John,
I completely agree with you. I have always recommended to my clients (both
sighted and blind) that they wait at least until service pack one is
released for any new operating system or major software package. It blows me
away how many people want to jump right in to a new operating system (be it
Microsoft or Apple) on the first day that it is released. And then for
months, they bombard the lists with complaints about things not working as
they expected. As I have said for more years than I care to mention, if it
is doing the job that needs to be done, leave it alone.
That is why I am still using Jaws 14 on my main desktop, even though I have
the SMA to upgrade it. I did not like some of the issues I found with Jaws
15 and 16, and 14 is working just fine for me.
Also, there are plenty of high-end Windows 7 laptops and desktops available
from sources such as NewEgg and eBay, that can be purchased for a fraction
of their original price. I recently purchased two beautiful Lenovo
Thinkpads, for about 15% of what they sold for new just three years ago.
John M.
----- Original Message -----
From: "John Justice" <[email protected]>
To: "Jaws Users E-mail List" <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, July 13, 2015 4:42 PM
Subject: [JAWS-Users] WINDOWS 10, OBSERVATIONS AND ANALYSIS
The opinions expressed in this document are my own and do not necessarily
reflect those of Freedom Scientific or the list management.
After reading The FS-Cast podcast and studying other informatory
resources,
I have reached the conclusion that Windows 10, at least in its original
form, is not a good choice for those who use screen readers. Please note.
Windows 10 is still a work in progress. Freedom Scientific will certainly
keep tabs on things as they develop and make the necessary changes.
THE EDGE WEB BROWSER:
Microsoft has already made massive changes in this new web browser and
they
admit that it is not as good as was hoped. The software was designed like
Firefox and Google Chrome but it doesn't function nearly as well as either
of those programs. Unfortunately, it does not work well at all with
screen
readers. The Windows 10, scheduled for a release on July 29, is
definitely
not a comfortable fit for Jaws.
THE NEW WINDOWS 10 CONFIGURATION:
Microsoft has heard us and is trying to bring back the older
configurations
like Windows XP and Windows 7. According to an article published by
Microsoft, their attempt to design a Start menu which worked well with
smart
phones and IPads, resulted in numerous complaints from PC users. The
version of Windows 10 scheduled for release can give you a taste of what
is
coming but that too is currently in a fluid state. I asked a Microsoft
representative why they are sending out a product which is still imperfect
or incomplete. His response was, "Look, we're going to hit most of our
customers at home with this new software. Some will buy it because it is
new. Our free upgrade will add many more customers to our list. What
we're
trying to do is get away from 8.1. We have had so many problems with that
version of Windows. We almost had to do this to keep from losing too many
retail customers to the Apple software. People like you and other
customers who use screen readers or magnification are a tiny minority when
compared to the rest of our customer base. That doesn't mean we won't
work
to fix these issues but we won't be able to do it right away."
I asked him how we should proceed in the meantime. His suggestion was to
maintain our current versions of Windows or, ideally, load Windows 10 but
change the Default browser to Internet Explorer, still available in this
new
release.
Windows 10 is currently being tested by Freedom Scientific and this latest
Jaws update has indeed addressed some of the problems. However, many
issues
still exist. To quote Jonathan Mosen, "If you enjoy experimenting with
software and trying to find ways to make it work, Windows 10 is going to
work for you." For those of us who use our computers to do work or reach
out to other people throughout the world, the last thing we need is a
system
which might or might not work in any given situation.
John and linda justice
Personal e-mail: [email protected]
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