Microsoft shames power hungry programs on Windows 10
If you are running a recent stable version of Microsoft Windows 10 on a mobile device, you may have received notifications already about programs or apps that drain battery on the device.
For instance, if you run Chrome or Firefox, you may get the message that said browser is draining battery faster than Microsoft Edge.
It is unclear right now whether the notification is limited to web browsers, or if other third-party programs are shamed as well if they are more power hungry than native Windows programs.
Since Edge is not the only Windows program that is less power hungry than third-party software, Microsoft's Movies & TV apps for instance performs a lot better battery-wise than third-party media players.
Is draining your battery faster notification
The message that users may receive on a mobile Windows 10 device reads "Name is draining your battery faster. Switch to Microsoft Edge for up to x% more browsing time.".
Replace name with Chrome or Firefox for instance, and x with a percent value that shows to the user how effective Edge is in comparison to the other browser.
Some might say that this is an ad for Edge, and it is to a degree. There is no denying on the other hand that better battery life is something that is positive. It is certainly not the only factor that plays a role when selecting a web browser, but if you need to squeeze out as many browsing minutes as possible, it is worth a consideration.
I think it is a good idea to shame programs on Windows 10 that use way more battery than native programs. It is still up to you to make the switch -- temporarily or permanently -- or ignore the message and be done with it.
This is not all that different from Google pushing Chrome on its web properties. The main difference is that Chrome is advertised to users as a browser that is "more modern" than the current browser even if that is not entirely true.
The notification in Windows 10 however is based on statistics and certainly useful to users of the operating system.
It is unclear however whether Windows 10 will displays those notifications regularly once you made up your mind to continue using the less-battery friendly program, or if that is a one-time notification that won't be repeated indefinitely. (via)
Now You: What's your take on the notification in Windows 10?
Opera has built in ad-blocker and battery saver (+VPN) and Opera uses less battery and resources than Chrome AND Edge!
These features are pretty universal on Opera’s Windows and Android iterations.
Even Opera Mini for Windows Phone has built in ad-blocker.
Why would one give they’re browsing details to snoopy 3rd party extensions?
how is the Opera less “snoopy”?
P.S. they’re → their?
So, um, who wants to lay odds on how long before there’s another antitrust case against Microsoft for this?
Anybody?
I doubt that this is going to happen. Microsoft may still dominate the desktop OS market, but it is clearly trailing behind when it comes to browsers.
Also, one can interpret this as a service to the user of the operating system who may not know about the differences in battery life.
We don’t know enough yet to judge the feature. Maybe it is not limited to pointing out that MS Software is doing better. Maybe it does the same for other programs.
You have a great sense of humor, Martin. :) First good laugh of the day.
The less you do, the less power you need to do it. (It’s a law of physics.)
but not reverse: if something uses less power, you can’t tell if does less.
Does it display this on desktop machines with no battery?
That’s a silly question. Why would it tell you that if your cumputer doesn’t have a battery?
to Dresandreal Sprinklehorn:
That’s a silly answer to really interesting question.
Energy is not free, so saving energy = saving money.
Also saving energy = less pollution (second one only meaningful if you’re environmentalist).
“Why would it tell you that if your cumputer doesn’t have a battery?”
Because it’s only code, built by humans. It’s not a silly question at all really – you need to look outside the box. It’s these sort of questions that solve problems before they arise. Software is only as good as the developer/human thought processes. If the code doesn’t check for a battery.. etc. The point is, if someone answered this question with “Yes”, then we could point at the somewhat hypocrisy of MS leveraging their system. I would almost go out on a limb and say that they have factored in the battery, but you never know. Stranger things have happened.
PS: I know its a typo, but cumputer is now my word of the day.
I don’t know.
That’s strange. I have been running Firefox and Chrome on a W10 laptop since Feb and have never seen this message. There are a few updates which I removed after they increased my boot time by 10-15 seconds. Maybe that pop up lived in them.
I think this is insider only. I too have been using W10 laptop since last year but never get this message.
I’m using home version so I cannot remove any updates,
edit: after reread, I think this only applies to W10 phone or tablet?
The least that Microsoft could do is also tell you how much more Edge crashes and how many more ads get displayed while chewing up mobile data, compared to Firefox, Opera, and Chrome with uBlock Origin extension installed. Relatively speaking, Edge sucks less battery, but in general it just sucks..
These 30% only appear when playing video.
And I tried to use Edge on multiple machines, and frustrated how laggy it is in certain circumstances, like when clicking addressbar. It’s showstopper for me when it stops responding and does not close even via task manager (after 10-20 seconds, or, if unlucky, after 3-5 minutes, it un-hangs and can continue working until next lag, if you wish).
We don’t know how MS measured these 30%, maybe they account just total time, no matter how much longer it took for Edge user to finish his work, so if you blindly believe it without real checking, you eat marketing bullshit.
Remember: Microsoft has no shame. Like at all.
Does it shame Microsoft power hogs too? Probably not.
Mobile devices as in phones/tablets or also laptops with regular x86 Windows 10?
>Some might say that this is an ad for Edge
Of course it’s an ad for Edge.
And even if they didn’t explicitly mention Edge it’s still annoying that they’re checking which programs you’re using and nagging you with popups.
Advertising OS; Telemetry OS
Just rename it already, Miscro$oft, I won’t even claim copyright if you use either of those names (;
But why “Miscrosoft”? Everyone knows Microsoft o.O
Typo.