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How Windows 7 shames Vista on battery life

techradar.com — Microsoft's plans to prolong your notebook's power

Who dugg this? Made popular Nov 28, 2008

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  • palehorse864, on 11/28/2008, -0/+86HAHA Take THAT Microsoft! Microsoft is kicking your butt!
  • Hellman109, on 11/28/2008, -9/+83Its will be what XP is to 2000.

    Same core, just a few years of improvements put into the OS.

    Allot of people realise that Vista today is damn good, and will claim that 7 'fixes' Vista, but meh let them do that.
  • artfuldodga, on 11/28/2008, -4/+76it also shows that MSFT are sick of vendors bundling their own software within the OS... which is a great step to take, get rid of all that useless buggy vendor bloatware.
  • artfuldodga, on 11/28/2008, -3/+54you're an idiot, obviously there will be an option to always use full power and never go into any sort of low power mode.
  • ortucis, on 11/28/2008, -3/+48hitkaiser, there is a thing called 'customize', which unlike OSX, Windows users are very much familiar with.
  • mukund, on 11/28/2008, -3/+47I have heard nothing but good things about Windows 7. Also heard that its much better then Vista and have lot of Good things done right. I have heard this not from Microsoft Lobby but from the people at Digg.
  • neutronphaser, on 11/28/2008, -9/+47The new Dell laptops (E series etc.) do this on Windows XP with Dell Control Point.

    This shows that it could be done with a simple Windows update.
  • ortucis, on 11/28/2008, -1/+27In built search indexing that is way faster than any ***** third part indexer (read = Google)? I also like the seperate sound control for apps without any need to install any third party software.

    Anyways, I am using x64 Ultimate, which rapes XP x64 in performance. Considering I can run games like Dead Space on highest quality on my 6800 GS just because Vista is making use of dual core and my 3gb ram properly is a great experience (plus I still haven't bought a DX10 card, will for DX11 though).

    Either way, I couldn't just replied with "Flip 3D" or "Aero" as far as your question is concerned. :P
  • kronix2, on 11/28/2008, -0/+25As artfuldodga said, it's much better to have things like this managed by the OS instead of OEM software.
  • Bloodboiler, on 11/28/2008, -12/+33To all those who are too young to remember:

    When Windows 3.11 came out it took all resources high end PCs had at the time.
    When Windows 95 came out it took all resources high end PCs had at the time.
    When Windows 98 came out it took all resources high end PCs had at the time.
    When Windows 2000 came out it took all resources high end PCs had at the time.
    When Windows XP came out it took all resources high end PCs had at the time.
    When Windows Vista came out it took all resources high end PCs had at the time.

    Are you seriously expecting Windows 7 to be any different. That's like expecting a responsive and usable Desktop Linux or reasonably priced Apple laptop.
  • caLt, on 11/28/2008, -4/+23Probably, but you can always get a wi-fi detector t-shirt: http://www.thinkgeek.com/tshirts-apparel/unisex/il ...
  • kronix2, on 11/28/2008, -1/+20The pre-beta is rock-solid, unlike the Longhorn alpha or betas. So far it's mostly improvements to the shell.

    The big changes won't land until the first beta, but expect it to be stable and fast. 90% of the work under the hood was done in Vista; Windows 7 completes the last 10% and focuses on improvements the end-user will appreciate.

    It's the exact same strategy MS used with XP, which is architecturally almost identical to Windows 2000, but is light years ahead in terms of usability by the average joe.
  • artfuldodga, on 11/28/2008, -0/+17sounds good to me, really looking forward to W7 ... i'm actually going to go out of my way and buy a copy of MSFT's next OS.
  • sindex, on 11/28/2008, -5/+21The industry giant doesn't need to concern itself with mentioning the tiny flies that swarm around it.
  • hitkaiser, on 11/28/2008, -12/+27"even puts your Wi-Fi card to sleep if it's turned on but not connected to a network."

    So when you're out and about you won't automatically know if there are available networks because the card is sleeping?
  • marcus1060, on 11/28/2008, -2/+15"Windows 7 IS vista just a different kernel" that proves its not Vista.
    Add on all the GUI changes, and it's obviously not Vista.
  • thallium205, on 11/28/2008, -3/+16That's just because your wifi, bluetooth, and webcam isn't powered in Linux since there isn't a driver.
  • djgreedo, on 11/28/2008, -0/+13Vista lets you edit metadata from within Explorer
    Vista lets you adjust volume independantly for apps
    Vista is far more stable than XP (most Vista users with a prebuilt system don't experience crashing at all in my experience)
    Vista has window previews when you hover your mouse over the taskbar.
    Vista has numerous UI changes that make using the PC more efficient, more intuitive, and easier.
    Vista has built-in indexing
    Vista has a more secure driver model (less blue screen errors if hardware vendors do their job with drivers)
    Vista has a cleaner, less gaudy look (which is not necessarily a plus)

    That's a handful off the top of my head.
  • Rockkybox, on 11/28/2008, -1/+13What doesn't DOS do?
  • DuMbGuM, on 11/28/2008, -6/+18What are you 13??

    If they produce and OS that deserves money, I'll happily give it to them. Its the only way to expect more of the same in the future.

    Your just like a parasite.
  • reaperhatch, on 11/28/2008, -1/+13get off your high horse.

    I believe you should replace "high end PCs" with low to mid level PCs.
  • ThirdPrize, on 11/28/2008, -2/+13Most machines come with 2 gb of ram. You could cache half a DVD with that. Even if it just span up every half hour it would be an improvement.
  • Jarasmen, on 11/28/2008, -5/+16What does XP do that 98 doesn't?
  • cquinnd, on 11/28/2008, -0/+10Some of us like to support the builders of products and software that we like to use on a regular basis. Whether it is Windows, Linux, OS X, or something else.

    Even if you don't want to "go out of the way" to purchase it, there are other forms of compensation.

  • marcus1060, on 11/28/2008, -2/+12That doesn't really make too much sense, since you need RAM to be just running the OS and the playing the video.
    Better idea, all notebooks should have 4GB of flash memory, if I can buy a 4GB SD card for $15, the PC manufacture will be able to get it for even less, barely increasing the cost of the machine, but massively increasing the batter life and performance.
  • DeathRay2K, on 11/28/2008, -0/+10VyRuZ:
    DVD movies and even games are usually on ~8GB discs; they're dual layer DVDs.
  • TonyCubed, on 11/28/2008, -2/+12I can vouch for Windows 7. It's certainly an improvement. And if people are worried about lower FPS in games, well, that doesn't happen! :P I've been running Windows 7 (6801) since it was leaked and I'm loving it. The Libraries function alone is brilliant. Especially if you have multiple download directories. You can look at the directories separately or combined.
  • djgreedo, on 11/28/2008, -2/+11Yeah, and Coca-Cola never mentions those no-name Cola brands in their marketing either. What's your point?

    All products are the same. They have to improve on the last version to make people want to 'buy' it (most people get the OS included with their PC). If Microsoft didn't update Windows then people would keep their old copy and buy a PC with no OS installed.

    That said, computers are still evolving, and generally you need a current OS to run current software and hardware (to some extent). Try running Crysis on a Windows 3.1 machine. Try running Office 2007 on a machine with 32MB of RAM. Try running iTunes on the PC you had in 1992.
  • DeathRay2K, on 11/28/2008, -0/+9Read this:
    http://www.winsupersite.com/win7/ff.asp
  • djgreedo, on 11/28/2008, -2/+11@ksound

    Vista is the most stable OS Microsoft has made to date. Windows 7 should be at least as stable (it is built on Vista) unless they change a lot, which they don't seem to have done.

    I'm dual booting Windows 7 at the moment and have already switched my media center to Windows 7. It's not a massive change...it's basically all the greatness of Vista with a few UI and feature tweaks.
  • benitojuarez, on 11/28/2008, -0/+9Im calling ***** on this, for one the version of win7 thats floating around needs to be patched to even enable the new taskbar, and for two microsoft has always included a "classic" theme that makes the taskbar/startmenu and everything look like win95/98
  • artfuldodga, on 11/28/2008, -2/+11yeah no thanks, if there is one thing i dont pirate its an OS, who does that anymore? i mean, i have a legit vista ultimate OS with my last PC, runs perfectly. that and i used non-genuine copys of XP for so many years up until 2006 i bought my first legit copy of XP Pro, why not? it sure served me well, and probably you too
  • magamiako, on 11/28/2008, -1/+10StacyWebb:

    Considering you're using the preview PDC version of the OS, this is not to be unexpected. Vista during its PDC was also terribly bad, there is even a difference between the early betas of Vista during the beta program and the latter released product.

    Many of the features that are being talked about are working only on internal builds of the OS.
  • MedaFighterX, on 11/28/2008, -0/+9Sorry that you can't afford new hardware.
  • DeathRay2K, on 11/28/2008, -1/+9Coded1, stability isn't something that needs years of use to check.
    Also, I've been using Vista since the beta and never had a single issue, with drivers or anything else.
  • DuMbGuM, on 11/28/2008, -1/+9Do some research, troll.
  • Heiminator, on 11/28/2008, -0/+8rockkybox is right,dos is superior :-)
  • cquinnd, on 11/28/2008, -1/+9Wrong. Vista's code was well tested upon release, what was not tested were all the new drivers and apps that came out shortly after release (because some developers could not be bothered to finish their software based on the Release Candidates).

    No, they stated long ago that the changes made to bring about Vista were going to be carried forward in the development of newer OSes. They also stated that the kernel would change with the first Service Pack because they were (finally) moving to the idea that the Server and Client versions should run on the same core and that when Server 2008 was ready for release its kernel would be adopted by Vista in SP1.

    They were never going to release Windows 7 as SP2, the roadmap for this version of Windows was in place as far back as when Windows 2000 first hit the street. The only major differences between then and now were unforseen advances in CPU and GPU designs; MS taking a year delay in development to adopt a greater interest in the security of their products and new development methods; A delay in widespread adoption of Vista as a replacement for XP; the advancement of alternative OSes like Linux and OS X; and a drop in interest for PCs over mobile devices and consoles, and the greater interest in "cloud computing".

  • ortucis, on 11/28/2008, -2/+10I love the new taskbar (or the theme, remove the ***** round edges already). :D
  • djgreedo, on 11/28/2008, -0/+8Most DVDs are around 7-8GB. With the OS and media player overhead you won't be able to cache anywhere near half of that in RAM.
  • TonyCubed, on 11/28/2008, -0/+7It's the same kernel but it's been optimized with a few added features. Windows 7 is no longer a 'major' release, it's going to be a great release, but nothing massive like Vista was to XP.
  • spepin, on 11/28/2008, -2/+9Wait, wait, wait. So, let me get this straight. Vista is now old and out of date once Windows 7 comes along?
  • DuMbGuM, on 11/28/2008, -4/+11I think it is... that's all that matters in my decision to use it, lol.
  • PueSi, on 11/28/2008, -0/+7I like Vista's Explorer more than the one from XP.
  • sirbeta, on 11/28/2008, -0/+7VLC's Windows client is also in pretty terrible shape right now. It saddens me because I was a very big fan of it until they revamped the UI and bugged a bunch of the functionality.

    I use WMP for DVDs and that's about it. The decoder I've got looks leaps and bounds better than when I'd watch DVD's on ZoomPlayer or VLC which both had built in DVD decoding, and the menu controls aren't picky.
  • AZRoboto, on 11/28/2008, -1/+8As a student, I am GLAD that I can get better battery life with what looks to be a great OS.

    No need to complain here!
  • scy1192, on 11/28/2008, -0/+6K-Lite Codec Pack + Windows Media Player is much better than VLC.
  • Rockkybox, on 11/28/2008, -2/+8So you think the apple campaign of slagging of vista actually proves it's a better products *cough fanboy*
  • magamiako, on 11/28/2008, -0/+6samby:

    There are still a lot of "normal" people out there who don't know what torrent is and actually does purchase their movies. When going on a long plane flight with a laptop, this is a pretty nifty function.
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