Beg to differ, I never have had an Android, only iPhones. If I don’t go in and shut those programs down as described the battery runs down fast. Otherwise it lasts a very long time. I didn’t have to go in and shut programs off in my iPhone 3G and the battery latest all day, no problem. Only my new iPhone 4S has given me battery life problems.
It’s probably a misbehaving app — I’ve noticed that some apps that use location services have, after certain updates, been a bit too... aggressive... about keeping themselves updated, using location services constantly unless you force-quit them.
You can go to the location services menu under settings and see which apps are currently using location services and have used them in the last 24 hours — first step is to disable it on anything that doesn’t actually need it. (I mean, Angry Birds... really? Why does that need location services?) But if you see a blue arrow (currently using) next to an app that you haven’t just been using, then that could very possibly be a problem app.
Because prior to iOS 4 you couldn't even suspend a program -- it was just quit. The iOS 4/5 method of multitasking is a compromise, more functionality than previously, but better battery life than free-for-all multitasking like in Android. But for battery life problems on the 4S, check out the deal with the time zone setting, turns out that is sucking battery life. A software update fix is expected soon.