Bonum Certa Men Certa

Vista 7: The Battery Guzzler



Summary: Vista 7 repels more and more users as its deficiencies and drawbacks become more apparent

"IS Win 7 a battery guzzler," was the question asked a couple of weeks ago. The reality behind Vista 7 -- just like the reality behind Vista -- is only getting exposed for a period of one year or more after the release and the artificial hype, which Microsoft most recently created by cheating the press with bad results [1, 2, 3] (revenue-shifting gave an illusion). The simple truth is that Vista 7 sales disappointed in the business sector, which refused to adopt this new version of Windows (there is no compelling reason to embrace it).



According to new figures, the amount of money spent on a new PC dropped by a staggering 20% or so over the past year. Chips B. Malroy quotes: "In the fourth quarter of 2009, consumers bought 90 million PCs, up 22 percent from the same quarter in 2008, a clear sign that buyers were ready for something new. Prices plummeted in 2009, with the price of the average laptop falling to $581, down a whopping 23 percent from 2008." We discussed this in the IRC channel last night and the same point is being raised in the following new blog post:

5 factors that are set to challenge the dominance of Windows in the future.



[...]

Falling hardware prices

The more the prices of hardware falls, the lower is MS able to charge the OEMs a per unit installation license for Windows. Given the fact that hardware prices have fallen drastically in recent years and are set to do so in the foreseeable future, Ballmer may not be sleeping well at all.

Desktop Linux

No I'm not going to say the year of Linux is here and now. But whatever the case, the relatively increasing popularity of Linux among the general masses-spearheaded by Ubuntu-is set to cause some discomfiture to MS execs.

On the smartphone platform, Android is set to make life very difficult given the fact that the almighty Google itself is now directly competing with its own hardware branded phone. Tough luck MS.

Change of landscape

[...]


Microsoft is trying to maintain its high margins as applied to software on commodity hardware, but it is struggling. This also puts great pressure on OEMs

"Really MS Holding profits up is good for Linux," said Oiaohm. "It puts more pressure on OEM's to look for other solutions."

“Microsoft is trying to maintain its high margins as applied to software on commodity hardware, but it is struggling.”Going back to Vista 7, here is the latest problem, which was brought up by The Register and commented on by Richard Rasker last week. A reader wrote to tell us: "Here's a note showing that the "new" problems with Vista7's battery management might not be so new after all.

"Sort of like the security problem recently glossed over which had been around since Sept. 2009 (you have the link there somewhere, but while trying to find it, I found one of the hundreds/thousands of similar cases)." The Internet Explorer catastrophes were caused by flaws which Microsoft knew about and has ignored for almost half a year [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13]. This is normal routine for Microsoft.

Finally, here is a report from Microsoft Emil, who discusses Microsoft's response to the "battery life failures" in Vista 7. It is nice that they too acknowledge that there is a problem and this is exactly the type of unwanted behaviour which keeps businesses off Vista 7. It's too risky and experimental.

Microsoft says it is investigating reports of notebooks with poor battery life with Windows 7, as first reported by users on Microsoft TechNet. These users claim their batteries were working just fine under Windows XP and/or Windows Vista, and others are saying it occurs on their new Windows 7 PCs. Under Microsoft's latest operating system though, certain machines aren't doing so well, as Windows 7 spits out the following warning message: "Consider replacing your battery. There is a problem with your battery, so your computer might shut down suddenly." The warning is normally issued after using the computer's basic input output system (BIOS) to determine whether a battery needs replacement, but in this case it appears the operating system and not the battery is the problem. These customers say their PC's battery life is noticeably lower, with some going as far as saying that it has become completely unusable after a few weeks of use. To make matters worse, others are reporting that downgrading back to an earlier version of Windows won't fix the problem.


Microsoft cannot handle ACPI properly, despite hijacking it [1, 2].

It is worth adding that Microsoft is now using those Microsoft-sponsored people at Net Applications to sell an illusion (Vista 7 gaining decent market share). Net Applications is bunk and biased, no matter how much the Wintel press cites it.

Comments

Recent Techrights' Posts

Microsoft-Sponsored Xenophobia and Nationalism
IBM is very similar in this regard
Tentative Summary of Things to Publish in Project 2030
I'll still be in my forties by then
 
Links 21/09/2025: "Hey Hi" (Hype) Under Fire, Fakes Identified; Tesla Burns Family
Links for the day
Google's Software is Malware and Malware in Mobile Devices
Originally posted by Rob Musial
Links 20/09/2025: Hegemony Coming to a Close, Luigi Mangione Ruled Not Terrorist
Links for the day
Gemini Links 21/09/2025: "Charlie Kirk Was a Hateful Piece of Shit" and Slop Code Attempted by Microsofter
Links for the day
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, September 20, 2025
IRC logs for Saturday, September 20, 2025
Gemini Links 20/09/2025: Snowy Photos and utism is a Spectrum
Links for the day
Vintage is Sometimes Better
Why can't we get back to "simple" if (or where) "simple" means better?
Climate Breakdown Means We'll be Publishing More, Not Less
Press freedom will be a common, recurring theme
Our 5-Year Geminispace Anniversary is Coming Up
I still remember when Gemini Protocol was quite new
It's Right to Point Out Violence From the Right
Violence is a recurring theme
Web Browsers That "Do Hey Hi" (AI)
State-of-the-art plagiarism or "autocomplete on steroids" (not coined by us, nevertheless a nice description) don't have much/any prospect
Links 20/09/2025: Hardware Projects in View, Some Independent Publishers About Russia Prosper After Cheeto Cuts Funding
Links for the day
Gemini Links 20/09/2025: Options and TV Time Machine
Links for the day
Links 20/09/2025: Retrocomputer, Antique Phone Experience, and More
Links for the day
Links 20/09/2025: Internet Shutdowns, Media Censorship, and Climate Worries
Links for the day
About 700 New Gemini Capsules in 13 Months (or 54 Per Month)
4.8K would represent a 20% increase
Rust People: Drain the Swap, You're Holding It Wrong
Does Rust make sense?
Techrights the Name Turns 15
About 6 weeks from now we turn 19
Microsoft is Running Out of Time and Floating Fake Figures, Fake Projects, Fake Narratives, Fake Excuses
Also, a lot of Microsoft's "revenue" claims are circular financing (i.e. Microsoft buying from itself, which means Ponzi-like fraud)
Slopwatch: LinuxSecurity, linuxconfig.org, and Plagiarised Phoronix
Many articles out there are nowadays fake
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, September 19, 2025
IRC logs for Friday, September 19, 2025
Gemini Links 20/09/2025: Navigating the Pressures of Modern Life and SpellBinding Accidentally Wrote Another Gemini Server
Links for the day
Links 19/09/2025: Press Freedom Dying in US, Anti-Austerity Strikes in France, and Alan Rusbridger to Leave 'Prospect'
Links for the day
European Patent Office Illegally Gutting and Outsourcing Its Functions, Acting Like an Above-the-Law Commercial Business (It Won't Stop at Formalities Officers (FOs) and Classification Slop at the EPO)
breaking/violating laws and conventions
Offloading to the Sister Site
In the interest of not overwhelming readers
Links 19/09/2025: Coffee Club and "SpellBinding is Now Absurdly Fast"
Links for the day
Links 19/09/2025: Lobbyist of American GAFAM Becomes Data Protection Commissioner in Europe
Links for the day
Links 19/09/2025: Media Freedom Ceases to Exist in US, "Consider Dropping Twitter/X"
Links for the day
Gemini Links 19/09/2025: Thinking and Insect Bites
Links for the day
Microsoft E.E.E.: Git Will Now (or Very Soon) Fully Depend on Rust, Which is Controlled by Microsoft
Microsoft now makes Git dependent on Rust, or making Git dependent on GitHub, which is proprietary
The Right to Punch People (Apparently)
At Brett Wilson, Brett's job title is "Head of Crime" and Wilson normalises calls for violence
Slop or Fake Articles Have Turned Linux Journal From a Pioneering/Trailblazing "Linux" Magazine Into a Nuisance
some sites with former reputation - good reputation - turn into cesspools
Over at Tux Machines...
GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Thursday, September 18, 2025
IRC logs for Thursday, September 18, 2025