A new taskbar status application BatteryBar adds a slick looking battery life meter to the Windows taskbar. It comes with detailed battery life information and some gorgeous eye candy in a mouse over dialog.

(NOTE: Also check out the BatteryBar PRO review here!)

Once installed, activating BatteryBar is as as easy as could be. Simply right-clicking on the taskbar and choosing Toolbars -> BatteryBar from the menu. The meter button changes from blue to green when you are on battery power, and clicking on the meter button switches the display between actual time remaining or a percentage view. The percentage meter is calculated using a statistical prediction that keeps a history of how quickly your battery usually drains to more accurately predict battery life—so the time remaining may seem a little odd at first.

When you’re running on battery, BatteryBar shows the percentage bar in green, yellow, or red, depending on how much battery power is remaining. The bar displays the time left on your battery in Hours:Minutes.

Battery is discharging with 2 hours, 46 minutes of battery life remaining.

When charging, the percentage bar is shown in blue to indicate charging, and the estimated time to full charge is shown. The bar turns black and shows “On A/C” when fully charged.

Battery is charging with 46 minutes until the battery is fully charged.

Features

• Vista style – The toolbar is using the same look and feel as the Vista taskbar buttons
• Statistical time prediction – BatteryBar monitors your battery and keeps a history of how long it takes for your battery to charge and discharges. That information is used to more accurately predict the life of your battery
• Translations – BatteryBar fully or partially supports 13 languages. Anyone may volunteer to translate BatteryBar to additional languages
• Detailed Battery Info – BatteryBar is now capable of collecting detailed information about your battery, including max capacity (mW), current capacity (mW), charge rate (mW), discharge rate (mW), and more.
• Automatic Update – BatteryBar will check for new versions at startup and automatically download the new version

Everything listed above comes in the free version. The pro version adds the following:

• Low battery and critical battery notifications and audio alerts
• Customize 20 settings, including changing the font, low battery warning levels, and more.
• New features in future versions that will only be available in the Pro version

Check out my review of BatteryBar Pro here!

Download the free BatteryBar from http://www.osirisdevelopment.com/BatteryBar/index.html.