On Mon, 14 Jan 2008 18:35:15 -0800 (PST), AdenOne
wrote:

Umm, no Vista does not usually save battery power it usually
uses more unless you use manual or automated methods to
reduce the GUI effects, at which point it only uses a little
more instead of a lot more.

I get an extra 45 minutes when using Vista Ultimate instead of XP
Professional, with the Vista power management options having a lot
more scope than the simple XP ones.

You might, but quite a few people have startlingly less
battery life under Vista. There isn't "more scope"
necessarily needed, that's what the hardware specific
manufacturer's utility is for.




Backlighting and unused features are usually controlled via a third-
party or manufacturer application, not directly via Windows.

Yes, none of this should be controlled by windows.

Unfortunately when you wipe a laptop and install older operating
systems, you lose all of the manufacturer specific apps, most of which
are useless, granted, but some are necessary for power management.

You "might" lose them in theory but in practice you often
don't. They're typically available on the included CDs,
available for download from their website, and do cover XP
(and probably would work on Win2k as well).