PC manufacturers the world over are looking to take full advantage of the launch of Microsoft's Windows 7 operating system by introducing a bevy of new computer systems.
Chinese manufacturer Lenovo, however, is going one step further and hopes to differentiate itself from others with the introduction of an exclusive Windows 7 Lenovo Enhanced Experience certification.
The certification, co-developed by Lenovo and Microsoft, is said to be available "on products that consist of powerful features, tools and optimisations designed to improve system performance and enhance the computing experience for customers running Windows 7 on Lenovo PCs".
Sounds a lot like clever marketing, but Lenovo's also throwing in a few performance figures, too. According to the manufacturer, select "Enhanced Experience" Think PCs will boot Windows 7 56 per cent faster compared to Windows XP or Vista. Furthermore, Lenovo claims that its Windows 7 Idea PCs will boot up to 33 per cent faster and shut down up to 50 per cent faster than identical non-optimised systems.
How is it achieving greater performance on identical hardware? According to Lenovo's director of new technology, Howard Locker, it's the result of years of engineering work.
Speaking to ComputerWorld.com, Locker states that his team fixed the drivers of on-board hardware components that were causing system delays, adding that a driver for "a popular wireless device" had been fixed to improve the time taken for a PC to go to sleep by over four seconds. Other tweaks include BIOS adjustments to hide certain devices, ensuring drivers are loaded after boot is complete, and tweaks to Windows 7 that prevent nonessential services from loading until after start up.
Fran O’Sullivan, senior vice president of the Think Product Group at Lenovo adds that "Lenovo’s technical team and developers have worked with Microsoft during the making of Windows 7 to create an exceptionally-engineered hardware and software experience".
How Lenovo's "enhanced experience" lives up to real-world usage remains to be seen, but the company's range of certified products can be viewed at Lenovo.com/Win7EE.
