RealNetworks rep to Linux: DRM or die! Linux Is Dead Already 868

Ian Hilliard

Much longer? This longer battery life issue is an urban myth at best. All of the reports on battery life I've seen regarding Linux vs. XP from Linux users at various forums typically read "battery life is just as long with Linux" or "battery life is about the same with Linux" which I believe to be true.

I do *not* believe that battery life is MUXH longer with Linux... if anything the opposite is true.

Windows XP + IBM's own drivers still have a small advantage. The experimental patch adding ATI Powerplay support to the XFree-Xorg radeon driver offers significant savings.

Test Methodology

To get meaningful numbers, I simulate a user browsing the web: Using refresh and redirects I let mozilla load a new webpage every 15 seconds. This is a somewhat realistic light load scenario, and it is completely cross platform.

Windows XP 3h 33m Linux-ACPI, laptop mode, ATI Powerplay 3h 9m Linux-ACPI, laptop mode, std. radeon 2h 39m Linux-ACPI, without laptop mode, std. radeon 2h 38m Linux-APM, without laptop mode, std. radeon 2h 21m

Skype audio sounds better under Linux than it does under Windows.