Battery Saver in Windows 10 Build 9860

If you're a Windows Phone user and have read through a couple of our articles on Action Center and DataSense already, you might be getting a sneaking suspicion that Microsoft spent a lot of time in the last few weeks integrating Windows Phone features into Windows 10 Build 9860. If you are, indeed, one of those thinking that, you'd be right. And, here's one more: Battery Saver has now also made it into Windows 10 with Build 9860.

Windows Phone users may already be accustomed to using Battery Saver – but, maybe not. Battery Saver exists in the list of Windows Phone system settings, and allows Windows Phone owners to configure how the phone operates in low battery conditions. When Battery Saver kicks-in, it minimizes the functions available to the operating system and apps. The app also shows available battery life, shows how much battery apps use historically, and also allows you to configure power options per app.

To be honest, I've never used Battery Saver in Windows Phone. I know it's there, but I've never had a reason to try it out. I'm an avid power miser (some would say power junkie). It's rare that my Windows Phone is not tethered to power when I'm in the office.

The Windows 10 Build 9860 version of Battery Saver is not yet as full featured as its Windows Phone cousin. In fact, the only option you can adjust is to turn Battery Saver on or not. And, it's questionable whether or not the switch actually does anything. There a greyed-out option for setting automatic rules for telling Windows 10 what to do under low battery conditions, but that's it.

To locate it in Windows 10 Build 9860, open up the Charms (swipe from the right) and goto: Settings – Change PC Settings – Battery Saver (it’s the very last option in the PC Settings list)

Battery Saver in Windows 10 is pretty much non-functional, but it shows the direction Microsoft is taking for merging its mobile device and desktop operating systems.