Furthermore, AHCI (Advanced Host Controller Interface), is not supported under Windows, which prevents you from using the entire SATA bandwidth and doesn't give you essential disk performance features such as NCQ (). In essence, the lack of proper care from Apple means that, from a pure performance standpoint, you're running a compromised system and there's not much you can do about it.

Is this performance shortcoming noticeable in real life? See the test results below.

MacBooks generally sport excellent battery life: My MacBook Pro (mid-2009) originally clocked in at about 5.5 hours using Mac OS X, largely thanks to the effect of the built-in switch between the 9600 GT (performance setting) and the 9400M (energy saving setting). Unfortunately, that option isn't available on Windows 7 and that hasn't changed with the latest AMD Radeon offerings available in the 2011 MacBook Pro lineup. Apple keeps the low power embedded GPU (such as the 9400M or the Intel HD Graphics 3000) hidden from Windows and drains battery life.

To get an idea of the actual impact, I performed three tests: First, I just let the laptop sit there, do nothing and let it drain its battery to get an idea of the absolute maximum battery life. Then, I used the laptop to browse the web and multitask with several Office programs and PhotoShop. I repeated all those steps both under Windows 7 and OS X Lion. For my last test, I simply played a 1080p movie in loop until the battery died.