Screenshots: Battery life in Vista

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  • Managing power

    Managing power

    Early testers are finding Vista laptops get less battery life than the same machines running Windows XP. As with past versions, users can choose to maximize battery life at the expense of performance, maximize performance or opt for a balanced approach.

    Caption by: Bill Detwiler

  • Flip3D

    Flip3D

    To maximize battery life, Microsoft recommends using the Vista Basic theme, which turns off fancy graphics, such as the Flip3D navigation feature shown here.

    Caption by: Bill Detwiler

  • Juice counter

    Juice counter

    This window pops up when you click to check the battery's level in Vista, and gives you the choice of changing settings.

    Caption by: Bill Detwiler

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How Microsoft manages power in the Windows update, which can drain laptop batteries faster than XP.

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Managing power

Early testers are finding Vista laptops get less battery life than the same machines running Windows XP. As with past versions, users can choose to maximize battery life at the expense of performance, maximize performance or opt for a balanced approach.

Caption by: Bill Detwiler

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Related Topics:

Laptops Enterprise Software Hardware Reviews Security Mobility

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