Culprit uncovered in Core Duo battery drain: Microsoft driver
As we reported a few days ago, the team at Tom's Hardware ran some tests on laptops powered by Intel's Core Duo, and found some puzzling results: a mystery power drain that seemed unconnected to the processor itself. Now they think they've found the answer, and it turns out that Intel is in the clear: the source of the power glitch is a bug in Microsoft's Advanced Configuration and Power Interface driver, which can cause Core Duo-powered laptops to rapidly run out of juice if they've got any USB 2.0 devices connected to them. The solution? Well, actually there isn't one yet. Although Microsoft has known about the driver bug since last July, the company has yet to release a patch. Meanwhile, Intel is working on its own fix, so chances are the problem will be resolved in the near future. In the meantime, if you find your brand-spanking-new Core Duo laptop running out of juice quicker than you thought it would, you'll know who to blame.
