Chrome OS 操作系統令人捉摸不透大綱

This year, Microsoft and Apple are both introducing new versions of their operating systems with important changes to their user interfaces, and with a flurry of publicity. A third major company is also overhauling its PC operating system, but you probably won't hear much about it.

今年，微軟（Microsoft）和蘋果（Apple）兩家公司都在推出各自的新版操作系統，新操作系統在用戶界面上有重大變化，並進行了大肆宣傳。還有一家大公司也正在測試檢驗它的PC操作系統，只不過你可能不會對它知之太多。

Google redesigned its PC operating system, Chrome OS. While Google is a major rival to Apple and Microsoft in things like search, smartphones and browsers, Chrome OS hasn't dented the competition in the year since it emerged. It was meant to be radically different than Windows and the Macintosh operating system, a refreshing change for a new era. But it had serious limitations, principally that it ran only apps inside a browser on a handful of special, low-powered laptops called Chromebooks and could do almost nothing when it wasn't online.
谷歌公司（Google）對它的操作系統Chrome OS進行了重新設計。雖然谷歌在搜索引擎、智能手機和瀏覽器等業務方面是蘋果和微軟的一個主要競爭對手，但是Chrome OS操作系統自誕生以來還一直未能對其競爭對手形成挑戰。它的設計初衷是要成爲一種與Windows和Macintosh截然不同的操作系統，開啓一個帶來清新變化的新時代。但是這種操作系統有着嚴重的侷限性，主要是它只能在少量被稱之爲Chromebooks的低功率特殊筆記本電腦上在瀏覽器內運行程序，而且在無網絡連接的狀態下幾乎毫無用武之地。

The new version, which I've been testing, aims to address some of those issues and it makes some progress. But I still can't recommend it over a PC or Mac for average consumers who are looking for the greatest versatility in a laptop. I still find it more of an evolving project than a finished product.
最近我一直都在測試的這個新版本旨在解決上述的某些問題，確實也取得了一些進展。但是對於想盡量發揮筆記本電腦多功能作用的普通消費者來說，與PC和Mac電腦的操作系統相比，我還是不推薦谷歌的這個操作系統。我依然覺得它是尚在開發中的一個項目，還算不上一個成品。

Its fundamental limitations remain. Most importantly, you still can't install your favorite programs, be they Microsoft Office or iTunes or Firefox - only a few thousand 'Web apps' that run inside the Chrome browser. And it still only works on specific hardware: that laptop called the Chromebook or - new this year - a small desktop called a Chromebox. The only hardware maker producing the 2012 versions of these machines so far is Samsung, though Google says more are coming.
Chrome OS根本的侷限性依然存在，最主要的是你仍然不能安裝自己喜歡的程序，無論是微軟Office軟件、iTunes還是火狐瀏覽器（Firefox）──能用的只有Chrome瀏覽器內建的幾千個"網絡應用程序"，而且它對硬件還是有特別的要求：名爲Chromebook的筆記本電腦或者今年新推出的名爲Chromebox的小型臺式電腦。迄今爲止，三星（Samsung）是唯一在生產2012款的這兩種電腦的硬件製造商，不過谷歌說其他硬件製造商馬上就會跟進。

Chrome OS does have some admirable qualities - especially its philosophy of simplicity and of being wedded to the cloud. For instance, because it's designed to fetch your apps and documents from the Internet, you can replicate your entire computer by just logging in on any other Chrome OS PC. And, if you mainly use the Web and live in the cloud, it may be the ticket for you, especially as a second machine.
Chrome OS的確有其令人稱道的獨特之處──尤其是它簡約以及與雲技術契合的理念。比如，由於它的設計是讓你從因特網上取用軟件和文件，你可以通過登錄其它任何一臺裝有Chrome OS操作系統的PC機來實現對你自己電腦的複製。如果你使用的主要是網絡且生活在雲世界裏，它也許可以爲你所需，特別是作爲第二臺機器使用時。

Last year's inaugural version of Chrome OS was little more than a giant browser in which you ran only Web-based apps. The new redesign of Chrome OS, released late last month, represents something of a retreat from that dramatic strategy.
去年的Chrome OS操作系統最初版本不過是一個巨型瀏覽器而已，你只能運行基於網絡的應用程序。上個月末發佈的經過重新設計的Chrome OS表明谷歌有點想要放棄那種奇特的戰略。

Now, Google is touting the new release for features that make it look and work more like a Windows PC or Mac - for instance, multiple, movable windows; a strip along the bottom that holds the icons of apps you use; a slightly greater emphasis on doing things offline; and greater focus on finding and launching apps. None of this is revolutionary for people used to traditional computers.
現在，谷歌正在大力宣傳即將發佈的新版本，新版Chrome OS具備的特徵使其在形式和功能上與安裝了Windows操作系統的PC機或Mac機更加相似──比如，多個可移動的窗口；底部收納你所用應用程序圖標的橫條；略微增加的離線工作的功能；更強大的查找並啓動應用程序的功能。對於習慣使用傳統電腦的人來說，這些新特徵無一具有顛覆性。

What Chrome OS is exactly can be confusing. While it looks and works a lot like the browser of the same name, Chrome OS is a full-blown operating system that, unlike the Chrome browser, can't be installed on PCs and Macs. Also, Chrome OS is unrelated to Google's best-known operating system, Android. The latter is meant to power smartphones, tablets and other miscellaneous devices.

Chrome OS到底是什麼還是讓人捉摸不透。雖然在形式和功能上與同名的瀏覽器十分相像，它卻是一個真正的操作系統。與Chrome瀏覽器不同，它不能安裝在PC或Mac電腦上。而且，Chrome OS與谷歌最富盛名的安卓（Android）操作系統沒有關係，後者旨在爲智能手機、平板電腦和其它多功能設備提供支持。

I tested the redesigned Chrome OS on the new Samsung Chromebook, a model which Google claims has up to three times the performance of the original Chromebook. This laptop has a 12-inch screen, weighs 3.3 pounds and is about 0.8 of an inch thick. I didn't run a formal battery test on it, but Samsung claims it gets up to six hours on a charge, less than the claims for the MacBook Air or the new Windows ultrabooks. In my tests, the battery easily lasted a full day in light to moderate use. The Chromebook is sold online and costs $450. A model that includes a slow, 3G cellular modem is $100 more. The Chromebox desktop is a small box that comes without a screen, mouse, or keyboard, and sells for $330.
我是在三星製造的新版Chromebook筆記本上測試的修訂版Chrome OS操作系統。谷歌公司稱這種型號的Chromebook性能達到了原始版本Chromebook的三倍。該筆記本電腦的顯示屏爲12英寸，重3.3磅，約0.8英寸厚。我沒有對它的電池進行正式的測試，但是三星公司稱電池充一次電續航能力可以達到六小時，比蘋果的MacBook Air或新版Windows超級本遜色一點。在我的測試中，中等使用強度下，電池可以輕鬆維持一天。這款Chromebook筆記本在網上有售，售價爲450美元，另一款帶慢速3G無線網卡的型號售價要高100多美元。Chromebox臺式機是一個沒有屏幕、鼠標和鍵盤的小盒子，售價爲330美元。

Because it's primarily meant as a portal to the Internet, the Chromebook has only about as much storage as a smartphone: 16 gigabytes, rather than the hundreds of gigabytes common in other laptops. And it has a wimpy processor, one of Intel's entry-level Celeron models.
由於主要被當成是一個連接因特網的端口，Chromebook筆記本的存儲空間只與智能手機相當：16G，而不是其它筆記本電腦通常擁有的幾百G大小。它的處理器也很疲弱，屬於英特爾（Intel）的一款入門級賽揚（Celeron）處理器。

In my tests, the new Chromebook performed well and did everything it promised. Unlike in the first iteration, I was able to use multiple independent windows and to minimize them or resize them easily. I could store frequently used apps, which still run in browser pages, in the bottom strip, similar to the Windows taskbar or Mac dock - again, nothing new there, but a welcome addition.
在我的測試中，新款Chromebook筆記本表現很好，按設計該做到的都做到了。跟第一代不同的是，我可以使用多個獨立的窗口，輕輕鬆鬆地把它們最小化或復原。我可以把還在瀏覽器頁面中運行的常用軟件存放在底端的條帶中，這個條帶與Windows系統的任務欄和Mac的停靠欄類似──還是那句話，沒什麼新鮮的東西，不過是博取興趣的一個新花樣而已。

I was also able to play music and videos, to view and edit photos, and to view (but not edit) Microsoft Office documents. These abilities are a good thing, but also have been long available on other operating systems.
我還可以播放音樂和視頻，查看並編輯照片，瀏覽（但不能編輯）微軟的Office文件。這些功能都很不錯，但是別的操作系統同樣早就具備這些功能了。

In the next month or two, Google plans to update Chrome with two important features: the integration of Google's online file-storage locker, Google Drive, right into the Chromebook's file system; and the ability to edit documents when offline. I was able to test pre-release versions of these features and they worked fine. Google Drive can already be installed and integrated into the Windows and Mac file systems.
在隨後的一兩個月裏，谷歌計劃升級Chrome瀏覽器，使其具備兩個重要特徵：將谷歌的在線雲存儲服務Google Drive整合進Chromebook筆記本的文件系統；能夠對文件進行離線編輯。我有幸對具備這些特徵的預發佈版本進行了測試，效果很好。Google Drive已經可以安裝並集成到Windows和Mac的文件系統裏了。

In fact, all of the important features of the Chrome OS - which is still at heart just a big browser - are available in the Windows and Mac versions of the Chrome browser, including the ability to run Web apps, programs like Google's office suite, or Web-based games. Google concedes this, but says that, by making the whole computer a browser, it has simplified the overall experience.
實際上，Chrome OS操作系統──本質上仍然是一個巨大的瀏覽器──的所有重要特徵在Windows和Mac版本的Chrome瀏覽器中都可以找到，包括運行網絡程序、谷歌的辦公組件程序或者網絡遊戲。谷歌承認這一點，但是它指出，把整個電腦變成一個瀏覽器，這樣可以簡化整個體驗過程。

Google has big plans for the Chrome OS. It has built-in features it claims will work great with future touch-screen hardware.
谷歌爲Chrome OS操作系統制訂了宏偉規劃，據稱這種操作系統內置的性能可以在未來的觸摸屏設備上大顯身手。

But, overall, I'd say, if you only have the budget for one computer, you're better off with a Mac or a PC.
但是我得說明，總的來說，如果你只有買一臺電腦的預算，那麼買Mac或PC電腦會更合適一些。