科技前沿:Win8笔记本还是触屏的好

Welcome to my spring laptop buyer's guide. It should be an easy time for laptop buyers, now that we're six months past the introduction of Microsoft's redesigned Windows 8 operating system and laptop makers have had time to get into a new groove. Alas, I'm sorry to report, it's still pretty confusing and frustrating to buy a new laptop, and it might be best, if you can, to wait until the fall.
欢迎来到我的春季笔记本导购。对想买笔记本的人来说，现在本该是能轻松决定的时候，因为微软(Microsoft)重新设计的Windows 8操作系统已经推出了六个月，笔记本厂商也有充足时间拿出相匹配的最佳水准。但我很遗憾地说，现在想买一台新笔记本还是很让人迷惑和沮丧的，如果你们可以等的话，最好还是等秋季再出手吧。

After the big buildup in October around Windows 8, laptop makers stumbled. They continued to offer mostly nontouchscreen models, though the new Windows was designed for touch. And the touchscreen models they built were clustered around $1,000, far more than consumers are used to paying for Windows laptops. Plus, Windows 8 itself proved confusing, because it combines two interfaces - the tabletlike 'Start Screen' and the traditional Windows desktop.
去年10月围绕着Windows 8大做文章后，笔记本厂商们推进得并不顺利。虽然新Windows是为触控而设计，但厂商们却继续推出以非触摸屏为主的诸多机型。他们打造的触摸屏笔记本价格都在1,000美元（约合人民币6,200元）左右，远远超过消费者以往为Windows笔记本所支付的价格。而且，Windows 8本身也令人困惑，因为其结合了两种界面──类平板风格的“开始界面”和传统的Windows桌面。

Based on conversations with laptop makers and Microsoft, I believe there will be an effort to regroup this fall, with more touchscreen models that are less costly and a forthcoming class of PCs even smaller and thinner than the current slender Ultrabooks. There also will be new chips from Intel that aim to greatly increase battery life and a refined, beefed-up version of Windows 8, code-named Windows Blue, which will be available to current buyers as a free upgrade.
根据笔记本厂商和微软的对话，我相信今年秋天双方会重新努力调整，推出更多价格更低的触摸屏机型，届时新一代PC机甚至会比现在轻薄的超极本更加小巧轻便。届时英特尔也会发布新芯片，致力于极大提升电池续航时间；而微软会推出代号为Windows Blue的改进增强版的Windows 8，向目前的购买者提供免费升级。

Recent statistics showing massive drops in laptop sales indicate consumers aren't replacing their computers as often as in the past, partly because they now rely a lot on smartphones and tablets. But some of you will be buying new laptops this spring and summer, so here are some tips on what to look for in a machine. As usual, this guide is meant for average users doing typical tasks, not businesses, or people doing heavy-duty work like video production.
近期的统计数据显示笔记本销量大幅下滑，这表明消费者并不像过去那样频繁地更新他们的电脑；一定程度上是因为他们现在更为倚重智能手机和平板。但一些读者还是打算在今年春夏两季购买新笔记本，所以我在这里提供一些挑选机器的小建议。和以往一样，这个导购是面向那些使用笔记本进行常规任务的普通用户，而不是面向企业用户或是需要从事视频生成等重度计算工作的用户。

Windows vs. Mac
Windows与Mac

Apple has led in the touchscreen market, but with phones and tablets, not computers. So its Mac models remain traditional laptops, which don't use touchscreens. As always, they aren't cheap: The least expensive Mac laptop is still $999. And they lack the variety of Windows PCs. But the machines are high quality, reliable, versatile computers that are far less susceptible to viruses than Windows PCs and can even run Windows quite well. The light, speedy MacBook Air is a paragon of what a capable laptop should be and I expect Macs to adopt the same new Intel processor coming soon for PCs.
苹果在触摸屏市场占据领先，但那是靠手机和笔记本，而不是电脑。苹果Mac电脑依然是没有触摸屏的传统笔记本。而且它们一如既往的不便宜：最便宜的Mac笔记本也要999美元（约合人民币6,200元）。而且苹果笔记本没有Windows PC那么多的选择。但苹果笔记本高品质、可靠、多用，中毒几率比Windows PC小得多，甚至还可以很好地运行Windows系统。外形轻便、运行迅速的Macbook Air就是一款出色笔记本的样板，我预计苹果笔记本也将配备英特尔即将为PC而推出的处理器。

Tablets vs. Laptops
平板电脑与笔记本

I reject the idea that tablets are only for content consumption, not productivity. Plenty of business is conducted on tablets daily, from work email to reviewing and editing office documents, to using sales and medical apps. Still, heavy-duty work, like the creation of large spreadsheets and presentations, is better done on laptops. If you don't do such tasks, a tablet may suffice, but most people will want to keep a laptop around, even if they use a tablet.
我不认为平板电脑只能用于消费内容，而不能生成内容。现在很多企业每天都用平板办公，工作范围不胜枚举，从处理工作电邮到浏览编辑办公文件，再到使用销售和医疗应用。不过，像生成大型表格和PPT文件这样的重计算工作，还是在笔记本上进行更合适。如果你不需要处理这些任务，那么平板电脑可能就够用了；不过大多数人即便用着平板，也会想再有一部笔记本。