I have been curious about the Mac for quite a while.  About a month after 
buying this Vista computer in 2008, I listened to Mike Are ego's  excellent 
series of podcasts on BlindCoolTech about the Mac.  If I had listened to them 
before buying this computer, I would have bought a Mac then.  Microsoft  will 
stop supporting vista next spring, so I thought it would be a good time to 
investigate the Mac.  Also, iTunes allegedly is easier  to use on the Mac. 
Being that I can not run any version of it since 12.1.3 on this computer, I can 
not speak for the very latest versions of iTunes for Windows, which seem to 
have some problems.  Through 12.1.3, I have never had the problems some have 
had using iTunes for Windows. I have been with Windows since Windows 98, and am 
not dissatisfied with it.  I am more just curious about the Mac environment, 
being it seems to have such devoted followers.  I love my iPhone, considering 
it to be, THE most life changing piece of electronics I have ever bought, and 
some tell me that the iPhone and Mac work better together than with Windows.  I 
am just curious about it all.    

Arnold Schmidt   
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Mary Otten 
  To: [email protected] 
  Sent: Sunday, June 26, 2016 9:28 PM
  Subject: Re: Why Is The Mac Better Than Windows?


  Hi Hank,
  What are the things that you want to do with your mat? What prompted you to 
purchase the Mac in the first place? What are you dissatisfied with regarding 
windows? I think all of those things which depend on you are the real questions 
that need answering regarding whether a Mac is a better choice for you than 
windows. Regarding iTunes, I have not used it with windows ever. I know there 
are folks who do use it with windows. I have a friend who has windows and never 
used a Mac, and he hates iTunes with a passion. I have used iTunes on the Mac. 
It seems usable, but iTunes is certainly not my favorite program either. I 
think, depending on your answers to the questions at the start of this message, 
it may well be a good thing for you to turn your Mac back in and just keep on 
using windows. You could of course run Windows on your Mac. But why? I bought a 
Mac many years ago when snow leopard was the current version of OS X. I now 
have a different Mac mini. Honestly, if I had it to do again, I am not sure 
that I would buy a Mac. Progress has not been what I had hoped it would be on 
the Mac with respect to things like reading PDF files and scanning large 
volumes  of material and embossing braille, all of which I still do on windows. 
On the other hand, I have a very large library in iTunes on my Mac that I 
ripped from CDs, most of which are now gone. I have stereos with airport 
expresses and an Apple TV and airplay. So in that regard, I guess I'm stuck in 
the Mac ecosystem. But if I had it to do again, I'm not sure I would have gone 
that route. So, again, why did you buy a Mac? What do you want to get out of 
the Mac? And what don't you like about windows?

  Sent from my iPhone

  On Jun 26, 2016, at 6:17 PM, Arnold Schmidt <[email protected]> wrote:


    Please forgive the long message to follow.  Just delete it if you don't 
want to read it.

    I have been messing around with my new Mac Mini over the weekend.  I have 
the two books, Everything You Need To Know To Use The Mac With El Capitan And 
Voice Over, by Janet Ingber, and Mastering The Macintosh With Voice Over, by 
Tim Sniffen.I thoroughly expected not to know what I am doing for a while, at 
the moment, that is an understatement.  I have it set up, thanks to Mr. 
Sniffen's book, Ms. Ingber seems to assume one will have sighted help to do 
that.  I have been with windows since 2000, and Jaws 3.5.  I still have Jaws, 
having bought, last December,  the SMA through version 19.  I have to figure 
out, by July 5, whether I want to take the Mac back to the Apple store to get 
my money back.  So far, it seems like a bunch of incredible tedium to get 
things done, as compared to Windows.  The track pad helps, it makes it a little 
more like my iPhone 6, that I love.  Getting things done on the iPhone never 
seemed to have nearly the tedium as does the Mac,even when my iPhone 5 was new 
to me.   For example, having to interact with things, rather than just hitting 
enter when I want to do something, or press two or three keys at the same time 
to get VoiceOver to do something, I have no doubt that I can learn it, but   My 
nagging question during my 14 days is going to be:  why?  What is so much 
better about this than Windows?  Is the Mac really better, or just different?  
Is, for example, iTunes really easier to use?  What little I have investigated, 
I am not yet convinced that it is. Already having Jaws, I don't have the issue 
of having to buy a windows screen reader, and NVDA is making it unnecessary 
even for a new Windows user to do so.   I paid over 50 percent more for this 
Mac Mini than I could have bought a Windows 10 computer.  I wish I had 30 days, 
rather than 14,  to figure this out.    The time is ticking. What is so much 
better about this than Windows, which I already know how to use?  

    Arnold Schmidt    

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