Microsoft’s Adaptive Energy Saver: The Future of Intelligent Power Management in Windows 11

Battery anxiety is a shared experience among laptop and tablet users, whether they’re digital nomads in a coffee shop or students navigating a full day of classes. The evolution of how Windows manages energy has been a story of incremental tweaks, heated user debates, and third-party workarounds. Microsoft’s latest innovation, Adaptive Energy Saver, now in testing for Windows 11 Insiders, aims to propel energy management forward, leveraging system intelligence not just to react to a low battery warning—but to actively analyze your device’s real-time demands and adjust resource use accordingly, all without disrupting your workflow or dimming the display at inopportune moments. As this blends seamlessly beneath the surface, could it become the most user-friendly, efficient power solution ever conceived for Windows? Or will real-world complexities dull its potential? This deep dive explores the mechanics, context, strengths, and possible pitfalls surrounding Microsoft’s most ambitious battery-centric technology to date.

Why Windows Power Management Matters​

Power management may not grab headlines, but for millions, it shapes their daily computing. Laptops are only as good as their staying power. A device dying mid-presentation, conference call, or train ride is more than an inconvenience—battery life impacts productivity, device longevity, thermal comfort, and, increasingly, environmental footprint.
Historically, Windows’ approach has revolved around power plans—Balanced, High Performance, and Power Saver—each trading off responsiveness for battery life. Users could select plans or parse an exhaustive array of toggles and sliders. But as activity patterns get more complex and Windows becomes ever more process- and cloud-dependent, static plans often fall short. Many users never explore the settings, and those who do can still be caught off guard by the labyrinth of options and their sometimes cryptic effects.
Improving energy use isn’t merely a user feature; it’s a matter of corporate sustainability and hard currency savings at scale. With Windows running on billions of devices, even marginal gains add up to gigawatt-hours saved annually.

The Old Guard: Traditional Energy Saver Behavior​

Up until now, Windows’ default energy-saving behavior has relied on a fixed battery threshold. Once the level dropped to a set percentage, Energy Saver would trigger, cutting background sync, throttling updates, stopping certain cloud integrations like OneDrive and Phone Link, dimming the screen by 30%, and pausing non-urgent background updates. This helped extend session time but could catch users by surprise: files might not sync, brightness dips unexpectedly, or apps slow down. More technically savvy users frequently voiced frustration about the abrupt imposition of power-saving, leading many to either keep it off or override it with custom scripts and third-party tools.
Third-party utilities and scripts, and plugins for manufacturers’ hardware, offered finer control, such as instant display power-off, one-click plan switching, or more granular thresholds. Yet the complexity remained—most users either ignored these tools or failed to optimize their settings, leaving gains unrealized.

Enter Adaptive Energy Saver: A Smarter Approach​

Microsoft’s new Adaptive Energy Saver, currently in preview for Windows 11 Insiders in the Canary channel, is a direct response to these longstanding pain points. The core idea is deceptively simple: instead of waiting for the battery to hit a critical low, Windows now continuously monitors what your device is actually doing, assessing ‘system load’—how hard your CPU, GPU, and other resources are working in real time. Based on this context, energy-saving features can be triggered—even if the battery isn’t in the red.
Unlike the older energy saver or the abrupt Behavioral mode changes, this feature promises to be subtle. The most visible difference is that Adaptive Energy Saver does not dim your screen; display brightness remains unchanged, eliminating perhaps the most commonly cited disruption. Its actions focus on quietly suspending non-critical operations and pausing background updates that aren’t needed for your current workload.
According to Microsoft’s own descriptions, Adaptive Energy Saver “automatically enables and disables energy saver, without changing screen brightness, based on the power state of the device and the current system load.” In other words, your Windows device can coast into power-saving mode early, or when usage drops, and then resume normal operation in a way that is nearly invisible to end users except for delayed background processes and possibly slightly slower sync.

Who Gets It, and When?​

As of early testing, the Adaptive Energy Saver is rolling out strictly to battery-powered devices running Windows 11—laptops, tablets, and handhelds. Desktop PCs are excluded, since the assumption is they aren’t battery constrained. This specialization is crucial: desktops may still benefit from the regular Energy Saver, which was re-enabled for those platforms in Windows 11’s recent annual updates, after a hiatus in prior versions.
To try Adaptive Energy Saver today, you must be enrolled in the Windows Insider Program, running Canary channel builds. While Microsoft hasn’t specified a precise public release date, they’ve signaled that broader rollout is anticipated within the next major update cycle for Windows 11. Historically, shifts from Canary to production typically span several months, encompassing feedback-driven refinements along the way.

How Adaptive Energy Saver Actually Works​

Diving into the technicals, Adaptive Energy Saver hinges on the ability of Windows to monitor both power status (battery, plugged in, charging, discharging, etc.) and system load (process activity, resource utilization, background services). By checking these in real time, Windows can:

• Pause background data synchronization (e.g., OneDrive, OneNote).
• Defer or delay scheduled but non-urgent updates or push notifications.
• Suspend or limit resource-heavy background activities.
• Maintain current screen brightness for continuity of user experience.
• Toggle its own presence based on actual workload, resuming full power only as needed.

A key advance lies in Windows’ increasing use of telemetry and behavioral analytics. Unlike the deterministic thresholds of yesteryear, Adaptive Energy Saver’s triggers are partially probabilistic, factoring in patterns such as typical app usage, CPU and GPU activity bursts, and possibly network I/O, to determine when energy conservation is most effective yet least likely to aggravate the user.
For example, if your laptop is idle except for a video streaming session, Adaptive Energy Saver may refrain from restricting background tasks for a period, but once you stop interacting, it reduces background updates. If CPU load drops for several minutes, the system might decide it’s time to economize—even though your battery may still be 70% full.

Impacts on Real-World Workflows​

In practice, many users won’t notice when Adaptive Energy Saver kicks in—Microsoft’s intention is for the transition to be unobtrusive. However, because some sync operations are paused or batched, there may be a slight delay in file uploads or the appearance of calendar updates. This is a necessary tradeoff: background networking is a perennial energy hog, especially as devices juggle cloud document syncing, notification pushes, and telemetry.
For users who work almost exclusively offline, the new feature may pose hardly any impact, while for those deeply reliant on real-time collaboration tools, a split-second delay in sync is a minor inconvenience compared to the benefit of extended battery endurance.

Strengths and Critical Advantages​

• Hands-off operation: The biggest asset is in zero-user configuration dependency. Most people never change Windows’ defaults. Adaptive Energy Saver does the work for them automatically.
• No screen dimming: In eliminating one of the frequent user annoyances, it ensures transitions to power-saving are almost invisible.
• Dynamic, context-aware logic: System load monitoring is a smarter and more relevant trigger for energy-saving than abstract battery percentages alone.
• Potential hardware longevity: By limiting heat generation at low-activity periods, the device may run cooler and extend battery health cycles.
• Energy efficiency at scale: Across millions of laptops and tablets, even a few percent improvement translates to massive aggregate power savings and related reduction in carbon emissions.

Notable Risks and Points of Caution​

While the new feature looks promising, several uncertainties merit careful consideration.

1. Transparency and User Control​

Windows users have historically clamored for both simplicity and transparency—two sometimes conflicting demands. If Adaptive Energy Saver intervenes just when you’re expecting a critical file to sync or a calendar event to update, it may introduce new forms of confusion. Will the OS clearly surface when energy saver is active? Will there be a toggle or override?
Initial feedback from Insiders suggests that greater user feedback about what’s being suppressed or delayed would increase trust in the system. A notification or icon could be helpful, but too many pop-ups defeat the goal of seamlessness. Microsoft needs to hit a sweet spot between invisible efficacy and clear communication.

2. Performance Impacts Under Heavy Load​

While Microsoft touts that Adaptive Energy Saver responds to system load, edge cases could arise. If a device has background tasks that intermittently surge—like backup software, security scanning, or media transcoding—will Windows intervene at the right moments, or mistakenly suppress needed resources? Historical reports with aggressive power plans showed reduced system responsiveness when the logic failed to match user intent.

3. Compatibility with Legacy Hardware and Apps​

Given the diversity of Windows hardware, from entry-level tablets to workstations, plus the universe of legacy and third-party applications, the real-world effectiveness of system-load based power management may vary. Older drivers, “always-on” utilities, or poorly-behaved software could present false signals, potentially negating efficiency wins.
Previously, quirks with USB suspend, network adapters’ power states, and background services have undermined advanced power management features. As with all things Windows, robust testing across device classes is essential.

4. Edge Cases: Gaming, Streaming, and Real-time Tasks​

Gamers and content creators—some of the most battery-conscious and performance-sensitive users—may notice subtle changes if Adaptive Energy Saver prioritizes “idle” detection too aggressively. Resource-demanding or sustained low-level activity (encoding, streaming, local server running) could be misclassified. Microsoft will have to carefully tune which workloads count as “active” to avoid throttling or delaying processes unnecessarily.

5. Travel and Mobility Scenarios​

In some scenarios—especially travel where WiFi is intermittent and the device spends much time in and out of “connected standby”—Adaptive Energy Saver may bounce in and out of active states more frequently than ideal, leading to unpredictably delayed updates or syncs.

Historical Context: Incremental Evolution​

Microsoft’s journey in power management reveals a slow but clear progression toward automated, context-aware control. From Windows XP’s crude batch power plans and manual Group Policy scripting, to Vista and Windows 7’s hierarchical plans and third-party optimization tools, each step reduced friction at the cost of still requiring active user engagement and periodic troubleshooting.
Windows 8 and 10 sharply curtailed user-facing plan complexity, moving toward simpler user choices with less granularity but more system intelligence. Still, many advanced users either missed the older hands-on controls or installed aftermarket tools for the last word in optimization.
With Windows 11, the emphasis on “things just work”—including extending this ethos to battery life—reflects contemporary expectations across hardware ecosystems. Apple, for instance, has long downplayed user power choices in favor of invisible device-managed smarts. Microsoft is now bridging that philosophical gap, but must reconcile the Windows ethos of flexibility with the promise of automatic efficiency.

The Broader Impact: Sustainability, Security, and Industry Trends​

Efficiency improvements at the scale of Windows 11’s reach have environmental as well as economic significance. The IT industry faces mounting pressure to reduce energy use and carbon emissions. By automatically squeezing out more hours per charge cycle and by extension, per device lifespan, Adaptive Energy Saver aligns with both eco-sustainability goals and enterprise mandates for greener operations.
From a security perspective, reduced background activity on low system load may also narrow the attack surface against certain network-initiated exploits or minimize the window of vulnerability to drive-by malware. However, if critical background updates or patch cycles are delayed, Microsoft must carefully ensure vital fixes aren’t missed or postponed.

Comparing with Third-Party Solutions and Manufacturer Utilities​

Many PC manufacturers (Dell, Lenovo, HP) have long offered their own battery saver utilities—software that sometimes spiders deeper into hardware firmware for even tighter energy savings. However, these are often specific to certain models or chipsets, poorly integrated with Windows’ own plans, and rarely receive timely updates, resulting in compatibility headaches after major OS upgrades.
Adaptive Energy Saver—being developed at the OS level—should, in theory, reduce fragmentation, enforce consistency, and simplify support. It also benefits from Microsoft’s telemetry data, allowing for population-level analysis and rapid iteration. Nonetheless, the risk remains that proprietary vendor utilities could conflict or produce overlapping effects, especially in the chaotic “Wild West” ecosystem of the Windows device universe.

User Feedback: Early Reception and Expectations​

Initial reports from select Windows Insiders have been generally positive, particularly regarding the non-intrusive transition between states. Enthusiasts welcome the removal of forced screen dimming, while professionals appreciate not having document sync frozen at the wrong time. Still, many users expect deeper options—a way to configure the priority of which apps can bypass latency, or explicit logging of what is being paused.
Power users want to see more advanced toggles accessible through the Settings app; IT administrators desire Group Policy hooks to manage Adaptive Energy Saver behavior across organizational fleets. End users unfamiliar with these concepts are likely to benefit the most from the default automation.

What to Expect as Public Rollout Nears​

When Adaptive Energy Saver exits preview and lands in general release, expect it to be opt-out for supported devices, perhaps with some educational onboarding the first time it engages. Based on past precedent, Microsoft will likely offer at least minimal documentation on how to toggle or fine-tune its logic—and solicit post-release feedback to further refine heuristics.
Look for a broader conversation about energy management in Windows as other major OS updates prioritize sustainability and user transparency. If successful, Adaptive Energy Saver could serve as both a roadmap for similar features on other platforms and as leverage for Microsoft’s ongoing claims to environmental leadership.

Conclusion: Toward a More Efficient, Smoother Windows Experience​

Adaptive Energy Saver is Microsoft’s boldest reimagining of power management yet. Its system intelligence, seamless operation, and sharp focus on non-disruption chart a course toward a smarter, greener computing future—without sacrificing usability.
There are, however, real challenges ahead: transparency, perfecting the balance between automation and control, managing diverse hardware, and ensuring that edge-case workflows aren’t disrupted. If these can be addressed, Adaptive Energy Saver could become the “automatic pilot” for battery life that Windows users have long dreamed of: always on call, always learning, and making your device last just that bit longer—whether you notice or not.
As rollout expands and testing continues, Windows 11 users—and the industry—will be watching closely to see if this new kind of intelligence delivers on its considerable promise, setting a new standard for what battery life and energy savings mean for modern devices.

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Source: Tech Edition Microsoft is testing a smarter way to save your laptop’s battery on Windows 11

 

[ChatGPT]

Microsoft’s relentless drive toward performance efficiency in Windows 11 has taken a bold new turn with the announcement of its most adaptive battery-saving update yet. Laptops and portable Windows devices have long struggled to satisfy the daily grind of mobile professionals and students, with battery life stubbornly lagging behind the leaps seen in CPUs, solid-state drives, and always-on connectivity. Yet, within this context, the newly introduced adaptive energy saver mode in Windows 11 signals a strategic shift—one that leverages intelligence, user-centric automation, and actionable battery insights to push the limits of longevity, all while remaining “invisible” to the end user.

The Unseen Evolution: Adaptive Energy Saver Mode Arrives​

Microsoft’s latest Windows 11 update marks a paradigm change in device energy management. Traditionally, energy saver modes have existed as largely static, percentage-based triggers. When the system detected low battery—usually around 20%—it would dim screens, restrict background tasks, and issue urgent notifications to save work or grab a charger. This method, while valuable, was reactive rather than predictive, often coming into play only when the situation had become critical.
With the adaptive energy saver mode, Microsoft is moving away from single-factor triggers and toward a contextual, workload-aware system. Rather than merely tracking the remaining charge percentage, Windows 11 now analyzes real-time activity and system workload to decide when to shift into energy-saving mode. The effect is both finely tuned and responsive: if a user is simply reading, browsing, or performing lightweight tasks, energy saver activates quietly, reducing background processes and lowering screen brightness. But as soon as CPU- or GPU-intensive work resumes—think video editing, compiling code, or gaming—the system automatically returns to full power, with no manual intervention required.

Automation and User Experience: Seamless and Subtle​

Microsoft’s stated goal for this update is clear: make the battery saver “invisible but effective.” For the majority of users, battery management has traditionally been an afterthought—settings are often left at defaults, with adjustments made only when system pop-ups warn of impending shutdown. This update proposes a future where such warnings become a thing of the past; the system proactively adjusts power consumption before a crisis point is reached.
Critically, adaptive mode’s transitions are engineered for subtlety. Unlike older approaches, enabling or disabling energy saver does not sharply alter screen brightness in a jarring way. Instead, brightness adjustments are smoother and background process throttling is managed so as not to interfere with ongoing foreground activity. Transparency effects are also paused, unnecessary updates and OneDrive, OneNote, and Phone Link syncing are deferred, ensuring only the most essential processes continue.
A key design philosophy is to reduce “user friction”: battery-saving actions happen behind the scenes, tailored precisely to user habits and workloads. No longer does a user need to dig through the power settings or manually toggle modes to maximize battery life—they can simply work, trusting Windows 11 to handle the rest. This is especially impactful for hybrid and remote workers, students, and anyone who uses their device in unpredictable contexts, such as during travel or in shared workspaces.

Technical Deep Dive: How Adaptive Mode Works​

At the heart of adaptive energy saver mode is an advanced workload monitoring engine. Windows 11 continually samples processor and GPU usage, memory load, active application types, and even patterns of display interaction. If usage patterns suggest a period of low-demand activity—for example, idle browsing, eBook reading, or attending a meeting on muted video calls—the operating system adjusts a broad swath of performance and visual settings. These adjustments include:

• Reducing display brightness (typically by up to 30%, though this threshold can be vendor-dependent)
• Disabling window transparency and subtle animations
• Pausing non-essential background sync (e.g., cloud services, app content refreshes)
• Throttling background processes and scheduled updates
• Suspending visual flourishes and desktop applets that have marginal utility during low-power scenarios

The beauty of this process is that it remains context-sensitive. Start a resource-hungry activity, and energy saver seamlessly disengages. This eliminates the legacy frustrations of battery saver modes, which too often forced users into performance sacrifices exactly when they needed full power.
It is important to note that this functionality operates only on battery-powered devices. Desktop systems, which do not face mobility power constraints, are unaffected. Similarly, the adaptive mode does not override user-specified power plans or policies; it supplements them with workload intelligence.

Next-Generation Battery Insights: Transparency and Control​

One of the headline features rolling out alongside adaptive mode is an improved battery usage dashboard. Historically, Windows users have had only broad visibility into what drains their battery: typically a single icon with a crude “time remaining” estimate, and perhaps a list of running applications. Windows 11’s new dashboard offers much more granular insight.
Users can now view precise battery estimates based on current and recent workload. The dashboard breaks down power usage by application and background process, exposing battery-draining culprits that might otherwise have gone unnoticed—think browser tabs with autoplay videos or background cloud synchronization. This transparency is key for troubleshooting and optimizing battery use. Users are empowered to make informed decisions about which tasks to suspend or close, and more quickly identify misbehaving apps that may need reconfiguration or removal.
There’s also a significant educational component. By tracking concrete patterns, Windows 11 can suggest actionable steps the user can take to extend battery life, such as closing unused tabs, pausing sync-heavy apps, or shifting workflows during travel. For IT departments in BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) environments, such dashboards can provide ephemeral, privacy-respecting insights without the need for intrusive management agents.

Real-World Impact: Who Benefits Most?​

The most immediate beneficiaries of Windows 11’s adaptive energy saver mode are mobile professionals, students, and digital nomads—any group that relies on battery longevity to maintain productivity. For example:

• Students attending all-day lectures or study sessions, who may use laptops for everything from note-taking to video calls, often forget to adjust battery settings until it’s too late. Adaptive mode proactively preserves battery during light usage, stretching runtime until they can next charge.
• Business travelers, reliant on laptops for work in airports, hotels, and taxis, routinely shift between low-intensity (email, reading) and high-intensity tasks (presentations, analytics). Windows 11 silently adapts, with no need for constant mode-juggling.
• Remote workers operating in unpredictable home-office setups may not always have access to reliable power. Adaptive energy saver smoothly extends uptime, reducing the risk of dropped calls or data loss.

Beyond productivity, consumers benefit as well—particularly those using convertibles, tablets, or handhelds where every extra hour of unplugged use is a win. Windows 11’s new battery dashboard also democratizes troubleshooting, turning the OS itself into a coach for better personal device management.

Critical Analysis: Strengths and Potential Risks​

Strengths​

1. Proactive, Context-Aware Automation​

Moving beyond static thresholds to workload-aware automation could be a game-changer. By dynamically responding to application load and usage patterns, Windows 11 achieves a level of optimization that pre-set power plans cannot deliver.

2. Enhanced User Transparency​

Granular battery use tracking is a long-requested feature. By offering actionable insight—right down to the individual app or process—it puts control back in users’ hands, while demystifying which tasks are most energy-hungry.

3. Seamless User Experience​

Relying on intelligent automation fosters trust: users less frequently encounter jarring screen dimming, performance throttling at the wrong times, or sync interruptions that affect productivity. Microsoft’s “invisibility” philosophy reduces cognitive overhead for end users, who simply want their PCs to “just work.”

4. Enterprise-Friendly Design​

Adaptive mode is poised to benefit IT departments by reducing complaints about battery life and simplifying device management. Less manual tweaking by end users can also reduce support overhead, while preserving user autonomy.

Risks and Caveats​

1. False Positives in Workload Detection​

A potential downside of ANY automation lies in algorithmic missteps—what if Windows mistakes a critical work task for a “light” workload and throttles performance? While Microsoft’s telemetry suggests this risk is low, early adopters should watch for misclassifications and report issues. Power users performing simultaneous light and heavy tasks (e.g., background rendering plus foreground editing) may occasionally experience unintended slowdowns.

2. Impact on Background Synchronization​

By default, apps such as OneDrive, OneNote, and Phone Link may not sync completely in energy saver mode. Users engaged in collaborative workflows could see delays in file upload/download or message delivery. While, for most, this is an acceptable trade-off, professionals reliant on real-time sync may need to manually override energy saver for periods where collaboration is mission-critical.

3. Compatibility Limitations​

Adaptive mode is only available on portable, battery-equipped devices. While this is an obvious restriction, those using desktops with backup batteries or custom hardware profiles may wonder why similar smarts aren’t available universally.

4. Hardware Vendor Dependencies​

Certain settings—including display dimming thresholds and processor throttling—may be subject to overrides by device firmware or third-party power management utilities. This could result in variable experiences across different hardware lines.

5. Potential Privacy Sensitivities​

While Microsoft assures users that adaptive mode analyzes only local activity patterns to make decisions, the increased telemetry required to optimize battery use may be viewed skeptically by privacy-conscious individuals. Transparent privacy documentation will be essential to maintaining trust.

Windows 11 in Context: How Does Adaptive Energy Saver Compare?​

To understand the significance of adaptive energy saver mode, it’s helpful to examine previous Windows power management offerings and those of competing platforms:

• Legacy Windows: Windows power plans historically required manual selection (Balanced, Power Saver, High Performance), often buried under layers of control panels. While effective in principle, utilization was low due to user inertia.
• Third-Party Solutions: Tools like Power Plan Assistant, KAR Energy Software, and vendor-specific utilities (e.g., ASUS, Dell, Lenovo) offered more granular or automated controls for advanced users, but lacked OS-wide integration and often caused conflicts.
• macOS and Chrome OS: Apple’s macOS has offered energy management features like App Nap and automatic performance adjustment, but often still relies on user engagement. Chrome OS shines in battery simplicity but lacks the depth and transparency now offered by Windows 11.
• Competing Mobile OS: Android and iOS employ aggressive background management and adaptive brightness, but largely prioritize mobile apps, not desktop-level workflows.

Windows 11’s approach is unique in its deep integration, contextual intelligence, and the balance of automation with user visibility.

What’s Next? Making the Most of Adaptive Battery Life​

For users eager to harness the full potential of this update, a few best practices emerge:

• Keep System Up to Date: Adaptive energy saver improvements are available only in the latest Windows 11 releases. Ensure regular Windows Updates are enabled.
• Explore the Battery Dashboard: Get familiar with the new app-by-app breakdowns. Identify and adjust high-drain processes or adjust notifications.
• Customize as Needed: While automation is the default, advanced users can still fine-tune energy settings in the Power & Battery menu, overriding or customizing thresholds for unique workflows.
• Understand Sync Impacts: For uninterrupted syncing, consider temporarily disabling energy saver during collaborative projects.
• Provide Feedback: As with any new feature, real-world user feedback will shape future refinements. Microsoft’s feedback hub remains a critical channel for reporting misclassifications or suggesting new features.

The Future of Windows Battery Life: Ambition and Accountability​

Microsoft’s adaptive energy saver mode is more than just a software update—it’s a vision for the modern, mobile PC. In a computing landscape where every incremental improvement in power efficiency can translate to hours of productivity, a context-aware, self-optimizing operating system is both a logical and necessary evolution. Early results indicate a substantial user-experience jump, particularly for those tired of manually switching modes or suffering last-minute battery anxiety.
Yet, as with any system built on intelligent automation, vigilance is warranted. Users should remain alert to potential misclassifications and unanticipated impacts on critical workflows—trust, but verify.
Ultimately, the true test of Microsoft’s ambitions will come with mass adoption, real-world telemetry, and continued refinement. For now, the combination of transparency, automation, and user empowerment positions Windows 11 at the forefront of next-generation battery management. It’s a foundation that not only helps laptops last longer on battery, but also serves as a springboard for further innovations in energy-aware and user-centric computing.

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For further insights, regularly check WindowsForum.com and Microsoft’s official release notes to stay abreast of the latest enhancements in Windows 11’s power and battery-saving features, as Microsoft continues to iterate and evolve its mobile computing experience.

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Source: Mint https://www.livemint.com/gadgets-and-appliances/microsoft-introduces-fresh-windows-11-update-to-help-laptops-last-longer-on-battery-11752572533808.html