Google promises to fix Chrome bug on Windows, causing laptop batteries to drain

Google has announced that a serious flaw in the web browser, reportedly affecting Windows machines since 2010, will finally be addressed. The issue is Chrome fails to return to an idle state when not being used, requiring more juice from the power supply, a serious problem for laptop and tablet owners. The company has pushed the flaw to the top of the to-do list for the Chrome team so we're hoping it won't be too long before a fix is released to allow the viewing of more cat GIFs between charges.

The problem lies with how Google is interacting with Windows when it comes to its web browser. Because the software is not properly running in idle, this is leading to more drain on the battery. It's all technical and whatnot, so we recommend you check out Ian Morris' report over on Forbes for more details. It's worth the read if you're interested to learn exactly why this is occurring. For everyone else, we'll alert you as to when Google releases a patch to address this problem.

Let us know in the comments if you've noticed significant battery drain on your mobile Windows PCs.

Source: Forbes, PC World, via: Engadget

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Rich Edmonds
Senior Editor, PC Build

Rich Edmonds was formerly a Senior Editor of PC hardware at Windows Central, covering everything related to PC components and NAS. He's been involved in technology for more than a decade and knows a thing or two about the magic inside a PC chassis. You can follow him on Twitter at @RichEdmonds.

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