New Laptop. Will downgrading the OS provide efficiency/battery life

The__Malteser · 5 Oct 2013 at 10:29

Hi,

I bought a new laptop for university, and it comes pre-installed with Windows 8. This laptop will only be used at school, as it is a low spec laptop just to take notes. At home, I will always work on my PC.

Due to this, I want the laptop to be efficient (15 minutes start up before a lesson is not wanted) and a high battery life.

Am I right in thinking that if I install Windows XP on it, will will possibly perform faster and maybe even increase (by a bit) my battery life?

I'm not enthusiastic about Win 8 new features, and as I said, they count little to me. I can get a free copy of Windows XP through Dreamsparks too.

KIA · 5 Oct 2013 at 11:06

Very unlikely. Do they even provide drivers for XP?

Support for Windows XP will end in April of next year.

Use a well supported version of Windows if you're going to downgrade. Windows 7 will probably be best if you do not like Windows 8.

The__Malteser · 5 Oct 2013 at 12:17

KIA said:
Very unlikely. Do they even provide drivers for XP?

Support for Windows XP will end in April of next year.

Use a well supported version of Windows if you're going to downgrade. Windows 7 will probably be best if you do not like Windows 8.

I'm used to Windows 8 because I have worked with it at work before.

Although I don't need all the extra stuff that comes with it. The only reason I would want to downgrade is so that the OS uses less system resources and it might perform a bit faster.

Emlyn_Dewar · 5 Oct 2013 at 12:22

Windows 8 increased my battery life on my laptop over the previous Windows 7 install.
Might not have the desired effect if you downgrade.

Elevon · 5 Oct 2013 at 12:23

The__Malteser said:
Hi,

I bought a new laptop for university, and it comes pre-installed with Windows 8. This laptop will only be used at school, as it is a low spec laptop just to take notes. At home, I will always work on my PC.

Due to this, I want the laptop to be efficient (15 minutes start up before a lesson is not wanted) and a high battery life.

Am I right in thinking that if I install Windows XP on it, will will possibly perform faster and maybe even increase (by a bit) my battery life?

I'm not enthusiastic about Win 8 new features, and as I said, they count little to me. I can get a free copy of Windows XP through Dreamsparks too.

Win8 was designed to improve battery life even over Win7 etc one reason Aero was removed,I think best option is try Win8 with third party Start menu mod like Classic Shell(free)and see if you can live with that since it will make it more like Win7,Win7 will not give you better battery life I'm afraid to say.

As to XP rather pointless really being so old and being phased out very soon support wise.

The__Malteser · 5 Oct 2013 at 13:30

Emlyn_Dewar said:
Windows 8 increased my battery life on my laptop over the previous Windows 7 install.
Might not have the desired effect if you downgrade.

Elevon said:
Win8 was designed to improve battery life even over Win7 etc one reason Aero was removed,I think best option is try Win8 with third party Start menu mod like Classic Shell(free)and see if you can live with that since it will make it more like Win7,Win7 will not give you better battery life I'm afraid to say.

As to XP rather pointless really being so old and being phased out very soon support wise.

Thanks. So it looks like I will stick with Win 8.

As I said, i am not after appearance, as I am used to Win 8, but efficiency/battery life. Since Win 8 provides a good battery optimisation, I will stick to that.

Orcvader · 5 Oct 2013 at 14:38

There was a really good article explaining why Win 8 is more power efficient, but I can't find it

.

Maybe set the Windows power profile to power saver mode as well, so it stays on idle speed during use, which should be enough for note taking.

unwashed potato! · 5 Oct 2013 at 15:06

sounds to me like you should have bought a surface RT with a keyboard if it's just for taking notes. 8+ hours battery iirc

Caged · 5 Oct 2013 at 15:23

Fairly sure the answer is no said:
sounds to me like you should have bought a surface RT with a keyboard if it's just for taking notes. 8+ hours battery iirc

I'd argue the complete opposite, if the primary use of the thing is for typing notes then you're going to benefit greatly with a full-size keyboard.

paradigm · 5 Oct 2013 at 16:11

Caged said:
I'd argue the complete opposite, if the primary use of the thing is for typing notes then you're going to benefit greatly with a full-size keyboard.

A Surface (RT or Pro) type-cover IS a full-sized keyboard. Heck, a touch-cover is a full sized keyboard (I'm replying on it now), but I'd understand why most people prefer the tactile feedback of the type-cover (I'll be getting a type-cover 2 when they are available).

theheyes · 5 Oct 2013 at 16:58

Between hybrid boot and the new power efficiency effort they put in Windows 8 is a no brainer. If you're not hot on the new features there are modifications out there you can apply to taste.

The__Malteser · 5 Oct 2013 at 17:01

Fairly sure the answer is no said:
sounds to me like you should have bought a surface RT with a keyboard if it's just for taking notes. 8+ hours battery iirc

I need to program in C. From some research, I found that it will not be possible to program/test well with Android or iOS.

When I looked at the surface, I read that I need the Surface Pro for this, and it costs a bomb.

To be honest, the laptop I got is quite ok for the price. I'm not really concerned about portability, as I can easily put it back in the car (I park like 2 minutes away from my university). Seemed to fit the bill well.