I just sleep it, unless it is going to be off for a few days, then I shut it down.
There's no hibernate, which I miss from my Windows days. I wish there was.
Most of the time I sleep my laptop. But when I want to reset the RAM (or getting up about 1 GB of swap after using a VM for a while), I reset the computer. Power button > enter.
All current Mac laptops automatically hibernate when going to sleep. Try putting the laptop to sleep, waiting for the sleep light to pulse and then remove the battery. When you power it up again it will resume from the hibernation file (grey screen with loading bar)
Having just tried this, I found that it just shut off my computer...
How much battery drain, if any, is there in sleep mode?
When I step away from it a short time or a little longer, I do just as many of you and just put it to sleep. But overnight, I'll shut it down.
That sounds rather high. My Late 2006 MB loses less than 1% per hour when asleep on battery.During my 15-20 minute transport to work, I lose about 3-4% of the battery power.
There's no hibernate, which I miss from my Windows days. I wish there was.
Most of the time I sleep my laptop. But when I want to reset the RAM (or getting up about 1 GB of swap after using a VM for a while), I reset the computer. Power button > enter.
Removing your battery to hibernate? That's insane!
Look for a dashboard widget called "Deep Sleep". One click and your macbook is hibernating. Or for the lazier ones among you, here is the link....
http://deepsleep.free.fr/
Then you did it wrong. You probably didn't wait until the light started pulsating.Having just tried this, I found that it just shut off my computer...