The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    Vista Aero vs WindowBlinds?

    Discussion in 'Windows OS and Software' started by Lencias, Aug 13, 2008.

  1. Lencias

    Lencias Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    38
    Messages:
    282
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    Hi,
    If I were to disable Aero and use WindowBlinds for custom skins instead in Vista SP1, would that give me more battery life? I remember reading somewhere on Stardock's website that WindowBlinds gave 40 minutes better battery life than Aero. And how would that compare to XP?

    ----------------
    Now playing: The Killers - Mr. Brightside
    via FoxyTunes
     
    Lencias, Aug 13, 2008
    #1
  2. Ayle

    Ayle Trailblazer

    Reputations:
    877
    Messages:
    3,707
    Likes Received:
    7
    Trophy Points:
    106
    But are you willing to put up with the heavy ram usage that windowblinds is going to bring with him?
     
    Ayle, Aug 13, 2008
    #2
  3. taelrak

    taelrak Lost

    Reputations:
    860
    Messages:
    2,979
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    Why not just turn off Aero if all you're trying to go for is longer battery life?
     
    taelrak, Aug 13, 2008
    #3
  4. Lencias

    Lencias Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    38
    Messages:
    282
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    Yes. The laptop I'm looking at has 4GB of RAM, and my current 2GB desktop is running it fine.

    Well, I'm wondering if I gain battery life by using WindowBlinds for fully customizable fancy GUI, rather than Aero. RAM usage I don't have much concern.

    ----------------
    Now playing: The Killers - Mr. Brightside
    via FoxyTunes
     
    Lencias, Aug 13, 2008
    #4
  5. Rodster

    Rodster Merica

    Reputations:
    1,805
    Messages:
    5,043
    Likes Received:
    396
    Trophy Points:
    251
    There isn't heavy ram usage anymore with Windowbinds and that has been the case since release 5. I'm currently using WB6 and it only takes up 3MB with XP and some of the skins look amazing. :)
     
    Rodster, Aug 13, 2008
    #5
  6. Lencias

    Lencias Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    38
    Messages:
    282
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    So... battery life between Aero and WindowBlinds?
     
    Lencias, Aug 13, 2008
    #6
  7. swarmer

    swarmer beep beep

    Reputations:
    2,071
    Messages:
    5,234
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    205
    The main thing in Aero that decreases battery life is transparency. So instead of turning off Aero, you can just turn off transparency.

    Control Panel > Sys & Maint > Perf. & Tools > Adjust visual effects > Custom > Uncheck "enable transparent glass"

    Here's some info on this: http://windowsvistablog.com/blogs/windowsvista/archive/2007/05/14/aero-and-battery-life.aspx

    I don't know about WindowBlinds... but I wouldn't expect any big differences in battery life among different desktop themes that aren't using transparency.
     
    swarmer, Aug 13, 2008
    #7