WindowBlinds - Vista - does not switch off Aero on battery

from Stardock Forums
The standard notebook power setting "Power Savings" switches from Aero to Basic when the system switches from A/C to D/C. However, when Windowblinds is running, this switch doesn't occur. Or, perhaps, I'm misunderstanding how Windowblinds works, in that when I switch to battery the transparencies and such remain.

My understanding is that WindowBlinds uses Aero for its effects. Is this true, or does it have its own methods? And, do these affect battery life the way that Aero does?

3,167 views 5 replies
Reply #1 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Windowsblinds does not depend on aero to provides it's skinning ability,
it uses it's own skinning engine.
Reply #2 from Stardock Forums Top
Aha, okay, thanks. So then using Windowblinds shouldn't impact battery life (or it stressing the system and, indeed, causing lower performance?)...
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Reply #3 from WinCustomize Forums Top

Windowsblinds does not depend on aero to provides it's skinning ability,
it uses it's own skinning engine.



Actually...it does. Windowblinds requires Aero to be activated on Vista in order to utilize transparency in skins.
Reply #4 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Aha, okay, thanks. So then using Windowblinds shouldn't impact battery life (or it stressing the system and, indeed, causing lower performance?)...


https://www.wincustomize.com/articles.aspx?aid=142507

And for power users -- WindowBlinds cuts battery consumption over Windows Vista Aero significantly. On our internal tests, running Vista with a WindowBlinds skin gave back over 40 minutes of battery life on a Dell laptop. You can test for yourself, it's pretty consistent. And if that's not enough, WindowBlinds is faster too thanks to DWM caching.


 


Reply #5 from Stardock Forums Top
Okay, I read the link, and I'm even more confused. WindowsBlinds improves battery life? How does it manage this? I'm not doubting it, I'm literally curious as to how it's accomplished.