Re: He who controls the OS...
"Ask yourself how easy would it be to for Microsoft to tweak the OS so that certain programs have better or worse power consumption?"
Considering it's Win-10-nic, probably NOT hard at all.
One of the BIG problems I've seen in Win-10-nic [which hasn't been fixed, as I understand it] is how applications tend to SPIN on 100% CPU usage when waiting for one another. Micro-shaft has split up their system into multiple "apps", where "something" waits on the start menu "app", or the cortana "app", or whatever else, to return back some results. You see it during the startup. I've even measured what effect it has overall. You can see the CPU utilization peg at 100% *UNNECESSARILY* for WAY too long, and don't even get me STARTED on "the METRO" games, which are the WORST offenders.
The problem goes back to how 'yield()' and WaitForSingleObject and other API functions actually work, PLUS the effect that "100% CPU" (no idle time) has on CPU frequency throttling, etc. etc.. It is my observation that 100% CPU keeps you at the HIGHEST CPU frequency, which equals MAX POWER CONSUMPTION. If the "apps" (sic) were SMART enough to *NOT* peg out CPU usage (and *I* know of ways to code this PROPERLY, which I use in my OWN code, but they're all writing ".Not" C-pound 'Universal' piles of CRAP so they do it *WRONG*) then the scheduler would detect "not using 100% CPU" and throttle CPU frequency and save power. "All that BACKGROUND CRAP" in Win-10-nic *NATURALLY* disrupts this possibility, *AND* "CPU spinning" [CR]apps completely NUKE it.
So, Micro-shaft would've had to somehow FAKE the CPU throttler into lowering frequency ANYWAY, or else 'work around' the "100% CPU utilization" problem within Edge. And would they *SHARE* that 'work around' solution? heh, I doubt it.