During Battery Gauge reset - Why need not use the computer?

[ComputerMinder]

When I am doing the battery gauge reset using the Battery Maintenance why does it always tell me I should close all open programs and not use the computer?

I assume there should be a good reason for that?

Reason I am asking is that on the X61s with 8 cell battery it could take a long time to full charge then full discharge and fully charge again.It's difficult for me not to use the computer for that during days of not much sleep.

[OldManClayton]

It probably allows for an accurate measurement of battery life when power usage isn't fluctuating. It's hard for it to guess what shape the battery is in when one minute you've got 2 hours left and the next you've got 4.

Also it could be because it doesn't want any unscheduled power suckage. If you start using wifi all of a sudden and draw a bunch in photoshop, it's suddenly going to use more power. The discharge can't go too far or your computer will crash! Probably not that.

That's my guess.