So it turns out that the Intel "Viiv" platform's "instant-on" feature isn't quite the real thing. Put a different way, it's extremely easy to do "instant-on" if the machine was never turned off in the first place. Are you still a little confused?

If you look at the Viiv pages here, it lists 'instant On/Off' as a feature, but it does no such thing. The instant on/off feature simply mutes the sound and blanks the video, everything else carries on as usual. Don't believe me? Read this. Note the bolded warning, it says straight out that it does not power down the computer in any way. Several manufacturers have confirmed this to me also.

So what you have is Intel claiming that it shuts down the computer, but it does not, will not, and was never planned to. If you hit that instant off feature, the machine sits there spinning away at full tilt, or nearly so, sucking down electricity 24 hours by seven. It should be ashamed of itself, needlessly wasting resources and covering it up.

Shame, Intel. Shame, shame, shame. I thought the days of tactless gimmicks and cheating were over, but this takes the cake in my opinion. I suggest that Intel's Viiv marketers actually whip out a dictionary and look up the definition of "off". Deep sleep is "off". Hibernation is "off". Blaring fans with muted audio and blanked video is not "off".