Reports: Windows 7 is good for laptop battery life

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Tech news outlets are reporting that Microsoft's new Windows 7 operating system improves the battery life of laptop computers, as the company had claimed in the run-up to Windows 7's release.

Information Week said that Microsoft worked with Intel to lower power use by shutting down devices that are not in use, leave Intel processors in deep power down states, and generally focus the minimal amount of power on anything that computers are not currently being asked to do.

"That gained an additional 1.4 hours of battery life," said Intel's Microsoft liason, Joakim Lialias, according to Information Week. PC World says that their tests were unable to verify such a significant leap in battery life, but did confirm that Windows 7 laptops lasted longer than Vista-equpped devices.

Device drivers are also said to be improved in Windows 7, side-stepping the widespread compatibility issues that plagued Vista. The company has guaranteed that any product that worked with Vista will work with Windows 7. Aside from isolated teething troubles, the new version of Windows appears to be making a good impression on the tech world.