微軟公佈Windows 10在華免費升級計劃

Microsoft is to offer hundreds of millions of Chinese consumers who use pirated software a free upgrade to legitimate copies of the Windows operating system, as it seeks to consolidate its unofficial position as a leading technology supplier to the world’s most populous country.

微軟(Microsoft)擬讓使用盜版Windows軟件的數億中國消費者免費升級至正版Windows操作系統。該公司正尋求在全球人口最多的國家鞏固其“非正式”領先技術供應商的地位。

Piracy has long bedevilled Microsoft in China, where it is estimated that 80 per cent of PCs running Windows are using pirated software.

盜版長期困擾着微軟在華業務。在中國，運行Windows的個人電腦(PC)估計有80%在使用盜版軟件。

Ironically the illegitimate software has ensured that Windows remains the dominant PC operating system in the country, reducing the risk that consumers will turn to free alternatives such as Linux.

具有諷刺意味的是，這些非法軟件確保了Windows仍是中國占主導地位的PC操作系統，減少了消費者轉向免費替代品（如Linux）的風險。

That has given Microsoft a foot in the door to one of the world’s most promising tech markets — and a chance to sell its online services and other products — at a time when rivals including Google and Facebook are in effect shut out.

這使微軟在全球最有前途的技術市場之一獲得立足點，併爲其帶來銷售其在線服務和其他產品的機會。相比之下，谷歌(Google)和Facebook等競爭對手目前實際上被中國拒之門外。

Terry Myerson, head of Windows, announced the giveaway plan at an event in Shenzhen yesterday. He also used the occasion to reveal that Windows 10, which had been expected to be released late in the year, would be made available “this summer”.

微軟Windows部門負責人特里•邁爾森(Terry Myerson)昨日在深圳舉行的Windows硬件工程產業創新峯會(WinHEC)上宣佈了免費升級計劃。他還利用這個機會透露，此前預計將在今年底發佈的Windows 10，會在“今年夏天”出爐。

The offer of a free upgrade is a smart way for Microsoft to “keep users in the fold,” said Al Hilwa, an analyst at IDC, a tech research firm. Giving away the technology also reflects the fact that the way the company makes money “will ultimately shift to apps, services, content and hardware as opposed to direct OS licences,” he said.

科技研究公司IDC的分析師阿爾•希爾瓦(Al Hilwa)表示，提供免費升級的機會是微軟“留住用戶”的高明方式。他表示，免費贈送軟件還反映出這樣一個事實，即該公司賺錢的方式“最終將轉移到應用、服務、內容和硬件，而不是直接的操作系統許可證”。

The free copies of Windows 10 in China will be distributed through partnerships with local tech companies, which will be able to use the offer to cement their own relationships with consumers.

免費版本的Windows 10將通過與中國當地科技公司的合作伙伴關係進行分發，讓後者能夠藉此機會鞏固它們與消費者的關係。

Microsoft declined to comment on the commercial terms it had reached with these companies, or the precise methods it would use to “legitimise” PCs that have been using stolen software. Qihu 360, a Chinese security company, will let the more than 500m customers it has on Windows PCs download the new version of the software “with just a few clicks with accelerated download speeds”, the US software company said. The security company’s vast customer base represents a large share of the 1.5bn devices that Microsoft says run Windows.

微軟拒絕評論其與這些公司達成的商業條款，或者它究竟將用什麼方式讓使用盜版軟件的PC“合法化”。這家美國軟件公司表示，中國安全軟件公司奇虎360 (Qihu 360)將讓其超過5億的PC用戶“僅需加速下載的幾次點擊”即可實現Windows 10升級。奇虎360的龐大客戶羣在微軟所稱的15億Windows設備中代表着很大一塊份額。

PC maker Lenovo, social networking and gaming company Tencent and smartphone maker Xiaomi will also take part in the free upgrade plan, which will cover tablet and smartphone versions of Windows 10 as well as PCs.

PC製造商聯想(Lenovo)、社交網絡和遊戲公司騰訊(Tencent)以及智能手機制造商小米(Xiaomi)也將參與免費升級計劃。除了PC以外，該計劃還將覆蓋Windows 10的平板電腦和智能手機版本。

Microsoft said this year that customers who are using legitimate versions of Windows 7, Windows 8.1 or Windows Phone 8 would be offered a free upgrade to Windows 10 for the first year it is available.

微軟今年早些時候宣佈，使用正版Windows 7、Windows 8.1或Windows Phone 8的用戶，將可以在Windows 10上櫃銷售後的第一年裏免費升級至該版本。