【英语科技】Windows折腾我十五年

Microsoft was dealt a nasty blow by the European Court of First Instance this week. The court backed the European Commission's ruling in 2004 that the software group abused its near-monopoly in personal computers to stymie competitors.Not only does Microsoft face the reinforced threat of fines if it fails to obey the Commission's orders, but also the latter may try to cramp Windows Vista, the latest version of the operating software that Microsoft originally produced in an effort to rival the graphical user interface pioneered by Apple. Neelie Kroes, the competition commissioner, says she would like Windows' market share to fall from more than 90 per cent to nearer 50 per cent.

It sounds intimidating, but the biggest challenge facing Windows is not the threat from European Union regulators. It is that Microsoft's operating software – its flagship product – does not work very well.

I have not rushed to this conclusion. I was among the early adopters of Windows 3.1 after Microsoft launched it in 1992. Since then I have taken my chances on Windows NT and Windows 2000 at work and Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows ME, Windows XP and, most recently, Windows Vista at home. Each time, I have hoped against hope that Microsoft had solved Windows' deep-seated problems.

That adds up to a decade and a half of disappointment, which is more than anyone ought to endure.

Windows can operate OK. When the computer is up and running, and not having to switch among a lot of applications, it trundles along just fine. But I have come to dread those application and system freezes and crashes that plague PCs and the endless wait for a Windows-run computer to regain consciousness from its slumber, which is as hard to disturb as Sleeping Beauty's.

I have seen Bill Gates, Microsoft's co-founder, give presentations about how the next generation of software will change lives and let us perform many tasks seamlessly. Then I look at my laptop – the one I have to keep removing the battery from and unplugging to re-start – and I want to yell: “Forget all that, Bill! Just make this thing work properly!”

I do not subscribe to the view that Microsoft is inherently evil or incompetent. The Microsoft people I have met are largely friendly and intelligent and appear to be trying hard to please their customers. Other bits of Microsoft software, including the Office suite, the Xbox operating system and even the Windows Mobile operating software for mobile phones look good and work as promised.

No, the problem is Windows for personal computers. The iPod-led renaissance of Apple has encouraged more consumers to buy Mac computers running its OSX operating software. I am among them and having both a PC and an iMac at home provides a contrast. I find myself using the iMac when I can because I know it will start faster than the Windows Vista machine will, and is less likely to pack up.

At some level, this is an unequal comparison. The reason Windows works so ploddingly is that it carries bigger burdens than OSX.

One of these burdens is breadth. Windows is dominant partly because so much software is written by other companies to run on it. That is good for Microsoft since customers find it near-impossible to abandon Windows. But it means Windows has to carry lots of plug-ins and device drivers to make all this software run properly, which makes the software sluggish.

The second burden is the past. Microsoft has stuck to the principle of “backwards compatibility” – that all software written for earlier versions of Windows should be able to run on newer ones. This is admirable but it means that Microsoft has never been able to wipe the slate clean and get rid of the accumulated bugs and peculiarities, as Apple decided to do with OSX in 2001.

The result is that, no matter how hard it tries to make each version of Windows more reliable, after a while the old monster bites. That, at any rate, is my experience of Vista. It looks smart and it has nice features, such as a search facility that can find files quickly (unlike on XP) but the longer I use it the worse it behaves.

There is a paradox here. The EU attacks Microsoft for obstructing competition in the way that Windows is designed. Yet the flaw in Windows as a product stems from the fact that Microsoft co-operates closely with its potential rivals, albeit for reasons of self-interest. If it ignored others and did not care if their software worked on its platform, it would be freer to improve Windows itself.

This is not really an excuse, since Windows has become entrenched by the network effect of being a near-monopoly software platform for personal computers. Microsoft is adept at treating competitors as “frenemies”, in the lingo of Silicon Valley. It is friendly as long as they help to reinforce its software franchise, but shuts them out when they start to be a threat.

Despite the boost this week's court judgment gave to the Commission, Microsoft has proved resilient in the face of legal challenges. The ultimate question is whether customers will carry on tolerating Windows' technological inadequacies.

So far, there is no sign of revolt. Linux open source software is widely used only on corporate servers, not on desktop machines, and Apple's market share remains small. But I wonder how many Windows users have been, like me, superficially co-operative but silently resentful. Eventually, that must take its toll.

前一阵子，微软(Microsoft)在欧洲初审法院(European Court of First Instance)受到一次重创。该法院支持欧盟委员会(European Commission) 2004年的一项裁决，认定这家软件集团滥用其在个人电脑领域几近垄断的地位，阻挠竞争者。如果微软不遵守欧盟委员会的命令，它不仅要面临更强硬的罚款威胁，欧盟委员会还可能打压Windows Vista。Windows Vista是微软推出的最新版操作系统软件，而微软推出Windows操作系统的初衷，是要与苹果(Apple)首创的图形用户界面一比高低。欧盟竞争委员会委员尼利•克罗斯(Neelie Kroes)表示，她希望Windows的市场份额从超过90%降到50%左右。

这听起来颇有胁迫的意味。不过，Windows面临的最大挑战并不是欧盟监管者的威胁，而是微软的操作软件（其旗舰产品）运行表现不佳。

我并非草率得出这个结论。1992年微软推出Windows 3.1之后，我是最早的采用者之一。从那以后，我在办公室用过Windows NT和Windows 2000，在家用过Windows 95、Windows 98、Windows ME、Windows XP，最近还用了Windows Vista。每次我都一厢情愿地希望，微软已经解决了Windows根深蒂固的问题。

算起来，我已经失望了十五年，超出任何人应该忍受的极限了。

Windows可以运行良好。当电脑启动运行、不必在很多应用程序中切换时，它的速度还不错。但是，我已经受够了应用程序和系统一动不动、电脑死机、还有无止境地等待一台运行Windows的电脑从沉睡中醒来——就跟唤醒睡美人一样难。

我目睹过微软联合创始人比尔•盖茨(Bill Gates)演讲，讲述下一代软件将如何改变生活，让我们畅快淋漓地执行很多任务。随后，我看了一眼我的笔记本电脑（我只有把电池取下、把电源拔了才能将它重新启动），我真想大喊：“比尔！别去管那些！先把这个东西弄好使了再说！”

我并不赞同微软天生邪恶或无能的观点。我见过的微软人，大体上都友好、聪明，而且似乎很努力地取悦自己的客户。微软的其它软件，如Office办公软件套装、Xbox操作系统甚至还有用于移动电话的Windows Mobile操作系统，看起来都很不错，而且也像承诺的那么好用。

所以说，问题出在用于个人电脑的Windows上。苹果在iPod引领下的东山再起，促使更多消费者购买运行OSX操作软件的苹果Mac电脑。我也身在其列，我现在家里既有一台Windows个人电脑，也有一台苹果iMac电脑，可以进行对比。我发现自己能用iMac的时候就会用iMac，因为我知道它比Windows Vista的机器启动得快，而且不太容易死掉。

在某种程度上说，这是一个不平等的比较。Windows之所以运行得如此缓慢，是因为它的负担比OSX重。

在这些负担中，有一个负担是覆盖面太广。Windows居于主导地位，部分原因在于其它公司编写的大量软件都在Windows上运行。这对微软来说是好事，因为消费者会发现，放弃Windows几乎是不可能的。但这也意味着，Windows不得不携带许多插件和设备驱动程序，好让所有这类软件正常运行。这让这款软件的速度非常缓慢。

第二个负担是历史。微软一直坚持“向后兼容”(backwards compatibility)的原则——即所有为先前的Windows版本编写的软件，应该也能在更新的版本上使用。这种做法让人钦佩，但也意味着，微软永远不能像苹果在2001年对OSX采取的做法那样，从头开始、除掉积存下来的电脑故障和奇怪问题。

结果就是，不论它多么努力地去让Windows的每个版本更可靠，过一段时间，以前的问题又会来找麻烦。至少这是我对Vista的体验。Vista看起来很漂亮，而且有很好的特色，比如有可以迅速查找文件的搜索工具（与XP不同），但是，我用得越久，它的表现也越差。

这里有个自相矛盾的地方。欧盟抨击微软通过Windows的设计方式来阻碍竞争。然而，作为产品，Windows的瑕疵却源于微软与其潜在对手的密切合作——即便这是出于自身利益的原因。如果它能无视其它公司，不管别人的软件是否会在它的平台上使用，那么，它就可以更自由地改善Windows本身。

其实这也不是什么正当理由，因为，作为一个几近垄断的个人电脑软件平台，其网络效应已经让Windows不容易改变了。微软擅长把竞争者当成“亦友亦敌”(frenemies)——这是硅谷的行话。只要它们有助于加强它的软件特权，它就友好，但是，当它们开始成为威胁时，它就让它们吃闭门羹。

尽管最近的法院判决给欧盟委员会提供了动力，但事实证明，微软在司法挑战面前不容易被打垮。最终的问题在于，消费者是否会继续忍受Windows在技术上的不健全。

迄今为止，还没有什么起义的迹象。Linux开放源软件的广泛使用只是在企业服务器上，而不是在台式机上，而苹果的市场份额也仍然很小。但是，我想知道，有多少Windows的用户像我一样，表面上很合作，其实却默默怨恨。最终，这种情况一定会让微软付出代价。

译者/徐柳