Microsoft wants to pay more attention to sustainability. Above all, it is important to reduce CO₂ emissions, which is why there is now a new option on the Xbox consoles.
Update February 17, 2023: After a test phase, Microsoft is now focusing on more sustainability for all consoles. As of a February 15 update, your Xbox is now helping you save on CO2 by timing update and content downloads to use as much power as possible from renewable sources.
The latest OS version is number: 10.0.22621.3446 (xb_flt_2302ni.230208-1530). To find out which version is currently on your console, press the Xbox button -> Profile & system -> Settings -> System -> Console info. Your operating system and shell version are in the second column.
If you still have an older version, you should be able to start an update from there (source: Microsoft).
Original article:
Xbox: Microsoft wants to reduce carbon emissions
Microsoft uses a combination of investments in sustainable technologies and changes in processes to protect the environment. The company’s latest venture is CO₂ conscious to be. That means “reducing the carbon footprint by optimizing updates and downloads to run at a time when the console can use the most renewable energy,” according to the company (source: Microsoft).
A notice: The German translation by Microsoft speaks of carbon, but what is meant is CO₂ or carbon dioxide.
Your shut down Xbox Series X|S so will be able to receive automatic updates. In addition, regional carbon footprint data is used to run Xbox game, app and operating system updates when a higher proportion of electricity is coming from low-emission sources on the grid.
This feature is currently being tested among Insider program users. Their consoles were automatically put into shutdown mode. According to Microsoft, this saves energy, but this has no negative impact on the performance or gameplay of the console. If you don’t want that, hibernate/standby mode remains an option you can select.
Who is actually ahead? Xbox Series X|S or PS5? Our readers have a clear opinion:
Xbox: Faster uploads during “active hours”
There is another update of the power settings. Here you can choose the new setting “Active hours”. During this time yours will Console boots faster and can be woken up remotely. When the time is up, the console shuts down completely, saving some more power.
Xbox Series X|S active hours are automatically activated and scheduled based on the times the console was previously used, according to Microsoft. Later there should still be the possibility of the active hours to configure yourselfwhich are set to “always on” by default.