微軟發佈新操作系統Windows 10(2)

A Virtual Assistant

虛擬助手

A new addition right next to the Start button is Cortana, Microsoft's virtual assistant. A user can do a search by typing in a query or speaking a command into the microphone. Saying commands like “Remind me to buy milk on Tuesday” sets up a reminder notification that will alert you on that day, and “Schedule meeting tomorrow at 3 p.m.” creates an appointment in your calendar.

就在開始按鈕旁邊，新增了微軟的虛擬助手Cortana。用戶只要鍵入一個問題，或對着麥克風發出一個指令，就可以在設備上實現搜索功能。說出類似“提醒我週二買牛奶”的指令，手機會自動設置一個提醒任務，然後在那天給你發出提醒。而發出“安排明天下午三點的會議”的指令，日程表上會自動創建這一日程。

On other questions, like finding a place to eat, Cortana often falls back to doing searches on , Microsoft's search engine, which is less proficient than Google's search engine. In tests, Cortana generated mixed results. Asking Cortana to look up a place to eat nearby retrieved a list of Bing search results for the term “Find me places to eat nearby,” which included the website , as opposed to showing a list of restaurants. (By contrast, the same query on Siri, Apple's virtual assistant, brought up Yelp listings of popular restaurants within half a mile from me here in San Francisco.)

對於其他問題，比如尋找吃飯的地方，Cortana通常會轉而在微軟開發的搜索引擎Bing上進行搜索，而Bing沒有谷歌的搜索引擎那麼精進。在測試中，Cortana給出的結果比較雜亂。讓Cortana在附近找一個吃飯的地方，得到的是在Bing上輸入“在附近找吃飯的地方”後出現的一系列搜索結果，包括名爲“附近吃飯的地方”的網站()，而不是具體的餐館列表。（相比之下，在蘋果設備上問其虛擬助手Siri同樣的問題，會出現餐飲網站Yelp上距離我在舊金山所在方位半英里以內最受歡迎的餐館列表。）

On the other hand, Cortana did respond adequately to some other commands, like “Show me showtimes for ‘Trainwreck,'” which loaded a schedule of movie theaters showing the movie nearby.

但是，Cortana對一些其他指令反應的確足夠到位。比如提出“顯示《生活殘骸》(Trainwreck)的放映時間”這一要求，它會顯示附近上映這部電影的幾個影院的時間表。

A big hole in Cortana is the mobile phone experience. Cortana is built in to Windows phones and the problem is, you probably don't own one. To date, Microsoft's Windows Phone platform has 3.5 percent market share in the United States, according to Kantar Worldpanel.

Cortana的一大缺失在於其手機端的使用體驗。Cortana是內置在Windows手機上的，問題是你可能不用這個品牌的手機。凱度消費者指數(Kantar Worldpanel)的數據顯示，到目前爲止，微軟的Windows手機平臺在美國的市場佔有量只有3.5％。

Microsoft says that Cortana will eventually be available as an app on devices running Google's Android and Apple's iOS mobile software. For now, though, Cortana will primarily live on computers and tablets, limiting its usefulness.

微軟表示，Cortana最終會成爲使用谷歌的Android系統和蘋果的iOS移動操作系統的設備上也可以安裝的app。但目前Cortana將主要在微軟的電腦端和平板電腦上使用，其實際使用價值會比較有限。

It's difficult to imagine that while on the go, people will yank a Windows tablet or computer out of their bag to ask Cortana to schedule a calendar appointment or create a reminder. In addition, the idea of using a voice assistant on a stationary computer in a typical office environment, where colleagues will overhear you over their cubicle walls yapping to Cortana, seems off-putting. As a result, in its current state, Cortana is a promising start, but it's far less useful than its direct rivals, Siri and Google's Now, which are widely available on smartphones worldwide.

很難想象，人們會一邊走一邊從包裏拿出個Windows平板電腦或筆記本，讓Cortana在日程表上添加一個安排事項或創建一個提醒事項。而且，想象自己在一個典型的辦公環境裏，對着一臺固定不動的電腦使用語音助手，還有旁邊格子間的同事能聽到你和Cortana的對話，這場景還挺讓人倒胃口的。結果就是，在目前的狀態下，Cortana是個有希望的開端，但它遠遠沒有其直接競爭對手Siri和 Google Now那麼有用，後兩者在智能手機領域使用非常廣泛。

More Built-In Security

更多的系統內嵌安全保護

Microsoft has made some bold promises about improvements to security in Windows 10. Chris Hallum, a senior product marketing manager for Microsoft, said in an interview that because of all the security enhancements in Windows 10, consumers and businesses won't have to install additional security software to protect their machines. “We include a full-fledged antivirus solution in Windows,” he said.

微軟已經就Windows 10的安全性能作出大膽承諾。微軟高級產品營銷經理克里斯·哈盧姆(Chris Hallum)在一次接受採訪時表示，因爲Windows 10在諸多方面大大提升了安全性能，消費者和企業用戶將不再需要額外安裝安全軟件來保護自己的電腦。“Windows系統中包含了一個成熟的防病毒方案，”他說。

Microsoft has been including these deeper security features since Windows 8. But with Windows XP and Windows 7, far more popular versions of the software, it was practically a requirement to buy and install third-party antivirus software from McAfee or Norton, unless you wanted to be eaten alive by hackers.

自Windows 8開始，微軟就在操作系統中增加了更深層次的安全特性。但是，用戶使用更加流行的Windows XP和Windows 7時，實際上還是需要從邁克菲(McAfee)或諾頓(Norton)購買和安裝第三方防病毒軟件，除非你想被黑客生吞活剝。

Mr. Hallum said Microsoft was taking a multifaceted approach to protecting user identities as well as blocking malicious software. For one, Microsoft Edge, the default browser in Windows 10, includes a feature called SmartScreen, which can identify malicious websites by scanning them for suspicious characteristics. The Edge browser also keeps some add-on software for the browser, like Adobe Flash, to safeguard you from the latest vulnerabilities. Another feature, Windows Defender, can identify potentially harmful software you've downloaded and warn you before you run it.

哈盧姆表示，微軟正採用多種措施保護用戶的身份信息和阻擋惡意軟件。比如，Windows 10的默認瀏覽器微軟Edge包含一種叫智能屏的(SmartScreen)功能，可以通過掃描網頁內容查找可疑特徵，以辨別惡意網站。Edge瀏覽器上還能安裝Adobe Flash等附加軟件以避免電腦受到新漏洞的傷害。它的另一個功能Windows衛士(Windows Defender)可以辨別你下載的潛在有害軟件，並在你運行它之前發出警告。

Are you really safe not installing additional antivirus software? As we should all know by now, almost all computer systems have some vulnerability. Still, Charlie Miller, a security researcher, said Windows 10's security features should work as well as other antivirus software. He noted that Windows Defender had been a strong security program for some time.

不額外安裝防病毒軟件真的能足夠安全嗎？以我們現有的認知，幾乎所有電腦系統都會有一些漏洞。但安全研究員查理·米勒(Charlie Miller)表示，Windows 10的安全性應該能夠和其他防病毒軟件相媲美。他指出，Windows衛士作爲一個強大的安全方案已經存在有一段時間了。

Beginning Wednesday, Microsoft will be releasing the operating system over the Internet in waves, starting with people who signed up to test early versions of the software as part of its “insiders” program. Later, Windows 7 and Windows 8 users who receive alerts notifying them of the upgrade will be able to download it.

從週三開始，微軟將通過網絡分批發布該操作系統。首先提供給之前曾報名參與測試該軟件早期版本的人，這些人是其“內部人”計劃的一部分。之後，收到升級提醒的Windows 7和Windows 8用戶就可以下載它了。

At the time of my testing, ahead of the public release of Windows 10, I encountered a number of bugs. To name just two examples: In one incident, Microsoft's Edge browser blocked me for an entire night from using Google Mail, after mistakenly identifying it as a malicious website — though the next morning I was able to log in. I also had a frustrating time trying to compose a document inside Google Docs, when the Edge browser occasionally failed to detect when I was hitting the space bar; Microsoft confirmed it would fix the issue shortly after release.

在Windows 10正式發佈之前的測試中，我發現了一些毛病。任舉兩例：有一次微軟的Edge瀏覽器錯誤地把Google Mail識別爲惡意網站，整整一晚上不給我用——不過第二天早上我成功登入了。還有一次在Google Docs裏寫文檔，害我折騰了很久，因爲Edge偶爾會無法識別到我敲出的空格；微軟已經確認會在發佈之後不久修正這個問題。

Combine the early bugs with the spottiness of Cortana and the fact that third-party app developers are still updating their Windows apps for Windows 10, and the operating system still has a little ways to go before it becomes a solid all-around upgrade. But the improvements to security, along with the familiar user interface, should be reasons to grab this upgrade sooner than later (especially if you're on Windows 7 and lacking up-to-date security tools). The upgrade will be free for up to a year — after that, Microsoft may begin charging for it.

結合早期的這些毛病以及Cortana的不穩定，還有第三方應用開發者還沒完成向Windows 10的兼容，這個操作系統要實現一次穩定而全面的升級尚需些時日。但是安全方面的改進，以及讓用戶覺得熟悉的界面，會促使人們儘早去獲取此次更新（尤其是如果你用的是Windows 7，缺乏最新的安全工具）。更新在未來一年裏是免費的——此後微軟可能會開始收費。

For to-be switchers, Microsoft offers a web tool where users can check if their apps are compatible with Windows 10 before making the switch. If you're eager to get in line for an upgrade, you can reserve a download on Microsoft's website.

微軟爲有意更新的用戶準備了一個Web工具，用戶可以在更新前，先到上面檢查他們的應用是否兼容Windows 10。如果你急着想得到更新，可以在微軟的網站上預訂下載。