Windows 7 slashes netbook battery life by a third

[Noreen]

Netbooks running Microsoft's new operating system Windows 7 will see their battery life slashed by a third, says a number of users.

Laptop magazine revealed that during a recent test, a Toshiba netbook lost 2.5 hours of battery life when running Windows 7 instead of XP, or about 30 percent (6:53 for Windows 7, versus 9:24 for XP).

Tom's Hardware also reported a similar finding when it tested an Acer Aspire One netbook running Windows 7 release candidate, only to find it lasted 2.5 hours less than when it ran Windows XP Service Pack 3 (5:54 versus 8:28, when both were at a low-power idle state).

Complaints have also surfaced on netbook user forums such as eeeuser.com for Asus Eee users, AspireOneUser.com for Acer netbook users and MSIWind.net for MSI fans.................

http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/news/index.cfm?newsid=3200372

[Rik]

Oh dear. 

[Simon]

Oops!

[Rik]

We'll all be using Macs in a year or two.

[Simon]

If they brought the price down, I'd be using one now! 

[Rik]

You are not alone. Increasingly, I feel that Windows may be entering its death throes.

[gizmo71]

We did observe snappier performance from Windows 7 on the NB205, particularly in the application open tests and hard drive speed. And the U123 saw an increase in energy efficiency.

So it's doing more for more power usage, and the headline grabbing loss of battery life could be a gain for some - perhaps most - laptops.

Journalistic integrity is dead.

[Rik]

Trust me, Giz, it was never alive.

[Gary]

I could not give a damn    which is an odd saying

[Rik]

You just can't get people to take them these days, Gary, they're an endangered species.

[Gary]

You just can't get people to take them these days, Gary, they're an endangered species.

[Glenn]

I'm not seeing any reduction in battery perfomance with Windows 7 on my Dell D630

[Glenn]

We'll all be using Macs in a year or two.

I have a Dell MiniMac9 running 10.5.8 already

[Rik]

I'm not seeing any reduction in battery perfomance with Windows 7 on my Dell D630

I think you have to install it first, Glenn, not just stick the CD to the lid.

[Rik]

I have a Dell MiniMac9 running 10.5.8 already

There's hope for us all then. 

[zappaDPJ]

When I read the article I was expecting to see a comparison between Windows 7 and Vista, not 7 and XP. It would be more interesting to know if Microsoft has achieved their aim of making 7 less power hungry than Vista.

[Steve]

Probably the comparison is with XP as it's currently the default OS for netbooks

[zappaDPJ]

Good point

[Den]

We'll all be using Macs in a year or two.

Why are you planning on winning the lottery 

[Rik]

It seemed a good idea at the time, Den.

[D-Dan]

Linux rules when it comes to battery life - and it's free

Steve

[Sebby]

If they brought the price down, I'd be using one now! 

Don't look at the upfront cost, look at the overall "cost".

[Simon]

Gertcha!     White! 

[Sebby]

Linux rules when it comes to battery life - and it's free

But in all other ways, it's a pain.

[Glenn]

Back on topic  with w7 installed on my D630, the battery lasted 5hrs today