Microsoft says its engineers have been exploring complaints of poor battery life for some laptops running Windows 7, and that in every case the operating system is not at fault. In a February 8 blog posting Microsoft said that Windows 7 had correctly identified the problem and that those users’ batteries were failing.
"Every single indication we have regarding the reports we’ve seen are simply Windows 7 reporting the state of the battery using this new feature and we’re simply seeing batteries that are not performing above the designated threshold," read that February 8 posting on the Engineering Windows 7 blog. "It should stand to reason that some customers would be surprised to see this warning after upgrading a PC that was previously operating fine. Essentially the battery was degrading but it was not evident to the customer until Windows 7 made this information available."
"Microsoft has been made aware that some computers running Windows 7 receive a warning that the battery needs to be replaced when the battery is new or in good health," according to a Microsoft spokesperson. "In conjunction with our hardware partners, we are investigating this issue."
Also, the February 8 posting on the Engineering Windows 7 blog suggested that OEM engineers had concurred with Microsoft on the issue stating: "Our OEM partners have utilized their telemetry (call center, support forums, etc.) and have let us know that they are seeing no activity beyond what they expect. It is worth noting that PC manufacturers work through battery issues with customers and have a clear view of what is to be expected both in general and with respect to specific models, timelines and batteries."
In separate conversations with OEMs made it seem as though the investigations are still ongoing.
Some customers are reporting that different battery run times depending on their model, usage, and PC settings. Microsoft’s hardware partners are continuing to work with the company to investigate the issues reported.
As mentioned in our previous article last week, the Windows 7-related battery criticism extends back to June 2009 on the TechNet forum, with the issue apparently occurring on a number of laptop models.
"Upgrading to Windows 7 my 6-cell battery that used to last about 2 hours when unplugged when I had Vista now lasts less than 10 minutes," wrote one poster on Feb. 5.
"After I upgraded my Toshiba Satellite P-305 from Vista to Windows 7, my battery life went down to about 25 minutes, and asked me to replace my battery," wrote another on the same date. "I bought a 9-cell replacement battery but the message persists and the new battery will not hold a charge."
Some commenters on TechNet suggested that the battery-life issues could be related to a buggy driver, something that Microsoft’s engineering team attempted to dispel in its Feb. 8 blog posting: "While the information regarding battery status is provided read-only to the operating system through ACPI, we performed a thorough code-review and verified that there exists no code that is capable of modifying battery status information."
Microsoft says its engineers have been exploring complaints of poor battery life for some laptops running Windows 7, and that in every case the operating system is not at fault. In a February 8 blog posting Microsoft said that Windows 7 had correctly identified the problem and that those users’ batteries were failing.
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