Brandon LeBlanc: Today, we are kicking off a brand new blog - Windows Partner Blog. Here, many of our awesome partners will have a chance to do guest blogs to talk about their products and Windows. We wanted to kick this blog page off with a guest blog from Intel, which I’ve posted below. Please continue to check back here for more guest blogs from partners in the coming days!
Intel and Microsoft have a relationship that spans more than 20 years. Our collaboration today is in full swing across many fronts, but today is a day where we are very excited to see the RTM of Windows 7. Intel began working with Microsoft at the very beginning of the Windows 7 development process. In that process, we saw unique opportunities to optimize Windows 7 for Intel processor technology, to deliver PCs that are more powerful and easier to use. Our technical collaboration focused on multiple areas, including performance and responsiveness; energy efficiency/power management/battery life; and graphics and multi-media.
Just to elaborate on better performance and responsiveness. Working with Intel, Microsoft implemented a new feature called SMT parking, which provided additional support for the Windows 7 scheduler for Intel Hyper-threading Technology, enabling better performance on hyper-threaded, multi-core Intel processors. This will help users get the maximum benefit from multi-tasking. Also, Intel and Microsoft jointly analyzed the boot/shutdown/sleep/resume times on Intel platforms during the development of Windows 7 to identify opportunities to optimize Intel drivers and BIOS as well as Windows 7. Our mutual goal was to provide the most responsive compute experience possible. Another key part of the performance and responsiveness was our collaboration to optimize Intel Solid State Drive technology for Windows 7.
Again, this is just one example of many areas where we have collaborated to provide users with the best Windows 7 experience on Intel processor-based clients. Microsoft is a key collaboration partner to deliver innovations in hardware and software to help provide new technology experiences and take advantage of the many new PC usage models.
Joakim Lialias
Intel Alliance Manager for Microsoft