科技前沿:微软呕心打造Win 7避免重蹈Vista覆辙

【英文原文】

To Rebuild Windows, Microsoft Razed Walls

To build its new operating system, Microsoft Corp. needed to do more than fix the flaws of its predecessor. The company also had to address major bugs in its software development process.

The three-year effort to create Windows 7, which lands on store shelves this Thursday, was marked by closer collaboration between the thousands of people working on aspects of the high-stakes product -- reducing communications breakdowns that contributed to delays and defects in Windows Vista, one of the company's biggest missteps.

Steve Ballmer, Microsoft's chief executive, also directed that software developers work more closely with computer makers, including Hewlett-Packard Co., and other PC players to head off the kinds of problems that hobbled Vista.

It's too soon to tell how well the effort worked. But favorable early reviews for Windows 7 have restored some faith that the software giant can still execute in a business that accounted for more than half of its $20.36 billion in operating income during the fiscal year ended June 30.

'I think Microsoft knew with Windows 7 it had to work harder and right some wrongs,' says Richard Barton, a Seattle entrepreneur who worked at Microsoft on Windows and other products during most of the 1990s. 'It looks like they are.'

One of Microsoft's rivals, Apple Inc., believes Windows 7 will create an opening for it to lure more customers to the Macintosh, in part because of the tedious process required to upgrade to Windows 7 from PCs running Windows XP.

【中文翻译】

为了打造新的操作系统，微软(Microsoft Corp.)所要做的不仅是修复前代产品的缺陷，该公司还必须解决其软件开发过程中的重大问题。

微软新操作系统Windows 7将于周四上市销售，这款意义重大的产品是微软数千员工花了三年时间打造出来的。在研发过程中，负责各个方面的研发人员加强了协作，而沟通不畅在一定程度上导致了Windows Vista的延误和缺陷问题。Windows Vista是微软最大的失策之一。

微软首席执行长巴尔默(Steve Ballmer)还要求软件开发人员与惠普(Hewlett-Packard)等其他电脑厂商更为密切地进行合作，防止出现困扰Vista的那些问题。

现在断言这些举措成效如何还为时过早。但此前评测人员都对Windows 7给出了积极的评价，一定程度上恢复了市场对微软仍能做好操作系统业务的信心。在截至6月30日的上一财年，微软203.6亿美元营运利润有半数以上来自于操作系统业务。

负责Windows 7开发的史蒂文斯诺菲斯基和微软CEO巴尔默今年7月在亚特兰大的一个销售会议上。西雅图创业家理查德巴顿(Richard Barton)曾在上世纪九十年代效力于微软，从事Windows和其他产品业务。巴顿说，我想微软明白，他们必须更为用心地打造Windows 7，纠正一些错误。看起来他们是这样做的。

微软竞争对手苹果公司(Apple Inc.)认为，Windows 7会给苹果带来一个良机，Macintosh电脑能藉此吸引更多用户，部分原因是运行Windows XP的电脑需要经过繁琐的过程才能升级至Windows 7。