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评测微软Surface平板电脑-第1页

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I am writing this paragraph on a tablet in a coffee shop. That's no big deal. As I look around, I see several people working on Apple iPads. But the tablet I'm using is very different - historic, actually. It's the first personal computer made by Microsoft, a company determined for decades to make only the software driving others' computers.


现在是在咖啡店里用平板电脑写这段文字，这没什么了不起的。我环视了一下四周，看见好几个人在用苹果iPad。不过我用的这台平板电脑非同寻常──实际上是很有历史意义：这是微软公司（Microsoft）制造的首台个人电脑。数十年来，微软专注于生产软件，用于驱动他人生产的电脑。



With this device, called Surface, Microsoft is adopting the model of its longtime rival, Apple, which has always believed that the better way to deliver digital products is to build them end-to-end, including hardware, operating system and core apps, and an ecosystem of downloadable apps and content. That is what Microsoft is doing now with the Surface tablet, 2½ years after the iPad was born.


通过这台称为Surface的设备，微软开始采纳其老对手苹果公司（Apple）的运营模式。苹果一直认为，提供数字产品比较理想的方式是端对端的，包括硬件、操作系统和核心应用程序，以及一个拥有可下载应用程序和内容的生态系统。这正是微软目前通过Surface平板电脑的推出所做的事情，此时距iPad诞生已有一年半的时间。



I have been testing the Surface almost daily for three weeks and I like it. It's beautifully and solidly built and it's the purest expression of Microsoft's new Windows 8 touch-screen operating system which, like the Surface, goes on sale on Friday. The new operating system also works on laptops and desktops. It can be operated with a mouse or touch pad, but its dramatically different, touch-optimized user interface begs to be used on a touch-screen tablet.


三周以来我几乎天天都在测试这台Surface，我很喜欢它。这台平板电脑外观漂亮，做工扎实，而且是微软新推出的Windows 8触摸屏操作系统最纯粹的应用形式。Windows 8操作系统和Surface平板电脑一样，都是在10月26日开售。这款新的操作系统也能在笔记本电脑和台式机上安装使用。它既可以通过鼠标也可以通过触控板进行操作，但是它那进行了触摸优化、有着显著差异的用户界面只能用于触摸屏平板电脑。



This isn't a cheap iPad knockoff. It's a unique tablet, made of a type of magnesium with a feeling of quality and care. The Surface starts at the same $499 base price as the large iPad, albeit with 32 gigabytes of storage, twice Apple's entry offering. Other versions cost $599 and $699. Unlike the iPad, the Surface is Wi-Fi only. It lacks a cellular-data option.


Surface不是一台廉价的iPad仿制品。这款平板电脑设计独到，选用的镁合金材质很有质感，也让人感觉很温馨。Surface的起售价与iPad一样都是499美元，但是其32G的存储空间是苹果入门款iPad的两倍。另两款的售价分别为599美元和699美元。与iPad不同的是，Surface只支持Wi-Fi，没有蜂窝数据功能可供选择。



Office and Keyboards


办公软件及键盘



As fluid as the Surface is with touch and the tabletlike touch apps Windows 8 supports, Microsoft has given the tablet the ability to behave like a familiar Windows PC, at least in some scenarios. It comes with full versions of standard Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint. The three programs worked fine, in creating documents and in editing ones from older versions of the software.


Surface触感流畅，Windows 8支持的面板触摸应用程序运行平顺，除此以外，微软还让这款平板电脑能够像平常的Windows PC电脑那样运转，至少在某些环境里是这样的。标准、完整版的Microsoft Word、Excel和PowerPoint程序都安装在了这台平板电脑中。三个程序不管是创建新文件还是编辑老版本的文件，运行状况都很好。



Microsoft has designed two clever, very thin, optional keyboards that snap on magnetically and double as covers. These are better than any of the add-on keyboards I've seen for the iPad. And Microsoft has built in a standard USB port and a sturdy kickstand for typing on a desk for typing on a desk. One keyboard, the Touch Cover, uses molded keys, comes in bright colors and costs $120. It's bundled with the costlier models. The second, a rigid, black version with movable keys called the Type Cover, costs $130.


微软设计了两个巧妙、纤薄、可选配的键盘，键盘使用磁力开关，并可以兼做保护套，比我所见过的任何适配iPad的附加键盘都要好。微软还安装了一个内置的USB标准端口以及一个牢固的支架，方便在桌上操作键盘。其中一款取名Touch Cover的键盘使用的是模塑按键，有各种鲜艳的颜色可供选择，售价为120美元，这款键盘是与高价位机型成套销售的。另一个款取名Type Cover的键盘采用庄重的黑色款式，按键可以活动，售价为130美元。



There is a downside to these keyboards: They are almost useless on your lap. There is no hinge to keep the screenupright and the kickstand works poorly on your legs. Despite that, these features make the Surface better for traditional productivity tasks than any tablet I've tested.


这两种键盘有一个缺点：放在腿上时几乎没有用武之地。没有合页可以让屏幕直立起来，而且支架在腿上很不好用。尽管如此，这些功能让Surface在执行传统工作任务时的表现比我测试过的任何平板电脑都要好。



A Paucity of Apps


应用程序缺乏



Still, there are rough edges to the Surface. The biggest is a paucity of apps for the new touch interface. At launch, Microsoft estimates there will be only about 10,000 third-party such apps available globally, of which about 5,000 will be available in the U.S. More important, many popular titles, like Facebook, will be missing. That's a tiny number of apps compared with the 700,000 touch-operated apps that run on the iPad.


Surface还是有不完善的地方。最大的缺憾是可用于这款新的触摸界面的应用程序十分缺乏。首发之时，微软估计全球只有大约一万个第三方应用程序可以使用，其中在美国能够使用的大约为5000个。更重要的是，许多像Facebook这样广受欢迎的软件都会缺失。这和能够在iPad上使用的70万个触摸型应用程序相比实在是微不足道。



And there is more bad news about apps. This first edition of Surface uses a variant of Windows 8, called RT, that can't run the vast array of traditional programs many Windows users rely upon daily, like Google Chrome, Adobe Photoshop, Apple iTunes or even Microsoft's own Outlook. A second edition of the Surface, due in January, will run the full version of Windows 8, and most of these standard Windows programs. But it will be heavier.


关于应用程序的不利消息还不止这点。首版Surface使用的是一个名为RT的 Windows 8的异体版本，许多Windows用户每天都必须使用的大量传统程序在这个系统里都无法运行，比如：Google Chrome，Adobe Photoshop，Apple iTunes，微软自己的Outlook甚至都不能运行。计划明年1月推出的Surface第二版将能够运行完整版的Windows 8和大多数标准的Windows程序，不过其重量也会较第一版有所增加。



Mediocre Battery Life


电池续航能力表现平平



Surface, which is about as thin, but a bit heavier, than the full-size iPad, displayed much weaker battery life in my tests - about seven hours versus 10 for the iPad. That's better than many Android tablets, but not what you'd expect from Microsoft's pride and joy.


Surface与全尺寸的iPad差不多一样薄，但是比iPad要重一点，在我的测试中，其电池续航能力表现比起iPad来要逊色很多──相比iPad的10小时，Surface只有大约七小时的续航能力。这已经比很多安卓（Android）平板电脑强了，但是作为微软最引以为豪的产品，这样的表现与人们的预期还是存在差距。



I tested the battery life using the same test I use on all tablets. I set the screen to 75% brightness, leave on the Wi-Fi to collect email in the background, and play videos back to back until the battery dies.


我是用测试所有平板电脑的同样方式来对Surface的电池续航能力进行测试的。我把屏幕亮度调到75%，打开Wi-Fi，使其可以在后台接收电子邮件，连续不断地播放视频，直到电池耗尽为止。



Screen and Cameras


屏幕和摄像头



The screen on the Surface is 10.6 inches, larger and skinnier than the big iPad's. It was sharp and vivid in my tests, but inferior to the Retina display on the third-generation Apple tablet, which has much higher resolution. The cameras were a disappointment. They took only fair pictures. The rear camera has a mere 1 megapixel in resolution. Microsoft says it tuned the camera more for video, but in my tests videos were only OK.


Surface的屏幕为10.6英寸，比大号iPad的屏幕大一点、薄一点。我在测试中发现，屏幕显示的锐度和清晰度都很好，但是比不上分辨率要高得多的第三代苹果平板电脑的视网膜（Retina）显示屏。摄像头让人失望，拍摄的照片效果一般，后摄像头的分辨率只有100万像素。微软说，摄像头进行了调校，主要用来进行视频拍摄，但是我的测试显示，视频拍摄效果只能说还可以。



Touch Keyboard


触摸键盘



The touch keyboard is fast and easy to use. It can be switched among several styles - a standard configuration, a more cramped one with an added top row of number keys, and a split style, as on the iPad, for thumb typing. You can also summon a panel for handwriting input, though Microsoft doesn't include a stylus.


Surface的触摸键盘使用起来非常便捷，可以在几种模式之间进行切换──标准配置模式、上端增加了一排数字键的紧凑模式以及像在iPad上那样用于拇指输入的分离模式。你也可以启用手写输入的面板，不过微软没有配置触控笔。



Built-in Apps


内置应用程序



Surface has the same built-in new-style apps as every Windows 8 PC, and the same app store. Like other Windows 8 machines, the Surface starts up in the new, radically different, tile-based Start screen.


Surface和每一台Windows 8 PC电脑一样，都安装了新型的应用程序，也有同样的应用程序商店。与其它Windows 8机器一样，Surface开机后出现的是风格完全不同的瓷片化界面。



The built-in apps include a touch version of Internet Explorer, an email program, and programs for social networking, instant messaging, photos, maps, videos, music and more. In addition, while Surface doesn't run most old-style Windows apps, it includes some standard old Windows programs like the calculator, notepad and file explorer.


内置的应用程序包括触摸版的Internet Explorer浏览器、一个电子邮件程序、社交网络程序、即时通讯软件、照片、地图、视频、音乐及其它程序。此外，虽然大多数旧版Windows系统的应用程序不能在Surface上运行，但是一些标准的旧版Windows程序还是包括在新系统之中，比如：计算器、记事本和资源管理器。



All of the built-in apps worked fine for me, except Mail, which lacks common features like a unified inbox, and an unread-mail folder. It also doesn't support one of the two common types of consumer email systems, called POP. Microsoft concedes the Mail app needs to be improved.


所有这些内置的应用程序在我的测试之中都运行良好，唯独只有邮件（Mail）程序例外，这个程序缺少无分类收件箱、未阅读邮件文件夹等常见功能，也不支持两种电子邮件系统之一的、人称POP的协议类型。微软承认这个邮件应用程序需要改进。



On the other hand, the Music app, called Xbox Music, holds great promise. It lets users download songs like iTunes, organize them into 'stations' like Pandora does, and stream them free like Spotify.


另一方面，名为Xbox Music的音乐应用程序前景可观，它可以像iTunes那样让消费者下载歌曲，像潘多拉音乐盒程序（Pandora）那样把歌曲整理到"音乐站"，然后像Spotify软件那样把音乐播放出来。



Third-party apps sometimes showed problems. Evernote took a long time to synchronize my account, and the Kindle app had to stop every few pages to fetch the next section of a book, even if the book had been downloaded. It also messed up some pages.


第三方应用程序有时会出现问题。笔记软件Evernote要花很长时间才能同步到我的账户，Kindle电子书应用程序每过几页就要停顿一阵才能翻到书的下一部分，哪怕整本书都已经下载下来也还是如此，有些页面还出现过混乱。



Bugs


漏洞



I ran into a number of bugs while testing, some serious. All but one notable one were resolved by the time I wrote this review. It involves the inability of the Surface to authenticate with Microsoft services, like the app store, with some kinds of broadband modems and routers. Microsoft concedes this bug is known, but is still investigating. In my tests, this bug affected me in only one of my several test locations, but one is too many.


我在测试中遭遇了不少漏洞，有些还很严重。到我写这篇评测文章时，除一个明显的漏洞外其余的都已经得到解决。这个漏洞是：在接入某些宽带调制解调器和路由器时，Surface在获取应用程序商店等微软服务时无法进行身份验证。微软承认他们知道这个漏洞存在，但是还在进行调查。在我的测试中，这个漏洞只是在几个测试地点中的一个造成了影响，不过一次影响就足以令人抓狂了。



Bottom Line


结论



Microsoft's Surface is a tablet with some pluses: the major Office apps and nice, optional keyboards. If you can live with its tiny number of third-party apps, and somewhat disappointing battery life, it may give you the productivity some miss in other tablets.


微软的Surface平板电脑有其优点：拥有主要的Office办公软件程序和不错的选配键盘。如果你能忍受第三方应用程序数量少的现状以及多少有点让人失望的电池续航能力，它能帮你实现在其它平板电脑上无法实现的办公功能。



Walter S. Mossberg

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