Earlier this week I reported about a bug in Chrome for Windows that is causing your laptop’s battery to drain faster. Google has acknowledged the issue and is actively working on a fix.
The bug, which was first reported in 2010, is a result of Chrome unable to idle properly. Windows uses something called “system clock tick rate,” which is the interval at which a program wakes up the processor to perform tasks. Other browsers set the rate at 15 milliseconds when idling and ramp up to 1 millisecond when under load. Chrome, however, sets the tick rate at 1ms from the moment it is launched. This results in an estimated 25% increase in battery drain.
PCWorld reports Google is moving forward to fix the issue, assigning the task internally.
In the meantime, try using a different browser when you need to stretch your laptop’s battery life. Both Firefox and Internet Explorer offer lower power consumption than Chrome.
Macs are unaffected by this bug.
Source: PCWorld
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