Anilrgowda

Users running Windows Vista on laptops may see batteries draining faster than they expect, Microsoft said in a warning, because some wireless access points aren't configured to take advantage of the new operating system's Wi-Fi power-saving mode.

In a recent post to Microsoft's official Vista blog, senior product manager Jason Leznek spelled out the company's last-minute decision to change the default power setting of wireless adapters to "maximum performance."



"Test results from Microsoft and our customers show that some Windows Vista beta users experienced connectivity problems when connecting to public Wi-Fi hotspots," wrote Leznek in his post. "In many cases, the root cause of the problem is access point or router hardware which is not compatible with the 802.11 power save protocol.