Dalvik cache is a system cache that I think requires root in order to clear. If you're not rooted, you could try clearing the cache partition using these instructions. This helps to clear out the cobwebs after an update, and can help improve performance and battery life. Doing a full factory data reset is another option, but it's more of a hassle, because then you have to reinstall all of your apps.
There has been much written about task killers for Android, most of it unfavorable. In general, Android is supposed to manage memory and apps intelligently, and by keeping recent or common apps in memory, it makes their startup much faster. By killing all apps frequently, you may actually end up using more battery, because a lot of those apps will automatically restart, and that takes CPU power. However, it's certainly true that some apps can misbehave and work overtime, or accidentally (or purposefully) wake up the device many times a day to do something, which eats up more battery. So task killers can help to stop one of these rogue process, but you need to know what is going haywire before you decide what to stop, which is always the $100,000 question. Some apps that might cause significant battery drain include Google Currents (if you have it set to automatic refresh), fancy live wallpapers, some antivirus apps (e.g., I found Avast to use significantly more battery than Lookout), and essentially any app that frequently tries to access the web (think social apps).
There are a lot of apps out there that can give you an idea of what exactly is using up juice. I've seen many people recommend GSAM Battery Monitor or Better Battery Stats. These apps can give you a more detailed breakdown of battery use compared with the stock Android settings. In addition, you could also try Wake Lock Detector, which can tell you which apps are waking your device up to do stuff, how often, and for how long. I used it recently to discover that Google Maps has a settings called Location Reporting, that when turned on (which it is by default), causes the app to wake the device up frequently to try to report back to Google location information. Turning that setting off improved my battery life significantly.
I'm not a developer or a power user, but I wouldn't recommend using the "Don't keep activities" setting. As it's clearly labeled, it's a developer option, so it's not really meant for day to day use. Having an activity get killed each time you close it might make your system more unstable.
There has been much written about task killers for Android, most of it unfavorable. In general, Android is supposed to manage memory and apps intelligently, and by keeping recent or common apps in memory, it makes their startup much faster. By killing all apps frequently, you may actually end up using more battery, because a lot of those apps will automatically restart, and that takes CPU power. However, it's certainly true that some apps can misbehave and work overtime, or accidentally (or purposefully) wake up the device many times a day to do something, which eats up more battery. So task killers can help to stop one of these rogue process, but you need to know what is going haywire before you decide what to stop, which is always the $100,000 question. Some apps that might cause significant battery drain include Google Currents (if you have it set to automatic refresh), fancy live wallpapers, some antivirus apps (e.g., I found Avast to use significantly more battery than Lookout), and essentially any app that frequently tries to access the web (think social apps).
There are a lot of apps out there that can give you an idea of what exactly is using up juice. I've seen many people recommend GSAM Battery Monitor or Better Battery Stats. These apps can give you a more detailed breakdown of battery use compared with the stock Android settings. In addition, you could also try Wake Lock Detector, which can tell you which apps are waking your device up to do stuff, how often, and for how long. I used it recently to discover that Google Maps has a settings called Location Reporting, that when turned on (which it is by default), causes the app to wake the device up frequently to try to report back to Google location information. Turning that setting off improved my battery life significantly.
I'm not a developer or a power user, but I wouldn't recommend using the "Don't keep activities" setting. As it's clearly labeled, it's a developer option, so it's not really meant for day to day use. Having an activity get killed each time you close it might make your system more unstable.
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