A clarification is required around the issue of power used by WM to maintain RAM. Prior to WM5, the default OS memory usage was to divide volatile memory into two areas: storage and program. A soft reset clears the program area in the same way that a warm reboot clears a PC's memory. However, the storage area always requires a slight trickle of power to maintain its contents even when the device is not in use. A complete power-down of a pre-WM5 device is called a hard reset and the device is functionally returned to out-of-box condition. The registry is reset and user-installed apps are gone.
So on pre-WM5 devices, there is a continuous power requirement to maintain the volatile memory or suffer a hard reset. WM5 makes use of the device's non-volatile memory for storage so a true power-off can be done without requiring a system restore from an independent source.
For all pre-WM5 users, it is necessary to keep power flowing through the volatile memory at all times. This is why even unused device will slowly drain the battery maintaining the info stored in the device RAM.  |