2015考研英语阅读微软和个人电脑业_大学英语阅读

2015考研英语阅读微软和个人电脑业

　　Microsoft sits atop a pyramid of companies that prospered from the long boom in personalcomputers . The vast majority of PCs run on Microsofts Windows operating system andare powered by Intels processors. They bear the brands of Dell, Hewlett-Packard ,Lenovo and others, and nowadays are mostly made by Taiwanese contractors. The trouble isthat people increasingly prefer to buy mobile devices, made by Apple or running GooglesAndroid operating system. Sales of PCs have been falling at double-digit rates. From thepyramids apex to its base, companies are desperate both to refresh the PC and reducetheir reliance on it. Few are having much success.

　　微软坐在受益于个人电脑长期繁荣的公司金字塔顶端。大部分的个人电脑跑的是微软的视窗操作系统，用的是英特尔的处理器。它们支撑着戴尔，惠普，联想和其他品牌，大部分是有台湾代工厂完成的。现在的麻烦是人们越来越多的倾向于苹果生产或者运行谷歌安卓操作系统的移动设备。个人电脑销量以两位数的速率在下降。金字塔上的公司个个都昂着更新个人电脑，减少它们对个人电脑业务的依赖。几乎没有一家取得成功。

　　Frank Gillett of Forrester, a research firm, reckons that Windows share of the market forpersonal devices, once 95% or more, has dropped to around 30%. Microsoft respondedbelatedly with Windows 8, a new edition intended for touchscreen PCs and tablets launchedlast October, with variations for cheaper tablets and phones. Applications lie behind oblongtiles designed for fingertips rather than icons for mouse-clicks. Microsofts successful Xboxentertainment system was given the same look. The idea was that this uniform style wouldhelp to transfer Microsofts dominance of the desktop to mobile devices, and refresh thePC too.