Re: A Modern Day Comparison of JAWS and NVDA
I have been using NVDA full time for the last three years, and I personally see no reason to switch back to Jaws or Window-Eyes. I find NVDA is adequate for everything I do from reading e-mail, to browsing the web, to working on office documents, to programming so really can't see myself paying hundreds on Jaws when NVDA does the same for less.
Of course, the cost is probably NVDA's best selling point. I suspect most blind computer users doesn't really have the money to spend on a new Jaws upgrade every time they release one. Especially, since over the last few years I have seen very little benefit in upgrading Jaws because most of the new features or updates never were that important to me. I was just spending money for features and updates I didn't need. When I need a particular upgrade I got hit with penalties for not keeping my SMA up to date so had to pay for versions I hadn't used or planned on purchasing.
The other thing I particul arly like about NVDA is that it is written in Python, an off the shelf programming language, and all modules/scripts are written in same. Freedom Scientific expects people to pay for their training materials to script Jaws where NVDA's scripting is again free. So if someone really wants the full power of their screen reader NVDA offers an off the shelf scripting language which can be learned for little to nothing compared to Jaws's proprietary and expensive scripting capabilities.
As far as performance goes I find NVDA works well enough. I have three laptops with different specifications and NVDA works on all three without lag or issue. Jaws always seemed to lag or slow down the machines which is another reason why I don't use it. I am absolutely unhappy with Jaws's performance on my machines and don't like the way it lags and slows down the system. NVDA doesn't seem to do that so that is what I have been using.
Last of all no security. Mayb e this doesn't bother some Jaws users but I absolutely hate Jaws's anti-piracy protection. Regardless if we are talking their old security keys, dongles, or online activation it always, always, always seemed to get in my way and cause me problems. I understand why Freedom Scientific institutes such draconian measures to protect their product but all the same they have been problems from day one.
For example, several years ago when I was in college I had to reformat and reinstall Windows 98 on my desktop. Finally came the part where I had to reinstall Jaws. To my utter dismay the floppy disc containing my Jaws keys was bad and I could not install my keys on the desktop. It was my misfortunate that this was the weekend and I was effectively without a computer until Freedom Scientific sent me a new floppy with product keys on it. Even worse I had reports to write and no computer. All because of Jaws's crappy anti-piracy measures.
A couple of years later Freed om Scientific were switching over to dongles. I thought that might be a good idea so purchased one. Big mistake half the time when it was plugged into my computer Jaws didn't recognize it, and rather than replacing the damn thing for free Freedom Scientific wanted me to buy a new one when the thing was defective from day one. So I feel I personally got screwed buying a piece of junk dongle and them not honoring that purchase by at least trying to send one to me that worked.
With NVDA I don't have to worry about any of that crap. No dongls, no product security keys, no online activation. I just install it and it works. For me that is worth its weight in gold since I rely exclusively on my screen reader to speak to me and absolutely hate fooling with the anti-piracy garbage when trying to get something done. I gave up on Jaws years ago simply because their security was a hassle and nowadays NVDA is a better alternative for me without the headaches.
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