Windows 7 Improves Laptop Battery Life by 11%

windows 7 battery life image

It is no secret that Windows Vista has a whole lot of hate aimed at it by its (often unwilling) users. Even "I'm a Mac" commercials put it as the punchline. Windows 7 is Microsoft's answer to the demand for a better operating system, and there is an improvement that makes it way cooler than just a functional version of Vista.

According to Engadget, Micrsoft showed off the battery-saving capabilities of Windows 7, which proved a bare minimum of 11% better battery life thanks to the software, helping users green up their laptop by using that much less electricity for charging.

Read on for how this is, and for a video.

The pre-Beta version of Windows 7 offers better battery life in a few ways. First, fewer services launched at start-up. Also, loading device drivers is done in parallel instead of one at a time. Wireless radios are managed better so they can drop below 100% power draw, and the CPU can sometimes run at a lower frequency and stay idle longer.

All of this results in a minimum of 11% battery life improvement, but can be as much as 15% better. The software is still in pre-Beta, so a lot of improvements can still happen to make computers more efficient just with the OS.

Pretty exciting news for PC users who not only want a better OS, but also a more energy-efficient laptop. While we wait for the new software, you can check out a Windows Vista tweak that gets it to run more efficiently, along with other PC performance enhancing actions.

This demo video at Engadget shows the battery power savings.

Via Engadget

More on Battery Life Improvements:
Survey Says Notebook Users Want Green, Long-Lasting Batteries
7 Downloads That Turn Your PC From Energy Sucker to Energy Sipper
PowerTOP For Linux Adds Hours to Battery Life