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http://news.com.com/Vista+draining+...e/2100-1044-6181366.html?part=dht&tag=nl.e703
Vista draining laptop batteries, patience
Microsoft's attempt to improve power management in Windows Vista hasn't made
up for the pretty but power-hungry Aero interface, causing battery life to
suffer.
By Tom Krazit
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
Published: May 4, 2007, 4:00 AM PDT
Some of Microsoft's most important customers aren't happy with the battery
life offered by notebooks running Windows Vista.
"It's a little scary," said John Wozniak, a distinguished technologist in
Hewlett-Packard's notebook engineering department, referring to the work HP
needed to do on making Windows Vista more suitable for notebooks.
Vista, while touted as having improved power management capabilities that
would make it easier for users to extend battery life, isn't to some living
up to that promise. The main culprit appears to be the Aero Glass interface,
a spiffy new user interface that makes Vista more pleasing to the eye with
transparent windows and animated transitions when moving from one
application to another.
When Aero is turned off, battery life is equal to or better than Windows XP
systems. But with it turned on, battery life suffers compared with Windows
XP.
Microsoft made some important changes in Vista that do improve some aspects
of battery life, such as smarter hibernation modes that override
applications that want to keep running, and simpler options for choosing a
power management setting. But laptop users who spent extra money on powerful
laptops to handle the graphics requirements of Vista and the Aero interface
are forced to run the aesthetic equivalent of Vista Basic, the low-cost
version of Vista, if they care about battery life.
HP decided it wasn't going to use the power management settings that shipped
with Vista, Wozniak said. The company came up with its own set of power
management settings for Vista laptops, allowing users to select different
power settings, such as "power saver" or "high performance," that strike a
balance between processing power and battery life. Lenovo is likewise using
its own power management technologies honed over several years, said Howard
Locker, director of new technology at Lenovo.
"They've really made it complex from a power management standpoint," Wozniak
said. "The potential is there to do some good things, the bad thing is that
it comes with the canned settings...and we didn't like any of them."
Reports that Vista was an energy hog started to surface during beta testing
last year. At the time, Microsoft said many of the problems would be cleared
up by the time the operating system launched. Of course, this isn't a new
issue when it comes to operating system changeovers, said Richard Shim, an
analyst with IDC. "When you look at a new operating system, battery life
tends to be worse. When Windows XP came out, that was true, and when Windows
98 came out, that was true."
The difference this time around is that notebooks are "the growth engine for
industry," Shim said. Notebook PCs now account for more than half of all
retail PC sales and are projected to become the majority for the whole
market by the end of the decade.
But battery life problems continue to rankle notebook users. As blogger Rob
Bushway of Tablet PC site Gottabemobile.com put it, "when a consumer has to
buy an extended battery to get what they use(d) to get out of a standard
battery, something is really wrong."
More than one company other than HP has acknowledged the demand that Vista
and the Aero interface put on a notebook PC running off its battery.
"Vista is consuming more power than Windows XP, but we have been very
focused on introducing more power-efficient technologies," said Bahr Mahony,
director of product marketing for Advanced Micro Devices' mobile product
division.
Most attribute that power use to Aero. "In (Aero) mode, you will drain the
battery faster, but you get something in return because it's cool and nice
looking," Lenovo's Locker said.
The Aero interface is automatically disabled when users put their Vista
notebooks into the "power-saving" profile, one of three new simplified
power-management states. While that makes for an arguably duller experience,
Microsoft said it commissioned a study (click here for PDF) that found no
difference in "responsiveness," or application load time, between a notebook
with Aero disabled versus one running the fancy graphics: implying that Aero
doesn't put too much of a load on the system.
But the notebook and Tablet PC used in Principled Technologies' test had the
power management setting on "high-performance" when testing Aero's
performance. At that setting, the notebook won't ever compromise performance
to preserve battery life, so responsiveness isn't an issue.
Microsoft isn't deterred by HP's decisions and other criticism. "We actively
encourage (PC companies) to customize the default power profiles so that
users get the most out of their hardware," Microsoft said in a statement.
A more definitive statement on Windows Vista and battery life should surface
soon, with Intel scheduled to release new chips for notebooks next week at
the launch event for the next generation of its Centrino technology. Also,
Bapco, an industry benchmarking organization, is expected to soon release
the MobileMark 2007 benchmark.
Microsoft, for its part, will likely have to improve Vista's battery life
performance over time through the release of service packs and other tweaks,
Shim said. "The (PC companies) are getting pressure from consumers--who are
the notebook adopters--who are saying their number one priority on a
notebook is battery life."
http://news.com.com/Vista+draining+...e/2100-1044-6181366.html?part=dht&tag=nl.e703
Vista draining laptop batteries, patience
Microsoft's attempt to improve power management in Windows Vista hasn't made
up for the pretty but power-hungry Aero interface, causing battery life to
suffer.
By Tom Krazit
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
Published: May 4, 2007, 4:00 AM PDT
Some of Microsoft's most important customers aren't happy with the battery
life offered by notebooks running Windows Vista.
"It's a little scary," said John Wozniak, a distinguished technologist in
Hewlett-Packard's notebook engineering department, referring to the work HP
needed to do on making Windows Vista more suitable for notebooks.
Vista, while touted as having improved power management capabilities that
would make it easier for users to extend battery life, isn't to some living
up to that promise. The main culprit appears to be the Aero Glass interface,
a spiffy new user interface that makes Vista more pleasing to the eye with
transparent windows and animated transitions when moving from one
application to another.
When Aero is turned off, battery life is equal to or better than Windows XP
systems. But with it turned on, battery life suffers compared with Windows
XP.
Microsoft made some important changes in Vista that do improve some aspects
of battery life, such as smarter hibernation modes that override
applications that want to keep running, and simpler options for choosing a
power management setting. But laptop users who spent extra money on powerful
laptops to handle the graphics requirements of Vista and the Aero interface
are forced to run the aesthetic equivalent of Vista Basic, the low-cost
version of Vista, if they care about battery life.
HP decided it wasn't going to use the power management settings that shipped
with Vista, Wozniak said. The company came up with its own set of power
management settings for Vista laptops, allowing users to select different
power settings, such as "power saver" or "high performance," that strike a
balance between processing power and battery life. Lenovo is likewise using
its own power management technologies honed over several years, said Howard
Locker, director of new technology at Lenovo.
"They've really made it complex from a power management standpoint," Wozniak
said. "The potential is there to do some good things, the bad thing is that
it comes with the canned settings...and we didn't like any of them."
Reports that Vista was an energy hog started to surface during beta testing
last year. At the time, Microsoft said many of the problems would be cleared
up by the time the operating system launched. Of course, this isn't a new
issue when it comes to operating system changeovers, said Richard Shim, an
analyst with IDC. "When you look at a new operating system, battery life
tends to be worse. When Windows XP came out, that was true, and when Windows
98 came out, that was true."
The difference this time around is that notebooks are "the growth engine for
industry," Shim said. Notebook PCs now account for more than half of all
retail PC sales and are projected to become the majority for the whole
market by the end of the decade.
But battery life problems continue to rankle notebook users. As blogger Rob
Bushway of Tablet PC site Gottabemobile.com put it, "when a consumer has to
buy an extended battery to get what they use(d) to get out of a standard
battery, something is really wrong."
More than one company other than HP has acknowledged the demand that Vista
and the Aero interface put on a notebook PC running off its battery.
"Vista is consuming more power than Windows XP, but we have been very
focused on introducing more power-efficient technologies," said Bahr Mahony,
director of product marketing for Advanced Micro Devices' mobile product
division.
Most attribute that power use to Aero. "In (Aero) mode, you will drain the
battery faster, but you get something in return because it's cool and nice
looking," Lenovo's Locker said.
The Aero interface is automatically disabled when users put their Vista
notebooks into the "power-saving" profile, one of three new simplified
power-management states. While that makes for an arguably duller experience,
Microsoft said it commissioned a study (click here for PDF) that found no
difference in "responsiveness," or application load time, between a notebook
with Aero disabled versus one running the fancy graphics: implying that Aero
doesn't put too much of a load on the system.
But the notebook and Tablet PC used in Principled Technologies' test had the
power management setting on "high-performance" when testing Aero's
performance. At that setting, the notebook won't ever compromise performance
to preserve battery life, so responsiveness isn't an issue.
Microsoft isn't deterred by HP's decisions and other criticism. "We actively
encourage (PC companies) to customize the default power profiles so that
users get the most out of their hardware," Microsoft said in a statement.
A more definitive statement on Windows Vista and battery life should surface
soon, with Intel scheduled to release new chips for notebooks next week at
the launch event for the next generation of its Centrino technology. Also,
Bapco, an industry benchmarking organization, is expected to soon release
the MobileMark 2007 benchmark.
Microsoft, for its part, will likely have to improve Vista's battery life
performance over time through the release of service packs and other tweaks,
Shim said. "The (PC companies) are getting pressure from consumers--who are
the notebook adopters--who are saying their number one priority on a
notebook is battery life."
