Windows 7 vs Windows XP: Netbook Battery Test

When it comes to Windows operating systems, there is no denying that the most popular is XP; the OS just don’t want to die. When Vista was launched it was dogged by bad reviews and poor performance, this then paved the way for Windows 7. The new OS can even work on netbooks and is thought to be more energy efficient.

There have been a number of battery life tests run on Windows 7 and Windows XP to see which operating system offers the longer battery life. The news is not good, according to Engadget a netbook has 47 minutes less battery life when using Windows 7 compared to XP.

This does not bode well for the new OS, which was advertised as a much more energy efficient upgrade. In another text an ASUS 1008HA netbook lasted 57 minutes longer while running on Windows XP. So this is not an isolated case.

There certainly seems to be a pattern building here, another recent test showed that Apple’s Snow Leopard also had better battery life results. Engadget have drawn one conclusion from this, Windows 7 is not the fantastic operating system that Microsoft would have us believe.

I am running Windows 7 on my laptop, I have noticed a slight improvement in battery life, but for some reason my laptop seems to be running much hotter than before. I understand that this could be a coincidence, but I think that Windows 7 needs a service pack very soon to resolve a few of its bugs.