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How Many Windows?
youthoftoday asks: "As part of a recent piece of coursework (I'm a student) I talked to a number of people about how many windows they typically have open at any one time. I received a startling range of responses, and that got me thinking about what people consider a 'normal' working environment in terms of the number of windows they have open and what they like to get done. I usually have about 25 windows open and about 15 tabs in my browser (over two monitors) as a standard working environment in Mac OS X. I usually keep a set of windows in position for about 5 days between restarts. Others prefer to close windows for applications they're not using right at this minute. And we all know people who are scared to have more than one window open. So, how do Slashdot readers use their OSes?"
Maybe it's a waste to you, but different people have different priorities. Science always takes energy and time from other activities, but it often results in net energy savings in the long run. For a rather ironic example, take a look at http://climateprediction.net/. The project expects you to keep computers running in order to deal with global warming; they estimate that the energy thus wasted is not significant to global warming itself. I can't remember the exact reference, but the mere existence of that project should be indicative of the general thinking involved.
As for me, one tiny reason for keeping a computer turned on is to host my personal website, since my university-provided web space is too limited. This is also a matter of control; you could always pay for someone for hosting, and pray that they do things the way you like. I guess this is the kind of thing that is economically inefficient, as opposed to specialization, but many people prefer such irrational DIY ways of life.
Escher was the first MC and Giger invented the HR department.
I did this; back in February, I attached a power meter (Kill-a-Watt) to my at-home server closet. One server, one router, one hub, and a laser printer used occasionally.
The end result? One month's usage, including occasional laser printer use, added up to less than a 100-watt light bulb left powered for 24/7. Is that insignificant? Depends -- certainly compared to my monthly DSL line cost, it is, and for my purposes the gain is worthwhile.
Having said that, if I could power it reliably with solar without breaking the bank, I would.
Inexperienced users, or those who prefer to focus on one task at a time, generally want to keep one single window open. I know this, since most customers that I've helped troubleshoot tend to close browser windows for their Router configuration page as soon as I want to open a command prompt window.
Some users feel that running too many applications at once can slow down the system - in a way they are correct, but they also know that multitasking is more efficient than closing down the application window.
Naturally, you have a crowd that works on mutliple things at once, and are willing to open as many windows as necessary - they either activly use these windows, or have them waiting in the background when done with the current task. This is what I do normally, but right now, I only have ~2 windows open since I'm using a laptop. I have no problem opening up much more windows on a real computer.
And after reading this thread, you have users that open windows "just in case." Enough said.