时事新闻:作别Vista,携手Windows 7

【英文原文】

Last week, this column laid out the painful, tedious process that awaits Windows XP users in October if they choose to migrate their existing PCs to Microsoft's forthcoming new edition of Windows, called Windows 7. This week, I aim to explain some of the other details and issues involved in upgrading a PC to Windows 7, even if you are currently running Windows Vista, from which an upgrade is far simpler.

Unlike migrating from XP—still the most common version of Windows, despite its age—moving up from Vista is designed to be relatively straightforward. It's a direct upgrade process that preserves all your personal files, settings and programs.

However, even this easier transition involves some choices and limitations that can be confusing for mainstream, non-techie users, so I will try to sort them out here. Throughout this column, I will be referring to simple, direct, upgrades meant for average users. I won't be discussing more complex methods that require things like wiping out, or dividing, hard disks.

Unlike Vista, Windows 7 doesn't require beefier hardware than its immediate predecessor. It should work fine on nearly every Vista PC, and even on many late-model computers running XP. In fact, it is a bit less demanding than Vista. For instance, Microsoft has repeatedly demonstrated Windows 7 working on low-powered netbooks that choked on Vista.

However, just like Vista, Windows 7 will be sold in a multitude of different editions, and deciding which one to buy can be confusing. There are six different flavors, though one is reserved for countries Microsoft calls 'emerging markets.' Of the remaining five, one is for big businesses. Another, a stripped-down edition called Starter, can't be installed as a direct upgrade for existing computers, according to Microsoft.

Most consumers will likely choose Windows 7 Home Premium, which costs $120 for upgraders and has all the key Windows 7 features. The next step up, called Professional, adds a few extras that may be especially useful for consumers who work at large companies or use older, specialized programs. Most notably, the Professional edition, unlike the Home Premium version, can remotely tap into certain corporate networks that use a system called 'Domain Joining.' And the Professional version has the ability to run older Windows XP programs that wouldn't otherwise work in Windows 7. It costs $200 for upgraders. The other likely choice is called Ultimate. It combines every feature of the other editions but costs upgraders $100 more than Home Premium.

There are limitations on which current Vista machines can be directly upgraded to the various versions of Windows 7. In general, you can only upgrade your current version of Vista to the comparable version of Windows 7. For instance, Vista Home Premium can only be upgraded to Windows 7 Home Premium and Vista Business can only be upgraded to Windows 7 Professional. This rule has two exceptions. Any flavor of Vista except Starter can be upgraded to Windows 7 Ultimate, if you care to spend the extra money. And Vista Home Basic can be upgraded to Windows 7 Home Premium.

All of the three common consumer versions of Windows 7 can run inside virtual machines, such as the faux Windows computers created on Apple Macintosh hardware using the Fusion and Parallels software. However, the upgrade rules still apply.

After you've installed Windows 7, you can move up from Home Premium to Professional with minimal extra effort, for an added sum, by using a program from Microsoft called Windows Anytime Upgrade. This unlocks the added features of Professional, which were actually already on your machine, but were hidden. You can do the same thing to move up to Ultimate.

However, there's another complication. For each of the three main consumer versions of Windows 7, there are actually two editions. One is meant for PCs with standard processors, called 32-bit processors, and the other for PCs that sport newer processors called 64-bit processors. The 32-bit version of Windows can recognize only 3 gigabytes of memory, but the 64-bit version can use much, much more. For most average users, 3 gigabytes is plenty, but some consumers have 64-bit Vista machines, which can move faster when lots of programs are being used at once, or when doing tasks like playing back high-definition video.

The problem is that you cannot directly upgrade 32-bit Vista to 64-bit Windows 7, or vice versa. So that adds another layer of complexity to the upgrade process.

Finally, a note about prices. Most major Windows PC makers are offering free, or very low cost, upgrades to Windows 7 later, if you buy a Vista PC now. They are doing this, in cooperation with Microsoft, to discourage people from waiting until October to buy a new PC. Each hardware company has slightly different policies on this. However, this free upgrade program isn't of any help if you simply want to keep your existing PC and upgrade it to Windows 7.

You can learn more about the various editions of Windows 7 at: And I'll have a full review closer to its Oct. 22 release date.

【中文译文】

Windows XP用户如果想在10月份将自己PC机上的操作系统升级为微软的新版本Windows系统──即Windows 7，将会非常地劳神费力，一周前本专栏对此做了详尽的描述。本周，我打算向各位详细讲解从Vista系统升级至Windows 7的过程中的一些细节和问题，虽然从Vista系统升级会简单得多，也依然是有一些问题的。

从Vista升级比从Windows XP──虽然历史悠久，到如今却依然是用户最为广泛的Windows操作系统──升级要简单便捷一些，系统会得到直接升级，你的所有私人文档、设置和程序都会得到保留。

不过，即便是这种相对简易的升级也需要有所取舍，并有一定的限制，而多数用户都是非技术专业的，在操作时还是会觉得很困惑，所以我在这里会把这些问题一一罗列出来。在本专栏中，我将倾向于那些简单、直接、适用于普通用户的升级方法。我不会跟大家来探讨那些复杂的需要对硬盘进行清除、分区的操作。

Vista系统需要比之前版本的操作系统更为强大的硬件，而Windows 7则不需要，它在几乎所有装了Vista的个人电脑上都能运行良好。事实上，Windows 7所需的配置比Vista还要低。比如，微软已经反复地演示Windows 7在那些低性能上网本上的运行，换作是Vista的话本子就该瘫痪了。

不过，同Vista一样，Windows 7也有多种不同的版本，让人眼花缭乱，不知道该买哪种版本才好。一共有六种版本：有一种是专供微软所谓的“新兴市场”；其余五种当中，一种是针对大企业的；还有一种是被称为Starter的简装版，微软说，该版本无法在现有电脑的基础上直接升级。

多数用户可能会选择Windows 7家庭高级版(Windows 7 Home Premium)，升级费用为120美元，具备了Windows 7全部的主要性能。再往上是专业版(Professional)，多了几项功能，对于在大公司上班或者使用一些特殊老程序的客户会特别实用。专业版同家庭高级版最明显的区别在于，专业版用户可以远程进入利用“加入网域”(Domain Joining)系统创建的企业内部网。另外，专业版可以运行版本比较早的Windows XP系统软件，其他Windows 7版本是做不到这一点的。升级至专业版的费用是200美元。还有一种选择称为旗舰版(Ultimate)，它结合了其他各版本的所有功能，不过比家庭高级版要贵100美元。

现装Vista系统的电脑直接升级至Windows 7的不同版本时都会有各种限制。一般情况下，你只能将现有的Vista系统升级至对应的Windows 7版本。比如，Vista家庭高级版只能升级到Windows 7家庭高级版，Vista 商用版也只能升级至Windows 7专业版。不过有两个例外：除Starter之外的Vista版本都可以升级至Windows 7旗舰版，前提是你愿意多花点钱；Vista家庭普通版可以升级至Windows 7家庭高级版。

Windows 7的三种普通用户版都可以在虚拟机中运行，比如用Fusion和Parallels软件在苹果Macintosh平台中运行Windows系统。不过对应升级的规则在此种情况下同样适用。

安装了Windows 7之后，不怎么费力便可从家庭高级版升级至专业版，利用微软推出的Windows Anytime Upgrade程序，需要支付一点额外的费用。这个程序可以释放出专业版的那些额外功能，这些功能其实已经安装在你的电脑里了，只是被屏蔽起来了而已。用户可以通过同样的方法升级至旗舰版。

这其中却还有另外一个问题。这三种针对普通用户的Windows 7版各自有两个版本：一个适用于装有标准处理器、即32位处理器的电脑，另一类适用于装有新的64位处理器的电脑。32位版本的Windows系统只有3G的内存，64位的内存大大高于此数。对于多数普通用户来说，3G内存便已足够，不过有些用户使用的是64位的Vista机子，在同时运行很多程序或者播放高清晰影碟时其运行速度就能比前者快很多。

问题在于，你不能直接将32位Vista系统升级至64位Windows 7系统，从64位Vista系统升级至32位Windows 7系统也不行。这就进一步增加了升级过程的复杂性。

最后就是价格方面的问题了。如果你现在购买的是预装Vista系统的电脑，多数大型Windows电脑生产商都可以在今后免费或者以极低的价格帮你升级至Windows 7系统。这些厂商同微软合作推出这一举措，是为了鼓励消费者不要等到10月份才出手买新电脑。每家硬件商的政策会有些微的区别。不过，如果你想继续用手头现成的电脑，到时候再升级至Windows 7的话，是无法享受这种免费升级服务的。

关于Windows 7各个版本的更多情况，请参见。在10月22日发售日期临近的时候，我还会发表一篇完整版的测评。