Guess What? Window-Eyes 8.0 Beta 1 Supports Java and Safe Mode!
Oct-17-2012 Disclaimer The following message includes information regarding Window-Eyes 8.0 Beta 1. Please note that Window-Eyes 8.0 Beta 1 HAS NOT been released at this time. We are, however, providing you with some small glimpses into the features that Window-Eyes 8.0 Beta 1 will contain. We are currently not answering any questions regarding the functionality of the beta. The only things we're going to talk about will be what we have included in our Guess What series, which will continue up to the beta release date. We will answer all questions at that time. Please be patient; you will be rewarded. If you're subscribed to the GW Micro or Guess What podcast feed, you'll automatically receive this Guess What in MP3 format. Check out www.gwmicro.com/podcast for more information. If you want to download the MP3, read this article online, or view more Guess What articles (when they are released), please visit www.gwmicro.com/beta. Enjoy! -- Welcome to GW Micro's "Guess What?" series, an introductory look at the highly anticipated release of Window-Eyes 8.0 Beta 1. We'll be covering a new feature in Window-Eyes 8.0 Beta 1 until its release, so stop by our web site daily (www.gwmicro.com/beta) to make sure you don't miss any of the exciting new features. Our "Guess What?" series continues with our next major feature announcement of Window-Eyes 8.0 Beta 1 support for Java, Safe Mode, and an easier way to use Window-Eyes Mobile! With JAVA support, this means that you will now be able to access programs like Open Office, SPSS, and more! Let's check out how well Window-Eyes works with Open Office Writer, which is a program that is JAVA-based. We have Writer open, so we will type, "Have fun today!" As you can hear, Window-Eyes reads everything. This would not have been the case in older versions of Window-Eyes. Let's try to spell check the document. We will misspell the word "today" as "tooday." Next, we will navigate the menu to find Check Spelling and Grammar. First, press Alt and then Right Arrow to Tools. Then, press Enter to open Tools. Spelling and Grammar is the first item in the menu, so we will press Enter. The spell check dialog opens and we hear that we are on the Change button. This means we need to press Shift-Tab until we are on the list of suggestions. We hear "Today," so we can press Alt-C to activate the Change button. We have now made the correction. It should be noted that not all JAVA programs will work. They will only work if they take advantage of the Access Bridge. Even programs like Writer may have some issues because accessibility was not at the forefront of the mind of the developer. However, none of what you heard would have been possible to hear with previous versions of Window-Eyes. The power of Window-Eyes 8.0 Beta 1 makes this all possible. Installation Notes Window-Eyes ships with the JAVA Access Bridge installer. If you use the Quick Install option, the Access Bridge is installed automatically. When you install Window-Eyes 8.0 Beta 1 using the Custom Install, you will be asked if you want to install the Access Bridge. It should be noted that the Access Bridge does not look to see if you have JAVA installed, so you may need to install JAVA after installing the Access Bridge. In this instance, you may be required to run the Access Bridge install again. This can be done from the Start menu under Advanced Options in the Window-Eyes folder. Window-Eyes Mobile and Safe Mode Support Window-Eyes 8.0 Beta 1 will now run on a system even if the Window-Eyes video driver didn't load, or wasn't installed. The advantage of this is that you can run it without having to install the video driver first. This means you can walk up to a computer and immediately run Window-Eyes from a USB flash drive (or other removable media) without the need for administrative privileges or the need to install any additional drivers. You don't even need to reboot the computer; it just works! Note that if you do use Window-Eyes without its video driver in this manner, you will be able to access the web and other information, but you will not have access to certain features, such as using the mouse. You may opt to run Window-Eyes from a flash drive by installing the Window-Eyes video driver to ensure full access to the system just as you have been able to do with previous versions of Window-Eyes. Many of our customers have asked for access to Windows Safe Mode. Safe Mode is a special way for Windows to start when there is a critical problem. The purpose of Safe Mode is to allow you to investigate what is causing the issue. The improved video driver in Window-Eyes 8.0 Beta 1 allows a user to use Window-Eyes while in Safe Mode! This new functionality gives you access to part of the operating system that you did not have access to previously. An additional advantage is that if there are errors while loading the video driver, Window-Eyes will tell you, but then will continue to run. For example, if you've ever got a "Mirror driver installed, but not yet running," or "Unable to communicate with video driver" errors, you know how frustrating they can be. Now, Window-Eyes will continue running giving you a much easier opportunity to resolve your video problems. When trying to run Window-Eyes in Safe Mode, note that your hardware configuration may affect if audio or other services are able to run. If your hardware does not support this under Safe Mode, you may not be able to use software requiring sound while in Safe Mode. Also note that prior to running Windows in Safe Mode, you will need a registry key that we will provide more details on when Window-Eyes 8.0 Beta 1 ships. We have a computer here setup in safe mode. Let's see how easy this is to do. Simply press Control-Alt-W to start running Window-Eyes. As you can hear, Window-Eyes immediately opened and began running in Windows Safe Mode! These exciting features are just a few of what we have in store for you. As you can see, Window-Eyes continues to innovate every step of the way! We hope today's "Guess What?" has given you a glimpse into the power of Window-Eyes 8.0 Beta 1, and its innovative new support for JAVA and Safe Mode. Stay tuned for tomorrow's "Guess What?" to learn more about Window-Eyes 8.0 Beta 1! Raymond Bishop, NV9B Philippians 4:6-7 **** Be kind to your email friends. If you forward this, please remove all previous addresses before you send it on and use the BCC area when forwarding to several friends. ****
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