Hi Sarah,
I'm going to put my responses in your message below marked with dp.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Sarah Clark" <goldflash9@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <macvoiceover@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Saturday, April 12, 2008 12:17 PM
Subject: [macvoiceover] Windows on a Mac
Hi All,
I just joined this list. I have always been a Windows user, but I will be
getting a new laptop soon and am considering getting a mac. The
accessibility of the mac with Voice Over sounds great and I'm sure I would
enjoy it once I'd get used to the difference in its functionality as
compared to Jaws and Windows.
dp: surprising as it may seem, with a bit of setup, you can use a Mac much
like you do windows except you will want to use the functions of VoiceOver
for some things that like windows, mac os won't do. Jaws is not in the
picture here and it's best to approach VoiceOver as though it was
something
else entirely which it is. This is not to say that it does not have the
functionality of screen reders in windows but the interaction between the
os
and VoiceOver is much different and actually better than that between
windows and windows screen readers even though there is some functionality
that is not as well developped and despite the fact that it does not work
with office for the Mac. I was a windows user for 15 years before turning
to the macand I still use windows for some things because of work
constraints but less and less for other needs as I find new ways to use my
Mac when there's time.
But there are still a couple of Windows based programs that I'd really
miss
if I had a mac, so I have some questions as to the usability of Windows on
a
mac.
I know that you can get a mac with either the bootcamp or parallel set up.
I was told that both will allow you to also run Windows on the mac
machine,
but with bootcamp you must turn the machine off and then boot it back up
into Windows, whereas with parallel you can switch over to Windows without
actually needing to turn the machine off.
dp: actually, you just restart not turn off and hold down the option key
press right arrow and then enter to boot into the second os depending on
how
your system is set up. Bootcamp comes with the Mac OS but Fusion is a
separate purchase.
I am trying to find out if you can use Kurzweil on the Windows side, and
if
so, if it matters if you have the bootcamp or parallel setup.
dp I'm told that kurzweil works with Fusion but I have no direct
experience
with this.
The other program I would like to be able to use is Abbyy Find Reader, so
if
anyone has experience with that program, the same question goes.
dp Does this app talk? at any rate, it should work with Fusion but again,
I
have no direct experience with it.
Also, does Voice Over work while you are using Windows? If not, can you
have Jaws on it for Windows?
dp This reminds me of something I used to play with. I forget what it was
but it was a screen reader that only provided access to basic applications
and when you tried to access an app that it could not be used with, it
treated the app as though it wasn't there. This is infact what happens
with
voice over and windows apps in a virtual environment. VoiceOver was
built-in to the Mac OS and works directly with it and its native apps as
well as apps written to take advantage of it. The Mac os doesn't really
see
the windows apps you have on the system which is why the virtuaallization
takes place to bring the apps to the hardware.
These are the main considerations I have. If I would have the ability to
use Kurzweil and Abbyy Find Reader on the laptop, I would not hesitate in
getting a mac.
dp: good luck and by the way, there are other ways to get the
functionality
you are looking for provided you have more compelling reasons to get a Mac
than to stay with windows and get a new windows laptop. Also, you may or
may not like to know that it will be difficult to find a laptop that you
can
use without vista and I am not certain what the state of assistive
technologies is for vista. Also, when you do get aa Mac, you'll need to
buy
a copy of windows but I am told that it is getting harder to get anything
but xp home if that makes a difference. You will need xp sp2 at any rate
if
you use bootcamp but I don't know what fusion requires. It is my
understanding that it has its own windows support framework so if you
want,
you can just install your windows apps through it but I don't know how
this
would work with JAWS.
Thanks,
Sarah Clark
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