Core Duo battery lifespan: round up

We have already reported twice about the potential battery lifespan issue of the future Core Duo-based Core Duo (here and there). In summary, by simply plugging a USB peripheral in Core Duo-based computer, it would stop energy saving management and reduce battery lifespan by 30%.
AnandTech has analyzed the problem and brings additional information.
- First, this bug is not only present in Yonah (aka Core Duo and Solo), but also in Pentium M processors.
- This bug is initiated as soon as a USB peripheral is plugged in, eventhough the peripheral is not working or request sent to it (from a USB printer to a USB storage key); the power-saving management system is stopped, and the USB port receive the maximal amount of power possible (unnecessary).
- Microsoft has published for Windows XP a patch that partially fixes the issue while waiting for a more definitive answer. This patch is not perfect, since it does not work in some notebooks, where putting the computer into sleep mode inactivates the patch...
The last part of this news is a good point, since it proves that one can fix the issue via a software solution. For sure, Apple is working hard on this problem, and we should soon know what is the real battery lifespan of the MB Pro.