Is Windows 7 causing battery problems in laptops?

A growing contingent of new laptop users are experiencing extremely poor battery performance, and complaining about it loudly online. The thing is, the problem doesn't seem limited to be any one laptop manufacturer, or even any one battery manufacturer. It's starting to look like the only common denominator for the users experiencing problems is Windows 7.

While it's still too early to say with any certainty that Microsoft's latest version of Windows is the culprit, Computerworld is reporting that Microsoft has said that it is looking into the battery problems.

Microsoft's support forum has a thread dedicated to reports of battery problems under Windows 7 that started in early June 2009, and it's still going strong! Some users on the thread are simply reporting decreased battery life when running Windows 7 vs. Windows XP, while others claim they believe Windows 7 has actually reduced their battery's capacities. If that claim turns out to be true, it could be a landmark situation: a software bug that damages hardware could lead to lawsuits, though it's extremely unlikely that Microsoft will let this situation get to that stage.