Windows 8:一款難當重任的操作系統?
Microsoft Corp. has made big changes to its familiar Windows operating system to stay relevant amid booming sales of mobile devices such as Apple Inc.'s iPad. But some corporate customers worry Microsoft has made its workplace workhorse too unfamiliar.
微軟(Microsoft Corp.)對人們熟悉的Windows操作系統進行了大刀闊斧的變革，以便在蘋果(Apple Inc.) iPad等移動設備熱銷之際不落人後。不過一些企業客戶擔心，微軟讓這套在工作場合應用廣泛的主力操作系統變得令人過於陌生了。The new operating system, dubbed Windows 8, adds a new way to navigate a computer by touching rows of small windows, called tiles, that represent websites or apps, much like the icons familiar to smartphone users. Microsoft's new interface can also be controlled with a mouse, and used in a mode similar to the old Windows 'desktop.'
這套名爲Windows 8的新操作系統增添了一種新的操作電腦的方法，使用者可以觸摸一排排代表網站或應用程序的小窗口來操控電腦。這些名叫“瓷貼”(tile)的小窗口和智能手機用戶所熟悉的圖標非常類似。微軟的新界面也能夠通過鼠標控制，還可以通過類似老版Windows系統的“桌面”模式進行操作。Yet some companies that have tried the new software─particularly those that expect to stick to traditional laptops and desktop computers for now─worry employees will be frustrated with the changes.
REUTERS一款使用Windows 8操作系統的三星平板電腦。然而，一些已試用過新操作系統的公司擔心員工會不適應這些變化，尤其是那些眼下希望繼續使用傳統筆記本電腦和臺式機的公司。
'The interface for a tablet is very nice,' said Adam Noble, chief information officer for GAF, a Wayne, N.J., building-materials company that uses about 3,000 Windows-based systems as well as some iPads. 'On a laptop, it's more difficult to use.'
新澤西州韋恩市(Wayne)建材公司GAF的首席信息長諾布勒(Adam Noble)說，這個界面用於平板電腦非常合適，但裝在筆記本電腦上則不太好用。GAF公司使用了約3,000臺裝有Windows系統的電腦，同時也使用iPad。The new software presents companies with a training issue they haven't faced since Windows 95 first brought innovations such as the Start button, which is replaced by a Start screen in Windows 8.
新系統也給企業帶來了培訓問題。自Windows 95首次採用“開始”按鈕等一系列創新技術以來，企業還不曾碰到更換操作系統需要對員工進行培訓的問題。Windows 8用“開始”界面取代了“開始”按鈕。'This is going to be the first time in a decade and half that [companies are] actually going to have to teach someone to use Windows,' said Stephen Kleynhans, a Gartner Inc. analyst.
研究機構Gartner Inc.的分析師克萊因漢斯(Stephen Kleynhans)說，這將是15年來企業首次需要教員工如何使用Windows。Microsoft officials note that there is always some initial customer resistance to change in its products that is eventually overcome, and insist that the benefits of Windows 8 are worth the learning curve. 'We're confident about the value we can deliver,' said Erwin Visser, senior director of the Microsoft team overseeing Windows for corporations.
微軟負責人指出，客戶最初總是會對微軟產品的變化存有一些牴觸情緒，但這最終會被克服，並堅持說Windows 8所帶來的種種好處值得用戶付出學習時間。微軟負責向企業客戶銷售Windows操作系統的團隊高級負責人維瑟(Erwin Visser)說，我們對所能傳遞的價值抱有信心。Some technology buyers already seem to have moved on. 'We believe today as a tablet, the iPad gives us a strong combination of functionality, security and price,' said Peter Hendel, associate director of the global business services arm of Procter & Gamble Co., which counts more than 5,000 iPads in use among sales people, executives and other workers who travel frequently.
全球業務服務部門副主管亨德爾(Peter Hendel)說，我們相信如今作爲一款平板電腦，iPad爲我們提供了一個集功能性、安全性和適中價格於一身的產品。寶潔公司使用的iPad數量超過5,000臺，銷售人員、公司高管以及其它經常出差的員工都在使用。Stuart Kippelman, chief information officer of Covanta Holding Corp.'s Covanta Energy unit, said he can envision his company and others buying fewer Microsoft computers in the future as the iPad replaces some uses of traditional computers. 'I can see that happening,' Mr. Kippelman said.
卡萬塔控股(Covanta Holding Corp.)旗下卡萬塔能源公司(Covanta Energy)的IT負責人吉普爾曼(Stuart Kippelman)說，將來隨着傳統電腦的某些用途被iPad取代，自己公司和其他公司購買的微軟電腦越來越少。吉普爾曼說，我可以預料到這種情形的發生。Forrester Research Inc. found that about one-third of companies it surveyed plan to adopt Windows 8 eventually, while 57% haven't considered Windows 8 yet or plan to skip it. At the same point before Windows 7 was released in 2009, two-thirds of companies surveyed said they planned to migrate to Windows 7, and 28% said they hadn't yet considered Windows 7 or planned to skip it. One difference is in 2009 many businesses had been waiting for years to update old Windows software. Now, many have spent millions of dollars installing Windows 7 and are reluctant to spend the money again so soon.
美國弗雷斯特研究公司(Forrester Research Inc.)發現，三分之一的受調查企業計劃最終採用Windows 8，57%的企業要麼還沒有考慮採用Windows 8，要麼打算跳過。2009年Windows 7發佈之前的同一時間，三分之二的受調查企業表示打算升級爲Windows 7，28%的企業表示還沒有考慮採用或打算跳過。2009年的一個不同之處是，很多企業爲升級老版Windows系統已經等了好幾年。而現在，很多企業已經斥巨資安裝Windows 7，不願意這麼快又花一筆錢。One fan of Windows 8 is Joe Simon, chief technical officer of Advance Publications Inc.'s Condé Nast, the New York publisher of Vanity Fair and Vogue magazines. 'I think it's the best operating system we've seen out of Microsoft for a long time,' he said.
《名利場》(Vanity Fair)和Vogue雜誌的出版方、Advance Publications旗下紐約出版公司Conde Nast的首席技術長西蒙(Joe Simon)是Windows 8的粉絲。他說，我覺得它是很長時間以來微軟推出的最好的操作系統。To save money, Condé Nast has stuck with 11-year-old Windows XP for most of the company's 3,000 Windows users, and Mr. Simon said he is enthusiastic to move to Windows 8 'as soon as possible.' The company has about 5,000 iPads in use; Mr. Simon said he is 'agnostic' about whether he will try to shift those iPad users to Windows tablets.
爲了省錢，Conde Nast公司11年以來一直堅持讓其3,000名Windows用戶中的多數人使用Windows XP。西蒙說他非常希望公司儘快改用Windows 8。該公司有5,000部左右的iPad正在使用；西蒙說他“不知道”自己是否會試圖讓這些iPad用戶改用Windows平板。Spending on Windows devices still dwarfs the iPad, though use of Apple's device is growing at a rapid clip. Forrester estimates business spending on iPads will total nearly $10 billion this year, a 76% jump from 2011. Spending on Windows-based computers is projected to dip 3% to $124 billion.
企業採購Windows設備的花費仍然遠高於iPad，不過iPad的使用正在快速增長。據Forrester估計，今年企業iPad支出總額將接近100億美元，較2011年增長76%，而Windows電腦支出總額預計將爲1,240億美元，下降3%。Microsoft and PC makers that are developing tablets to work with its new software say they offer a key advantage: the ability to run popular business software such as Microsoft's Word and Excel. Microsoft also says its software is better at letting technology managers electronically send new software applications to hundreds of Windows computers, or wipe corporate data from a lost or stolen tablet.
微軟和開發Windows 8平板電腦的PC製造商說，Windows 8有一個至關重要的優勢：它可以運行微軟Word和Excel等流行企業軟件。微軟還說，Windows 8還使技術管理人員能夠更加方便地通過網絡將新的軟件應用發送到數百臺Windows電腦上，或從丟失、被盜的平板電腦中擦除公司數據。'It's the tablet enterprise customers have been waiting for,' said Mr. Visser of Microsoft.
微軟的維瑟說，這是企業客戶一直在等待的平板電腦。There is pressure for companies to shift from Windows XP, since Microsoft plans to end extended support for the software in April 2014. Yet Barclays Capital, in surveys of corporate chief information officers, says it has found more desire for customers to upgrade to Windows 7 rather than Windows 8 over the next year.
企業也有升級Windows XP的壓力，因爲微軟打算在2014年4月結束對這款操作系統的後續支持。但巴克萊資本(Barclays Capital)在對企業IT負責人的調查中發現，未來一年用戶更願意升級爲Windows 7而不是Windows 8。
