Microsoft says it's investigating reports of notebook PC owners encountering battery life problems after upgrading their Windows XP and Vista machines to Windows 7.

After installing the Windows 7 upgrade, many customers have seen their machine's battery life dwindle significantly, even when working with a freshly charged battery. They've also been confronted with the Windows 7 warning message: "Consider replacing your battery. There is a problem with your battery, so your computer might shut down suddenly."

Customers have been complaining about this problem on Microsoft's TechNet forum since last June, when Windows 7 was still in Release Candidate stage. Some forum posters claim that their notebook batteries have been rendered completely unusable after installing the Windows 7 upgrade, and that downgrading back to an earlier version of Windows doesn't fix the problem.

:story; Full story: CRN