My computer shuts down instead of sleeps when battery drains...

Hi there!
So, I just got a new MacBook Pro (the better 15" one) in June. I've noticed, however, that when my battery drains, and the little warning comes up that says "your computer will go to sleep in a few minutes to preserve data," if I let it run all the way out, it doesn't go to sleep but just shuts down. When I reopen my computer after plugging it in, all my stuff is back, but I do have to press the power button and start it up again.
My old computer (White MacBook 2006) always actually went to sleep, and only if I let it sleep for a long time did it shut off.
Have they changed the behavior? Do the laptops only shut down, and no longer sleep when the battery is gone? Or is something wrong with my computer. I'm getting all my data back, and all the windows and stuff are still open, so that's not a problem for me, but if my computer is working incorrectly only three months after buying it, then I'd like to know...
Thanks! Let me know what further information you need to help!

Your computer is not shutting down — it's hibernating, also called "safe sleep". This is indicated by the fact that everything you were working on is undisturbed when you wake it by pressing the power button.
The contents of RAM are written to the hard drive before the machine enters safe sleep, so that if the battery drains completely before you wake it, the contents of RAM (including your unsaved work) won't be completely lost. This is different from ordinary sleep, in which the machine simply suspends all activity without writing anything to disk. If the machine went into ordinary sleep after giving you a low-battery warning and not getting any cooperation from you (i.e. you didn't heed the warning and plug in AC power), and then you didn't wake it for twelve or fifteen hours, the battery might have gone completely dead and your unsaved work would be lost.
In short, yes, this is new behavior compared to several years ago, and from what you tell us, your machine is working exactly as it's supposed to.

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