If it's just speech, MS includes it in the OS with SAPI. If we're talking about a speech interface like a screen reader, Apple and, to a lesser extent, Orca are really OS components more so than what we would think of as a screen reader on Windows. Tipping my hat to Apple for absolute coolness, if one buys a new Macintosh running OSX Leopard or newer, brings it home, plugs it in, hits the "on" button and just waits a little while, the VoiceOver screen reader will start talking automatically. The Apple OS installation people decided that if a user took more than n minutes to start interacting with the dialogues that they may not be able to see them so the pop right into the screen reader in its tutorial mode so you can learn enough to complete the installation without any sighted assistance whatsoever. There are still some very clunky aspects to VoiceOver (do not try to use it with a laptop unless you add an external keyboard) and its support for HTML is years behind what we've come to expect on Windows but other things, like providing context from a API driven access program is really cool once one grows accustomed to using it (changing UI paradigms can be infuriating during the learning process). I'm willing to predict that VO will be competitive with the Windows programs in six months to a year. Also, I've kept my MacBook 13 running for over four consecutive weeks without a reboot even with a screen reader going (a class of software notorious for inserting instability into a system) which definitely speaks to a lot of the value of an API driven approach. I've written quite a bit about Macintosh on the blog over the past few months so if you want more of my opinion, I recommend going there and searching on Apple. You will also find articles in which I blast them for a bunch of shitty things they've done as well. Happy Hacking, cdh Chris Hofstader email: cdh@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Blog: http://www.blindconfidential.blogspot.com Skype: BlindChristian -----Original Message----- From: programmingblind-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:programmingblind-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Trouble Sent: Saturday, December 06, 2008 9:32 AM To: programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: Re: Creating an Operating System with speech included its not hard to create a op with built in speech. mac has done it and it even has talking install. In fact you can run the op straight off the cd with speech. So it wouldn't be hard for a company like Microsoft to do such, and the speech in the op would be more stable then the third party stuff we run now. At 05:01 AM 12/6/2008, you wrote: >Sorry, but I think you don't know what you are talking about. > >First, I didn't say that Jaws is a Microsoft program. I said only >that the best accessibility is offered by Windows and Jaws and not >by Orca and Linux, but not even the comparison between these 2 is >important, but the fact that it is very hard to create another OS >with another screen reader built in. > >Second, I know that Orca works with Linux, but Sun doesn't pretend >that they've created the most advanced Linux OS, but that they've >created Solaris, the most advanced OS. >However, Solaris is not accessible for the blind, or it is >accessible but only by using emacspeak, which has a very ugly >interface and offers a poor accessibility anyway, and I haven't >tested Solaris so I don't really know if it really supports >emacspeak or it is just a future plan for Sun. > >By the way, have anyone tried Solaris? > >Octavian > >----- Original Message ----- From: "black ares" ><matematicianu2003@xxxxxxxxxxx> >To: <programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> >Sent: Saturday, December 06, 2008 11:39 AM >Subject: Re: Creating an Operating System with speech included > > >>don't forget that jaws is not a microsoft software and, taking >>software only from the two grand companies, sun is better than microsoft. >>Because, with orca you can do more than with narator from windows. >>So Sun has right assuming it as the best company offering an >>advanced os with speak. >> >> >>----- Original Message ----- From: "Octavian Rasnita" <orasnita@xxxxxxxxx> >>To: <programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> >>Sent: Saturday, December 06, 2008 10:08 AM >>Subject: Re: Creating an Operating System with speech included >> >> >>>Windows is an operating system with speech included. Do you want to create a >>>better OS than Windows and a better screen reader than Narrator? >>>I guess you want to create a better one, because otherwise... why bother? >>> >>>In order to do that, you should create a company, employ a few thousands of >>>good programmers and after very many years you might do it. >>>Sun Microsystems has tens of thousands of programmers and they pretend that >>>they have created the most advanced operating system in the world, and they >>>have also made one of the most used screen readers for Linux, but the >>>accessibility offered by their solutions is much lower than the one offered >>>by Windows and screen readers like Jaws, and Sun work on their OS for very >>>many years, so... it could be very hard to do what you want. >>> >>>Octavian >>> >>>----- Original Message ----- From: "Jose Lomeli" <jose.lomeli93@xxxxxxxxxxx> >>>To: <programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> >>>Sent: Friday, December 05, 2008 10:05 AM >>>Subject: Creating an Operating System with speech included >>> >>> >>>>Hello; Listers, I just thought. What do I have to do to create a >>>>operating system with speech. I just thought about this. Can this be >>>>done? Please write back. >>>> From Jose Lomeli. >>>>__________ >>>>View the list's information and change your settings at >>>>//www.freelists.org/list/programmingblind >>> >>>__________ >>>View the list's information and change your settings at >>>//www.freelists.org/list/programmingblind >> >> >>__________ >>View the list's information and change your settings at >>//www.freelists.org/list/programmingblind > >__________ >View the list's information and change your settings at >//www.freelists.org/list/programmingblind Tim trouble Verizon support tech "Never offend people with style when you can offend them with substance." --Sam Brown Blindeudora list owner. To subscribe or info: //www.freelists.org/webpage/blindeudora __________ View the list's information and change your settings at //www.freelists.org/list/programmingblind __________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 3668 (20081206) __________ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com __________ View the list's information and change your settings at //www.freelists.org/list/programmingblind