I am a big fan of windows 7. I have been using it on my desktop PC since Microsoft announced the beta testing stage. I also proceeded to installing it on to my own laptop and the laptop given to me by work.
Recently I have read news sites claiming that Windows 7 permanently damages batteries on laptops. This is no myth or just someone competitors releasing bad press. Windows 7 damages the battery of laptop computers. And for those thinking that they will just format and install another operating system if windows 7 damaged your battery there is no going back.
This is a quote from Microsoft:
“We are investigating this issue in conjunction with our hardware partners, which appears to be related to system firmware (BIOS), The warning received in Windows 7 uses firmware information to determine if battery replacement is needed.”
Below is a quote from a user who’s battery just got raped by windows:
“I have tried charging the battery while the computer is off or in another OS, and it does not work,” said someone identified as “DanLee81″ today. “It will charge for a few minutes, and then stop. The battery will say it’s full when it actually only has a few minutes of charge, and when you take out the A/C, it will either last for a few minutes, or completely shut off your laptop. This behaviour happens in all [OSes] after Windows 7 damages the battery, not just within Windows 7.”
Luckily (for the people I work for) my current laptop seems to be immune to these effects. However, the power management is handled by propriety software from the laptop manufacturer. On the other hand my personal laptop is completely unprotected. However the battery life was always bad on it.
Source [1]