This is indeed unfortunate, since I wanted a system where VO would be
entirely compatible with it, and I thought that software venders were to
make their applications compatible with VO. If this were a requirement of
Apple, I could see venders being sure that their software application was
compatible with koko, then for sure apple would corner the market for all
educational and business computer users.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Access Curmudgeon" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "General discussions on all topics relating to the use of Mac OS X by
theblind" <[email protected]>
Sent: Thursday, September 07, 2006 6:59 PM
Subject: Re: Re: Re: OCR Software and VO
Please excuse my ignorance, but what are classic applications?
Classic refers to older Macintosh software written for OS 9 and
earlier. Most PowerPC based Mac include the ability to run, and many
even boot, OS 9. Carbon is a transitional technology that allows
programs to run natively in OS X or 9. Cocoa, which is pretty much
required for VoiceOver compatibility, is OS X only. Many contemporary
applications, including iTunes, Apple Works, and Microsoft Office, are
Carbonized.
My hope was that Apple would not support Carbonization for Universal
applications, thus forcing developers (including Microsoft) to move to
Cocoa if they wanted their applications to run as fast as possible on
the new Intel-based Macs. This would have done a great deal to
improve VoiceOver compatibility, although mostly tangentially.
As David Niemeijer predicted, things did not work out this way…
