In the browser wars that began in the 1990s, it took more than a decade for regulators to stop Microsoft exploiting its dominance with users of Windows software. In today’s mobile battles, customers have done so themselves in six months. Microsoft’s rapid retreat over Windows 8 – the latest, mobile-inspired, version of its operating software – shows wise flexibility rather than its traditional obstinacy. But it also demonstrates that Steve Ballmer, the company’s chief executive, has lost the power to “embrace and extend” the Windows hegemony into new fields.
在始于20世纪90年代那场浏览器大战中，监管机构花了10年多的时间才阻止了微软(Microsoft)滥用其Windows软件在用户中的主导地位。而在今天的移动战场上，顾客只用了6个月时间就取得了同样的结果。微软在Windows 8上迅速撤退，展现出也有明智而灵活的一面，不再像以往一样固执己见。Windows 8是微软最新版的操作系统，迎合了移动设备发展趋势。但这也表明，微软首席执行官史蒂夫•鲍尔默(Steve Ballmer)已经失去了“拥抱并拓展”微软的垄断地位进入新领域的能力。