????安裝了幾個驅動后,，系統的運行狀況沒有得到絲毫改善,。接著電腦崩潰了。重啟時,，一個新的Windows標志告訴我它正在嘗試“修復或恢復”我的系統——我任由進度條在那兒轉了一圈又一圈,，不過很顯然，我這臺三個月大的筆記本已經癱瘓了,。

????我立即尋求微軟的技術支持,，并最終獲得了一位“三級”客戶經理的幫助。沒法再要求更高級別的了——畢竟這位先生在達拉斯,，而不是印度的某個地方,，所以我相信他是個行家。我們倆決定在我的電腦上重新安裝Windows 8,，這意味著我硬盤上的所有數據將被清空,。（教訓：在安裝任何東西,，尤其是一個全新的操作系統前,，請務必備份電腦中的內容。）

????不過,，重新安裝沒有效果——使用聯想的“一鍵恢復”緊急按鈕同樣無濟于事,。我的硬盤已經毫無反應了。這位工程師說他見過系統與固態(tài)硬盤不兼容導致的問題,，于是我決定換一塊嶄新空白的IDE驅動器,，再次安裝。嘗試了三次后（安裝程序一直崩潰——難道是真的么,？）,，操作系統終于乖乖待在了我的硬盤里，我的電腦重獲新生,。

????成功了嗎,？很難這么講,，因為Windows 8在我的機器上依然不能正常工作——許多驅動程序又無法正確下載。所以我們接下來下載了許多微軟對系統的更新包,。不過安裝更新包時,，電腦拒絕執(zhí)行，提示我們更新包與電腦不兼容,。我決定不管了,，讓微軟的工程師們去弄清楚究竟怎么回事。五個小時的交談之后,，我得到了他們的說法,，很簡單：我的電腦與Windows 8不兼容。

????顯然,，我電腦上的一些關鍵組件沒有可用的Windows 8驅動程序,。他們認為問題出在我的控制器上。那是一家叫英特爾（Intel）的小公司制造的——沒錯,，就是英因特爾,。所以顯然微軟沒有讓英特爾升級我這種型號的電腦的控制器的驅動程序。解決方案呢,？是打電話給制造商,，拿到Windows 7的恢復盤，重新安裝我以前的操作系統,。（之后微軟給我郵寄了一張全新的Windows 7光盤,。）

????微軟的工程師告訴我，我這種情況獨一無二,，只有和我的電腦配置完全一樣的用戶才可能遭遇類似的窘境,，而他們估計這類電腦在全球共有20萬臺。我讓那些達拉斯的工程師們繼續(xù)想辦法解決這個問題,。我很難相信,，世界上最大的芯片制造商英特爾和世界上最大的個人電腦制造商聯想，目前在市場上還有無法同Windows 8兼容的產品——很荒謬,，對吧,？

????所以，至今為止,，我的新電腦只能拿來當鎮(zhèn)紙用,。我的朋友們告訴我，我是一個堅持使用Windows電腦的頑固派,，都不肯變“酷”一點,，換臺使用蘋果系統的Mac電腦。不過我遇到的這個問題,，除去帶給我個人的羞恥之外,，對微軟而言也應該是個巨大的危險信號,。一些程序不能在Windows 8下運行是一回事，可是用戶無法使用該系統來工作,，就是另一回事了,。

????After installing a few, there was no change in how the system ran. Then the computer crashed. On reboot I just got the new teal Windows logo saying it was "trying to repair or refresh" my system – I let it run through the cycle many times but it was apparent that my computer, a three-month old laptop, was on its deathbed.

????Microsoft support sprung into action and I was eventually elevated to a "Level III" support manager. You can't get any higher - this person sat in Dallas, not somewhere in India, so in my mind he was the real deal. We decided to do a fresh install of Windows 8 on my computer, meaning that all my data on my hard drive would be obliterated (note: please backup your computer before installing anything, especially a new operating system).

????But just doing a fresh install didn't work – neither did the "one-touch" emergency Lenovo backup. My hard drive was dead. The engineer said he had seen compatibility issues with solid state hard drives so I decided to switch it out for a totally blank IDE drive and reran the set up. After three attempts (the installer kept crashing – really?), the operating system was on the hard drive and my computer was back in action.

????Success? Hardly. Windows 8 still didn't work properly on my machine -- there were a bunch of drivers that didn't download correctly again. So we then started to download the Microsoft update for the system. But when we went to install the updates the computer refused to do it, noting that the updates were not compatible with my computer.

????I then stepped away and let the Microsoft engineers figure out what was going on. After five hours on the phone, the final verdict was that my computer simply wasn't compatible with Windows 8.

????Apparently, certain critical parts on my computer just have no Windows 8 drivers available. The driver that they think is the problem was for my controller. It was made by a small company named Intel – yes, Intel (INTC). So apparently Microsoft didn't get Intel to update the drivers for their controller on my particular model. The engineers went on to blame my PC manufacturer for other compatibility issues. The solution? Call the manufacturer and get a Windows 7 recovery disk and reinstall my old operating system. (Microsoft later sent me a fresh copy of Windows 7 through the mail).

????The Microsoft engineers told me the issues I was having was unique and would probably only impact PC users who have the exact same configuration as my computer, which they estimated to be around 200,000 computers. I told the boys down in Dallas to keep working on finding a solution. I found it hard to believe that the world's largest chip maker, Intel, and the world's largest PC manufacturer, Lenovo, had anything on the market today that couldn't talk with Windows 8 – that would be ridiculous, right?

????So, for now, my new computer is one heavy paperweight. My friends remind me of how obstinate I am about sticking with my PC instead of being "cool" and getting a Mac. But beyond the social humiliation, this problem I am having in installing Windows 8 should be a huge red flag for Microsoft. It is one thing if some programs might not run on Windows 8 just yet. It's another if users can't even get it to work.