Will it control your system? yes.

How long do the batteries last? Months and months and months. I'm going on 19 months.

Will it lose programming? The manual says you have about 6 hours or so. I've had them out longer with no problems. If it's anything like their OTHER remote controls, they aren't dependant on batteries to store their setting. (Sony still uses the "take the batteries out and press all buttons" method for clearning their generic remotes, even though that does NOT work.)