I am so envious. I tried so hard to keep Office 2003, but Word was somewhat corrupted and I had to really play around with it to get it to work properly part of the time. And then Outlook began producing multiple copies of emails. I had a patch that was supposed to take care of such problems, but it stopped. And I was using magic at a very high magnification. My old Magic wouldn't work with newer versions of Jaws like 16 and the new version of Magic wouldn't work with Office 2003. So then someone installed new everything for me. Jaws 18 seems to be a bit better after yesterday's upgrade. At least I hope it is. But there are certain kinds of html emails that Jaws did fine with in Outlook 2003, and that, even with all kinds of work arounds, it's difficult to deal with, with Jaws in later versions of Office. I retired 10 years ago. Otherwise, I'd be tearing my hair out!
Miriam -----Original Message----- From: JAWS-Users-List [mailto:jaws-users-list-boun...@jaws-users.com] On Behalf Of John M. Sent: Thursday, May 25, 2017 4:53 PM To: jaws-users-list@jaws-users.com Subject: Re: [JAWS-Users] Downgrading to JAWS 16 Hi Gene, I have been using Jaws since version 5. Over the years, I have found that some versions of Jaws are very good and others are junk. In my opinion, version 17 is junk. I had upgraded from Jaws 15 to 17. After the upgrade, I had nothing but problems. After several months of struggling, I eventually installed version 16 and that is what I am still using today. I tried version 18 for a short while, but it was still not as stable and reliable as version 16. I am using Windows 7 also. One more thing...I still use Office 2003, because I just like it a lot. Jaws version 17 support for Office 2003 was terrible. I always go back to a saying that I have used for years--"Just because you can doesn't mean you should.". Just because there is a new version of Windows or Office or Jaws or any other piece of software or hardware, doesn't mean you have to rush to install it or purchase it. I rely on my computer on a daily basis to do my job and service my clients. I demand that my core software is extremely stable and reliable. I have Jaws SMAs through version 20. I don't know if I will actually switch to those versions. Time will tell. Best, John ----- Original Message ----- From: "Gene Warner" <genewarn...@gmail.com> To: "JAWS Users" <jaws-users-list@jaws-users.com> Sent: Thursday, May 25, 2017 3:25 PM Subject: [JAWS-Users] Downgrading to JAWS 16 > Hi everyone! > > Back in 2013, when I was finally declared legally blind and had to switch > from Zoom Text to JAWS, JAWS was at version 15. > > As I recall, other than having to learn it on my own because the > Lighthouse here is a bad joke, there were few, if any problems I had with > it, it just worked. JAWS 16 was pretty much the same but with the addition > of the very useful command search function. > > Then came JAWS 17 with the apparent almost complete rewrite of the engine. > From there it seemed like every time I turned around I was running into > another misfunction of JAWS. Version 18, when it came out wasn't much > better. > > So, after long thought, as well as fighting an apparently recalcitrant > version of JAWS, I've finally decided to install version 16 to see how it > compares to version 18. If it works as well as my memory of it recalls, I > will eventually uninstall JAWS 18, and consider not maintaining my SMA > anymore. Besides my dissatisfaction with versions 17 and 18, it seems like > most of the enhancements are for Windows 10 and have no effect on my > Windows 7 system which I have no plans to upgrade. If things do change for > the better in the future, I can always reestablish a new SMA. > > I'm just wondering if anyone has any thoughts on this idea or has already > preceded me in downgrading back to version 16. > > Thanks! > > Later... > > For answers to frequently asked questions about this list visit: > http://www.jaws-users.com/help/ > For answers to frequently asked questions about this list visit: http://www.jaws-users.com/help/ For answers to frequently asked questions about this list visit: http://www.jaws-users.com/help/
