Windows 10, the next version of Microsoft’s operating system, arrives on Wednesday, and it will have a familiar look and feel to the more than one billion people who have touched a Windows computer in the last two decades.
微软的下一代操作系统Windows 10于本周三发布，对于在过去二十年里使用过Windows操作系统的十多亿人来说，它将带来熟悉的外观和使用体验。
That is a stark change from the last time Microsoft made a big revision to its operating system, in 2012 with the release of Windows 8 — a release that didn’t go so well. Many customers were confused by the flurry of changes that were designed for so-called hybrid devices that doubled as PCs and tablets. Microsoft’s chief executive, Satya Nadella, said last year that the company “got a few places wrong in Windows 8.”
这和微软上一次的操作系统全面升级有很大不同，也就是2012年发布的Windows 8——那一版的下场不太好。它是为一种既是PC又是平板电脑的所谓混合型设备设计的，一系列的变化让很多用户摸不着头脑。微软的首席执行官萨蒂亚·纳德拉(Satya Nadella)去年曾表示，微软“在Windows 8的设计上犯了些错误”。
With Windows 10, Microsoft is offering something of a throwback to the earlier versions. The software also comes with an enticing price tag for users of Windows 7 and 8: free. But perhaps more than anything, there are a handful of new features that might make users consider making the switch.
Windows10重新回归了早前几个版本的一些特性。而且对于Windows 7和Windows 8用户来说，它的价格也很诱人：免费。但最重要的可能在于，它还具备一些新特性，会促使用户考虑升级。

The Trusty Start Button
“开始”菜单回归
Back is the classic Start button, the one-touch access to a main menu, including shortcuts to a user’s list of apps and documents. Like old times, it can be opened with the click of a mouse or by pressing the Windows shortcut on a keyboard. (The Start button was still available in Windows 8, but some users were confused because it was hidden from plain sight.)
一键点开主菜单的开始按钮重返屏幕，菜单中包括一个用户的应用和文档快捷列表。和过去一样，点击一下鼠标，或者按一下键盘上的快捷键，就可以打开主菜单。（Windows 8中也有开始按钮，但有些用户搞不清怎么用，因为它不是那么一目了然。）
Microsoft made efforts to modernize the Start menu with a fresh design. Clicking on the Start button brings up groups of tiles that can be tailored to your preferences. For example, I easily created a group of tiles labeled “Productivity” and pinned some of my most frequently used software for work, including apps for email, web browsing, Twitter, a calculator and Microsoft Word. Removing unwanted apps from the group is easy — you just choose to “unpin” the tile.
微软试图用新颖的设计让开始菜单更具现代风格。点击开始按钮，可以看到一组磁贴，用户可以按自己的喜好随意组合。比如，我很容易就创建了一个组标签为“生产力”的磁贴，把工作中最常用的一些软件固定在了主菜单上，包括用来查邮件和浏览网页的应用、Twitter、计算器和微软的文档处理软件Word。删除不想要的应用也很简单，只需选择“取消固定”那个磁贴。
For long time Windows users, the more intimidating part to get used to will be tablet mode. With hybrid tablets, such as the Microsoft Surface, you can detach the keyboard from the screen and switch into a different software interface optimized for tablets. In tablet mode, apps consume the entire screen; the tiles of the Start section are enlarged to be easier to see and touch.
对Windows老用户来说，更让人生畏的一点是适应平板电脑模式。使用诸如微软Surface这样的混合型平板电脑，你可以把键盘和屏幕分离开，切换到一个不同的、更能发挥平板电脑性能的界面。在平板电脑模式下，应用占据整个屏幕，原先位于开始菜单上的磁贴被放大，更容易看见，也更容易点击。
Fortunately, interacting with Windows 10 on a touch screen is generally the same as with most modern touch-enabled devices. Pinch outward to zoom in, swipe up to scroll down, swipe left to pan right. And even in tablet mode, the trusty Start menu remains there to remind you this is still Windows you’re dealing with.
幸好，在触摸屏上使用Windows 10，和在大多数现代触摸屏设备上没什么两样。手指外拨以放大页面，向上拨动使页面向下滚动，向左拨动使页面向右平移。而且在平板电脑模式下，屏幕上也保留着让人安心的开始按钮，提醒你还是在使用Windows操作系统。