficient products.

2. Solar-Powered Workstations?

Lenovo’s new ultra-efficient “Blue Sky” A61e PC can actually be powered with a portable solar panel, namely the Solar-PowerPAC II from Advanced Energy Group. The heavy cart-on-wheels costs $1,229, and likely won’t be widely adopted anytime soon (although Dell has expressed a lot of interest in the concept). It sure stimulates the imagination!

Regardless of the solar panel possibility, Chinese manufacturer Lenovo has much to be proud of under the Blue Sky’s hood (which, incidentally, looks oddly like an old Betamax machine). The PC and its packaging is made of as much as 90% reusable/recyclable materials. Lenovo claims organizations that deploy 50 or more A61es should see energy savings of $1,000 a year, resulting in 10 fewer tons of carbon dioxide emissions.

At $399, the unit is certainly affordable. It received gold status from the Green Electronics Council’s Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT).

3. Green Data Centers

A recent EPA report found that data centers in the U.S. have the potential to save up to $4 billion in annual electricity costs through more energy efficient equipment and operations, as well as management best practices.

According to a recent survey of senior IT executives by data center operator Digital Realty Trust, about 55 percent of companies have already established detailed strategies for improving the energy efficiency of their data centers.

4. USB 3.0 Promises Energy Savings

Last week the “SuperSpeed” USB Promotions Group announced some preliminary specs for the future of peripheral connectivity. According to the group, the two main goals of SuperSpeed USB (USB 3.0) are to boost the data transfer rate by 10 times and to dramatically reduce power consumption. The USB 3.0 spec is expected to be finalized sometime in the middle of 2008, with initial devices available in 09 and broad deployment by 2010.

5. Industry Announces Sweeping Conservation Targets

Titans Google, Intel, Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Lenovo, IBM, Microsoft, Yahoo and Sun Microsystems have all joined with the EPA, the World Wildlife Fund and others to develop an ambitious industry-wide goal of slashing the amount of energy computers consume. The Climate Savers Computing Initiative has the goal of reducing computer energy use by 90% by 2010. If there’s follow through, the scheme is expected to save $5.5 billion in energy costs and cut emissions by 54 million tons a year, the equivalent of 11 million cars or 20 coal-fired power plants.

Industry observes have estimated that the energy-efficient technology will likely raise the price of each computer by around $20. However, consumers will save money in lower electricity bills. Some utilities may even offer rebates for new “green” PCs.

Final Thought

The leading edge of the fast-paced tech world has a distinctly green tinge. Not only should that improve reliability and ultimately save everyone money, but it will go a long way to protecting our precious planet. And it should evaporate much of the green guilt of computer users, and silence some of those flame wars on blog discussion threads.

Src: http://www.thedailygreen.com/2007/09/28/5-signs-the-computer-industry-is-finally-going-green/7316/
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Why to Buy a Green Environment Friendly PC ?

As Techsavy become increasingly more environment conscious, PC manufacturers are tending to stay in step with a conscientious approach towards the issue of global warming which encouraged them to come up with a new generation of computers – Green PC.

Aiming at reducing the e-waste in the environment, these eco-machines enjoy a number of advantages that make them superior over conventional PCs. Green PCs or “Eco Friendly Computers” as they are commonly known as, use a fraction of the electricity of a normal PC–energy efficient 45W, contrary to usual 200W.

Green Computers do not contain the hazardous materials like brominated flame retardants, PVCs, and eliminate the dangers of heavy metals as lead, cadmium, and mercury, which are generally used in computer manufacturing. The parts used in eco friendly computers are designed out of recycled steel, aluminum, and plastic. Their screen can also be even made out of wood. This certainly underlines the component of fashion in sustainable living!

One of the biggest factors making computers an environmental menace is its dumping. According to the data showcased by recent surveys, around two million PCs are dumped in UK landfills every year. This causes soil infertility as most chemicals end up in the soil. The situation is worst in Asia, where much of the West’s useless equipment ends up.

As opposed to traditional computer equipment, green computers are easier to upgrade and recycle, thereby making your investment worth the money. Green PCs are no doubt a significant step taken towards the monumental objective of tackling changes in climate.

Using environment-friendly products in an efficient system, green computing solutions attempt to address the factors making a negative impact on environment.

Green computing solutions focus on increasing economic viability of the product, maximizing its energy efficiency, and biodegradability of a futile product. Many IT companies including the prominent names like Wipro have already gone green whereas a few others are in process to come up with their eco-friendly computers.

The introduction of Green PCs is likely to push environmental versions of all consumer products soon. They are more similar to a small piece of a large jigsaw puzzle.
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How to Combine Economic Growth and Green IT

More than a concept or fashionable precept, the ‘Green IT’ phenomenon or preservation of the environment has to be considered as an absolute must by all businesses. In view of the frenzied continuous growth of IT in all type of businesses (including a massive turnover of equipment), the IT sector is turning into a potential time bomb not only in terms of recycling but also in increasing levels of energy consumption.

For instance, approximately 50 million tons of e-waste is produced yearly in the world with a steady growth of 5% in Europe alone. Just think of 239 million PCs sold worldwide in 2006!

But besides these numbers related to manufacturing and recycling, those linked to the consumption of energy speak for themselves. In a recent report, the analyst group IDC has shown that whilst over 10% of the electricity consumption in Europe is directly produced by IT equipment, 80% of companies are still not able to quantify their energy consumption.

It is definitely time that we become aware of the dangers, not only at manufacturing levels but also amongst end user companies. A certain number of software providers, mainly those specialized in IT management solutions have been studying the subject and are now able to offer means to better implement business processes in terms of environment policies, energy consumption savings, leading to better business ROI.

Implementing a set of centralized processes throughout a company infrastructure can lead to a significant contribution towards reducing the costs of replacement of devices and energy consumption. With the right set of tools, a company will be able to identify the state of its IT assets (new, working or failing), to measure the precise sources of energy consumption and to renew the redundant equipment consuming unnecessarily and therefore not only generating cost savings but also transforming its IT business into a Clean Infrastructure.

The WEEE (European Union's Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive) makes equipment manufacturers responsible for disposing of e-waste generated by goods they produce, and the disposal must be ecologically friendly. These regulations became law in February 2003, with member states given until August 2005 for implementation. Including Green IT initiatives into its infrastructure management is therefore a key link to the Protection of the Environment chain, widening the magnitude of the environmental watchdog.

Besides the general trends of control, the simple fact of being able to automatically and centrally switching devices on and off, according to business hours or end users working patterns, is another mean made available by committed software providers.

Representing a real source of savings for companies, implementing such responsible practice reduces their electricity bill by more than 30%. Various studies have shown that the annual consumption of a PC and associated devices averages 800 kWh per end users each year - choosing for the implementation of an ‘automatic on-off’ process would therefore reduce company consumption to 240KWh per users so an average of 24000 KWh per 100 PCs.

It is proven that economical factors lead and accelerate general awareness, allowing quick measurable results. Therefore, it is now a reality that reducing business spending implies a relevant management of assets combined with the implementation of dedicated energy costs saving solutions. On the reduction of equipment depreciation time alone, a saving ranging from 10 to 20% of the buying value could then be achieved, furthermore by complying with these types of practices; companies would improve their competitive positioning by setting themselves as environmental market leaders and vanguards.

In order to be effective and successful, this global approach must be kept within the frame of a strategic plan, lead jointly between the company Board and IT Management.
Green IT is definitely flourishing!

source:cripton
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11 ways to turn your computer green

The fast-moving pace of technology is good news for gadget lovers, but not such good news for the environment. As we acquire more and more electronic products, an explosion in e-waste (electronic scrap) containing toxic chemicals that cannot be disposed of safely is a growing concern. To make environmental matters worse, devices are burning up more energy than they need to through being left on while not in use.

The blame lies with both PC users and manufacturers. Last year saw campaign group Greenpeace take on Apple, slamming its lack of environmental policies and non-existent plan to reduce its eco-impact. Apple CEO Steve Jobs rectified this in May, when he posted environmental targets online.

Other PC makers have been making a lot of noise about their energy efficiency, reducing carbon footprints and cutting non-renewable or toxic components. PC World's carbon-neutral PC has been picking up a lot of press attention, while Intel has been working on energy-efficient Santa Rosa and Centrino processors and rolling them out into various laptops.

Laptops that have flash memory rather than hard disks are another green choice. With no platter to spin, far less energy is required to write data to memory. They're a pricey option at the moment - Sony's Vaio TZ18GN costs $700 (about £350) more than its hard disk version, and has a 32GB capacity rather than 100GB - but we expect to see prices drop as more are launched.


1. Set Sleep Time for your PC

If you don't tap your keyboard for 10 minutes, your PC will often go to sleep. Your PC's screen is probably set to go into power-saving mode after a preset period. Although they're not as power-hungry as old-style CRT displays, you can still save a great deal by having your flat-panel power off in this manner.

To adjust the setting for your PC or laptop, go to Control Panel, Power Options and select a screen power-off schedule to suit. Note that screensavers don't reduce energy consumption. You can also enable PC hibernation but, as with standby mode for other devices, this doesn't completely power down your PC. It's all too easy to assume you're keeping costs and power consumption down, even though the current is still flowing.

You'll see different power scheme options for desktop and laptop PCs. Your laptop can automatically adjust its power options depending on whether you're running it from batteries or mains power.

You'll find a range of energy-use calculators online, such as Energy Star's (eu-energystar.org). The savings you can make depend on how much you use your PC and the size of your screen, but could be £50 a year or more.
energy star


2. Turn it all off

According to a study by Fujitsu, the UK wastes £123m powering PCs left on out of hours. That's not only a lot of wasted energy - it's a lot of money too.

An individual computer left on all the time costs about £37 a year to run. Switch it off at night and weekends and this figure can be reduced to just £10 a year. The energy saved could make almost 35,000 cups of coffee, according to the Carbon Trust.

Some argue that a PC should be left on all the time because turning it on and off causes stress to the computer's components. But if this were the case, the vast majority of PCs would suffer from such damage. They don't.

Another argument against turning off a computer is the energy required to start it up again. To be as green as can be, consider turning off your PC if it's going to be inactive for more than 16 minutes. Beyond this time, the energy needed to run it outweighs the energy required at startup.

If you leave your PC on overnight because you don't like waiting for it to start up first thing each day, set it to turn on automatically a few minutes before you arrive at the office. Restart your PC, hitting the Setup menu key before Windows loads. Tab to the Power Management Options and enable the alarm and select a suitable time for your PC to restart.

You can also schedule your computer to shut down - a good option if you like to leave it on for your backup program to run after you leave the office.

Turn on the printer only when you are ready to print. Printers consume energy even when idle. Similarly, a scanner sucks power in ready mode. Photocopiers are energy guzzlers too. Even when your PC is turned off, a phone charger plugged into your USB port will continue to draw energy.


3. Stop leaking power

It's not enough to just switch off the computer. If you really want to make sure that the machine isn't drawing power from the mains, you need to physically unplug the computer or get out of your seat and switch it off at the wall.

When you shut off your computer and the monitor goes black, your display is actually in standby mode and waiting for the PC to switch back on. Digital cameras, mobile phones and iPod power adaptors that are left plugged in all the time also suck power from the outlet, even after you've disconnected the devices you were charging. When you leave the adaptor plugged in, you're losing an average of 2W.

The simplest way of ensuring that all your computer's peripherals are completely turned off is to connect them to a power strip that you can simply switch off. Several companies have caught on to the publicity surrounding standby energy wastage and offer timer and standby switches.

For home or office use, Micromark's £21 timer plug will soon pay for itself in energy savings, while Bye Bye Standby lets you turn off several devices around the home from a central point.


4. Be an Energy Star

Energy Star stickers used to be seen plastered all over CRT screens that were unusual in having standby modes. Flat-panels use far less energy than CRTs, but buying an LCD monitor isn't the only way to conserve power. Look for the Energy Star logo when buying printers, fax machines, scanners and other products.
Energy Star

To find products which meet strict green standards, look for the Energy Star logo

Energy Star is an initiative that promotes energy-efficient hardware. The scheme saved $12bn (£6bn) on US utility bills in 2005. To get the stamp of approval, products must meet guidelines such as having a low-power sleep mode. At the Energy Star site (energy-star.org) it's easy to find products that meet the guidelines. It lets you search by category, brand and feature.

5. Use a flat-panel display

Next time you're looking to replace your PC monitor you should at least ensure that it's a TFT model. Old-style CRT displays typically use 75W of power, while 25W is more typical of a flat-panel's lighter footprint.

As well as drawing three times as much power so they can illuminate the phosphors that make up the display, CRTs contain a vast amount more lead than flat-panel displays. A typical CRT contains approximately 1.36kg of lead, while some LCDs contain only a few grammes. Philips has gone so far as to eliminate the lead content of some of its screens, such as the 19in 190C8FS.

Thankfully, CRTs are on their way out, while pressure from campaigners mean more and more products will attain certification for the responsible way they have been manufactured and their low impact on the environment.

According to the Energy Saving Trust, a DAB radio uses 10 to 20 times less energy than the same broadcast via a digital TV.

6. Know your RoHS

ROHSThe European Union implemented RoHS (Restriction of Hazardous Substances directive) in July 2006. The directive restricts the use of lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, polybrominated biphenyls and polybrominated diphenyl ether in the manufacture of electronics.

Anything that's available for sale or import within the EU should now comply with RoHS. However, it's not a foolproof piece of legislation. Apple's Steve Jobs claims some companies are using loopholes in the RoHS directive to continue to use toxic chemicals in their products. These companies claim their products meet requirements "because of certain little-known exemptions granted by the EU", he says.


7. Go paper-free

Another way to do your bit for the environment, as well as save time and money, is by going digital. We waste more paper than we do anything else. The average office employee uses up to 50 sheets of A4 every day, according to Envirowise. Much of this paper is thrown away - the group estimates that UK businesses throw away five million tonnes of printing and writing paper each year.

If you can't stop printing altogether, set your device to print double-sided by default or create your own writing pad from discarded printouts. Learn to resist the urge to print out emails and other documents for filing. Instead, read them onscreen and store them on your hard drive. If you need a record, create a PDF file. If you don't already have a PDF creation package, try Backup4all novaPDF Lite 5.1, which can create PDFs of documents from within any Windows application.

Next time you find a web page you'd like to read later, don't print it. Select File, Print, click the PDF pop-up menu in the dialog box and choose Save To PDF. You do need backups of important files, but back them up to your hard drive.

8. Is your journey really necessary?

There are all sorts of ways of offsetting your carbon footprint. The most effective is not to travel unless it's really necessary. Travelling not only requires you to spend money on plane tickets and a hotel, but also includes a hidden cost. We checked out how heavy a burden a couple of intercontinental business trips plus a package holiday break within Europe could be. Our 10,000lb total (according to terrapass.com) is alarmingly high.

Broadband connections, webcams, video-conferencing and webcasting tools, along with email, ought to make many business trips unnecessary. If you have to fly but are concerned about the CO2 you'll create, consider donating to an organisation such as Native Energy or TerraPass. These companies calculate your impact and suggest a monetary donation to go towards projects such as building renewable energy sources.

9. Don't dump your Computers

Dispose of your old hardware responsibly. Consumer electronics and computers contain toxic materials, such as lead, that can seep into the ground if dumped improperly. British Computer Society president Nigel Shadbolt explains: "PCs contain many toxic components, so if they end up in a landfill we are creating a real problem for the future.”

This is bad news, according to energy minister Malcolm Wicks. "Electrical and electronic equipment is the fastest-growing category of waste across the EU, with an estimated 17-20kg per person produced every year. The UK alone generated about one million tonnes of waste equipment last year," he says.

An older PC may no longer meet your requirements, but there are plenty of people who'd love to use it. Many charities will take an old PC and peripherals off your hands, or you can get in touch with Computer Aid, which refurbishes machines for use by schools and in the developing world. You could even sell it on eBay or give it away through Freecycle.

Failing that, recycle it. According to the WEEE directive, electrical and electronic waste has to be dealt with separately from other rubbish so that hazardous elements can be stripped out.

Electronics manufacturers and vendors cover the cost of this; your task is to get them to collect it, return it to them or take it to your council's recycling centre. If you can't transport it, arrange for the council to pick it up.

Many electrical retailers run take-back schemes - check your PC vendor for details about how it is dealing with WEEE compliance. Note that you shouldn't have to pay to return end-of-life goods. But, you can't be too careful where stored personal details are concerned.

10. The sunny side

If you're seeking clean power for energy-hungry gadgets, consider looking to the sun. Solar power is renewable and free - although sunshine can be limited here in the UK. Be aware that you need direct sunlight to get a good charge with these products. Cloudy skies and reflections on windows can cause problems.

Voltaic's £189 Solar Back Pack consists of three solar panels embedded in the outside of the bag that generate up to 4W of power. The bags have 11 adaptors for mobile phones and other devices, but are not designed to charge laptops.

If a solar-powered bag isn't for you, choose a less expensive charger that fits in your hand. The £45 Solio charger from Better Energy Systems gives about one hour of playtime or 10 minutes' talk time from one hour of sunshine, according to the maker. Whether you'll find a whole hour's worth of sunshine within the British Isles is another matter.

Other solar chargers include the Freeloader (£99 from Firebox). If you've got your PC or laptop switched on and have a couple of ports free, you could do worse than power up a pair of USBCell batteries for future use.

Laptop PCs require a little more power: unlimited-power.co.uk stocks Uni-solar Portable Solar Electric Panels that can be used for this purpose. The marketing material states that they can provide power even with bullet holes or in partial shade, which suggests that these are really designed with the army in mind, but they are worth investigating. Prices start at £451.

Wind-up chargers are also available, although their efficiency is somewhat limited. For example, the Multi Mobile Charger (£6 from iwoot.com) gives you eight minutes' talk time on your mobile if you wind it up for three minutes.

But why stop at your gadgets? If you install a renewable energy source - such as solar panels, wind turbines or biomass heaters - in your home, you may be eligible for a grant.

11. Give it away

For all our talk about the digital, paperless office, we've yet to hear of anyone achieving it. As well as saving on ink costs by printing at small point sizes and in draft or economy mode, you can minimise waste by recycling cartridges via organisations such as laserxchange.co.uk. If your office doesn't have a dedicated charity it supports, Oxfam, Childline and ActionAid and a number of smaller charities can benefit from your thoughtfulness.

Similarly, hand back your old and unloved mobile phone handsets. T-Mobile is offering £80 cashback, while Carphone Warehouse tempts you with a more modest £20. If you want to avoid the smooth sales talk, the charities we've outlined can also earn revenue from your philanthropy.
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Multicore Processors are Faster and more Energy-Efficient

Go for Multicore Processors

Designers of processors, unlike PSU engineers, have been working to reduce power draw for years now. The Intel Core 2 Duo desktop processor, for example, is up to 40 percent faster and more than 40 percent more energy-efficient than its single-core predecessor. It optimizes power consumption by selectively powering up processor components only when necessary.

Intel claims that its Centrino Duo laptop technology is twice as fast as previous platforms, yet consumes 28 percent less power. Also very efficient are Intel's Pentium M and Celeron M processors and AMD's Turion 64 and dual-core Turion 64 X2.

Video cards remain energy hogs, however. High-end cards easily exceed 100 watts at full load, and popular dual-card setups for gaming double that wattage. Choosing a graphics card that fits your needs is key. If you don't play advanced 3D games, go with integrated graphics for the lowest power consumption.

You'll also want to evaluate a prospective PC's overall energy consumption by finding out how much electricity it draws when idle and at full power. Look for a desktop that uses 4 watts or less when in sleep mode, and 50 watts or less when idle. For laptops, the ideal is 2 watts or less in sleep mode, and 14 to 22 watts (or even less) in idle mode, depending on the graphics configuration.
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Tech Support Firm Expects bump in business from Win 7

With Windows 7 in the wings, on-demand tech support firm iYogi is expanding its staff to accommodate an anticipated run on its services, especially from those moving off XP.

The New York-based firm, which offers remote technical support to consumers and small businesses, has increased its staff by more than 200 people. The company, which has 90,000 users around the globe, says it is anticipating that XP users will have the most trouble and the most questions.

Leveraging the power of BIRT: View nowUsers moving from XP to Windows 7 who don’t plan on upgrading their PC will have to do a clean install, while users migrating from Vista can simply install the new OS over the old one.

The company said an internal survey with 1,000 XP and Vista users showed that 52% believe they will have issues moving to a new operating system, while 47% said they think a move to Windows 7 will require a call to technical support.

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Those estimations grow out of the fact that XP users who upgrade their machines to Windows 7 instead of buying a new PC will have to re-install applications, device drivers and other software they may have downloaded. In addition, those users will have to recreate custom configurations.

Some of the burden will be removed with Windows 7 Easy Transfer, which lets users retain user accounts, program settings, documents, music, pictures, email, and favorites settings. But even with that technology, XP users won’t get a simple click-to-install button.

Officials at iYogi are anticipating twice as many calls from XP users as Vista users.

“The application migration is what is going to take time and is a bigger challenge than the data migration,” says Vishal Dhar, co-founder and president of iYogi. “What we are doing from our side is looking at technology, how we can enable that through technology, we are testing now how we can make that whole thing streamlined.”

Dhar predicts that the explosion in migration needs will be spread over the next 18 months after Windows 7 hits the market on Oct. 22.

iYogi offers users a $140 yearly subscription for unlimited tech support calls. The service is offered as an alternative to Microsoft support.

The company has 1,000 technical support people, up from 32 just more than two years ago.

source:-http://www.networkworld.com/news/2009/091709-tech-support-firm-sees-boon-in-win7.html?hpg1=bn
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Microsoft Windows Users and iYogi Predict a Surge in Tech Support for Windows 7 Upgrades

Survey Shows That Nearly Half of Consumers Think Upgrading to a New Operating System Will Require Technical Assistance

New York, NY- September 16, 2009 – iYogi, the on-demand tech services company with a unique global delivery model, announced today the results of a consumer poll regarding support concerns and predictions for the upcoming launch of the new Microsoft Windows 7 operating system. Based on responses from more than 1,000 Windows XP and Windows Vista users, 52 percent think that moving to a new operating system and moving their data is a hassle, suggesting some real frustrations on the near horizon. Nearly half (47 percent) think upgrading to Microsoft Windows 7 may require a call to technical support - potentially causing a huge backlog of support needs, as up to 40 million copies of Windows 7 are expected to be sold in 2009, according to IDC.

"We predict that more than 40 percent of XP users will generate support calls and inquiries globally this year and even more in 2010 as mass adoption kicks in and people face the prospect of dealing with an entirely new interface," said Vishal Dhar, President Marketing & Co-founder of iYogi. "We estimate twice as many support calls for current Windows XP users than Windows Vista users, since Microsoft Windows XP users will require a 'clean' install including migrating applications, settings and drivers--a potentially arduous, time-intensive task."
Additional survey findings reveal:

58 percent of users think they will or may upgrade to Windows 7, an encouraging number considering some of the backlash surrounding Vista

Only 39 percent of users are aware that Windows 7 is launching soon, suggesting an increased flurry of help questions in the coming months as more people become aware of the upgrade options.

iYogi has more has more than 90,000 annual subscribers and provides thousands of single incident sessions every day on a 24/7 basis. Its Global Delivery Platform delivers on the highest customer satisfaction benchmarks in the industry and gets smarter with every customer interaction, building a powerful knowledge base that provides unique customer insights on predictive needs to tech support.

ABOUT IYOGI

iYogi is a global on-demand services company that provides personalized computer support for consumers and small businesses in United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia. iYogi's unique model, including proprietary technology iMantra and highly qualified technicians, is designed to eliminate computer-related stress and keep millions of digitally dependent consumers and small businesses always protected and productive. Only iYogi -- with its proven global expertise delivery model, intelligent customer insight systems, easy-to-use self-help tools and automated PC optimization and computer support services - offers users a simple yet comprehensive path to digital serenity. iYogi has perfected the remote technical support model to overcome the current limitations of in-store, on-site, or call center services to become the fastest growing provider of support in the industry. Major resellers and technology companies are increasingly turning to iYogi to improve customer satisfaction, reduce return rates, and deliver a compelling new-value added offering to customers.

For more information on iYogi and a detailed list of technologies supported, visit: www.iyogi.net.

Media Contact

Derek Kober
GlobalFluency
Tel. 650-433-4233
Email: dkober@globalfluency.com

Contact:

Vishal Dhar
President, Marketing
Tel. : +1-212-229-0901
Email : vishal@iyogi.net
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