Hi,

That makes no sense to me.  How could this apply to all machines when, my 2008 
Mac mini worked just fine without a monitor and every PC I've ever used?

Ricardo Walker
[email protected]
Twitter & Skype: rwalker296
www.mobileaccess.org

On Jan 4, 2012, at 9:24 AM, Mr. L. Alexander wrote:

> After some discussion betwen myself and a few other engineers in the apple 
> realm, the issue regarding the use of the monitor isn't just a voiceover 
> issue. it is the same for the entire system. Whether you're a PC or mac user, 
> the system at start has to detect a working display, keyboard and mouse to 
> continue running. in the case of the mac mini, at boot, the logic board and 
> firmware check the display ports for a display, if it doesn't find one, it 
> will continue but cause issues throughout the OS as it can't determine 
> resolution settings for the OS to display what it needs, etc hence voiceover 
> behaviour.
> 
> to do this, first off apple will need to write a new firmware revision to 
> support this option, then fine tune support in voiceover to support this. 
> until then, the best option is a cheap flat panel LCD monitor with a DVI or 
> mini display port to DVI or VGA config.
> 
> lew
> 
> On 4 Jan 2012, at 14:10, Ricardo Walker wrote:
> 
>> Hi,
>> 
>> all screen readers, on any machine slows things down.  Its just the nature 
>> of the beast.  As far as your mini goes, the lack of a monitor is definitely 
>> the cause of most of your sorrows.  If you hooked up a monitor, I think you 
>> would get much better performance.  If you don't want a monitor, a macbook 
>> air might have been a better fit for you than a mini.  Its just a fact of 
>> life for the Mac Mini and voiceover users at this time.  You need to have a 
>> monitor hooked up to have a stable experience.  This has been the case for 
>> years now, and I don't see Apple doing anything about it anytime soon.  I do 
>> think when you shared your experiences with your Mac earlier in the thread 
>> you should have specified you were using a Mac mini with no monitor.  I 
>> think not doing so was a little miss leading.
>> 
>> JMO.
>> 
>> Ricardo Walker
>> [email protected]
>> Twitter & Skype: rwalker296
>> www.mobileaccess.org
>> 
>> On Jan 3, 2012, at 11:36 PM, Alex Hall wrote:
>> 
>>> I find it interesting that you specify that Macs are faster when a
>>> screen reader is not involved. Do you mean that you find vo slows
>>> things down, or just that screen readers make for inaccurate
>>> comparisons? I always figured the extreme sluggishness of my mini was
>>> due to its lack of a monitor...
>>> 
>>> On 1/3/12, Ricardo Walker <[email protected]> wrote:
>>>> lol,
>>>> 
>>>> I think your sighted friend is on drugs.  :).  I find the Mac to be just as
>>>> fas and more often than not faster when doing tasks than windows when a
>>>> screen reader is not involved.  Man, You know how long it takes iTunes to
>>>> open on windows sometimes? smh.
>>>> 
>>>> Ricardo Walker
>>>> [email protected]
>>>> Twitter & Skype: rwalker296
>>>> www.mobileaccess.org
>>>> 
>>>> On Jan 3, 2012, at 8:44 PM, Chuck wrote:
>>>> 
>>>>> Thanks for the information. I do plan to use my PC and the Mac Mini in
>>>>> parallel until I get used to the Mac. I am familiar with voice over
>>>>> and zoom on the iPhone and iPad and I'm hoping that they translate as
>>>>> well to the Mac Mini.
>>>>> 
>>>>> I have a sighted friend who also says that the Mac is a little more
>>>>> sluggish than the PC. I don't do any gaming, 90% of my computer uses
>>>>> buying online, word processing, and web development
>>>>> 
>>>>> But having dealt with Zoom text for the last 15 years, I am totally
>>>>> frustrated with the program. I have to reboot it about five times
>>>>> every day in order to get the text smooting to work. And it no longer
>>>>> works with Internet Explorer nine. I'm sure that when they do finally
>>>>> fix it, they'll want another $150 for the update.
>>>>> Chuck
>>>>> 
>>>>> On Jan 3, 6:22 pm, "Missy Hoppe" <[email protected]> wrote:
>>>>>> Very well said. I've had my mac since may, and although I've recently
>>>>>> become far more fond of Itunes than my bank account is
>>>>>> comfortable with, I just don't use it for daily tasks. I just can't get
>>>>>> comfortable with any of the word processing options,
>>>>>> and since I've been using a PC for close to 25 years, I'm always going to
>>>>>> be more comfortable on a windows platform. One of
>>>>>> my favorite activities, especially while I'm unemployed, is playing
>>>>>> games, and while I'm thrilled that the RS games client
>>>>>> works on the mac, there aren't any other options. I'm still hoping for a
>>>>>> truly accessible mud client; if atlantis is
>>>>>> accessible, I sure haven't figured out how to make it speak
>>>>>> automatically.
>>>>>> My other major task is writing/editing a story I've been working on for
>>>>>> several years now. I just can't get comfortable
>>>>>> working on my files using the mac, so just keep using good old wordpad on
>>>>>> the PC.
>>>>>> Since it cost me so much money, I have chosen to use the mac for things
>>>>>> that either don't work or I don't want to mess with
>>>>>> on my PC: adium, skype, itunes, and a couple of other similar things that
>>>>>> I can't remember at the moment. I figure that the
>>>>>> mac is a lot easier to fix if something goes wrong, and that's definitely
>>>>>> something I'll give Apple credit for; you can
>>>>>> install the operating system without any sighted assistance, and with
>>>>>> carbon copy cloner and time machine, it's easy to
>>>>>> restore your machine on the off chance that something catastrophic
>>>>>> happens. Another thing that I really love about the mac is
>>>>>> Growl. It essensially reads things that happen in the system tray:
>>>>>> changes in dropbox files for example. That's 1 thing my PC
>>>>>> can't do, or if it can, I don't know how to set it up, so the mac is
>>>>>> really awesome in that respect.
>>>>>> With all that being said, however, while I certainly like my mac a lot
>>>>>> more than I did when I first bought it, to be
>>>>>> perfectly honest, there's still a rather big part of me that regrets the
>>>>>> purchase. I eventually hope to get bootcamp and/or
>>>>>> VM fusion up and running, but so far, that just hasn't happened.
>>>>>> I hope this makes at least a little sense and that it helps you in your
>>>>>> decision. Sadly, I can't comment on the large print
>>>>>> side of things, but I've become moderately comfortable with using
>>>>>> Voiceover. Good luck in whatever decision you make, and I
>>>>>> hope this helps you out at least a little.
>>>>>> Missy
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> -----Original Message-----
>>>>>> From: [email protected]
>>>>>> [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Alex Hall
>>>>>> Sent: Tuesday, January 03, 2012 8:01 PM
>>>>>> To: [email protected]
>>>>>> Subject: Re: Switching to a Mac from PC
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> I got a Mini after hearing nothing but great things about the Mac and
>>>>>> VoiceOver. I can honestly say that I regret the
>>>>>> decision. I never understood editing, my system seemed sluggish compared
>>>>>> to NVDA with Windows, and web browsing is slow on
>>>>>> the Mac when using vo. Also, a lot of what I do on the pc is audio
>>>>>> gaming, and not so much as a good, accessible version of
>>>>>> Solitaire is available on the Mac, let alone shooting, strategy, or other
>>>>>> intensively audio games.
>>>>>> I am still willing to admit that a good, long skype session with someone
>>>>>> who is an experienced Mac user may help me, but as
>>>>>> of right now I almost never boot into Mac, using the Windows half of my
>>>>>> dual-booting mini almost exclusively. If you do
>>>>>> switch, make sure to either set up bootcamp or a virtual machine so you
>>>>>> can run Windows, because I can pretty much promise
>>>>>> that you will still be using Windows for a while after you start playing
>>>>>> with the mac. Sorry to be so negative, but that's my
>>>>>> experience so far.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> On 1/3/12, Red.Falcon <[email protected]> wrote:
>>>>>>> Hi Chuck!
>>>>>>> Although I do not use windows and never have!
>>>>>>> I have seen posts about the zoom and one thing the Mac cannot do is
>>>>>>> change colours!
>>>>>>> So its black on white or vice vursor!
>>>>>>> hth Colin
>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> On 4 Jan 2012, at 00:05, Chuck wrote:
>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> Hello everyone,
>>>>>>>> I'm seriously considering switching to a Mac Mini from PC.
>>>>>>>> I intend to use both the zoom and voice over programs.
>>>>>>>> I am currently using a PC with Windows 7 and zoom text as my
>>>>>>>> magnification and reading software.
>>>>>>>> I would like to hear from those of you who have made the switch.
>>>>>>>> What pitfalls should I look for? Are there any trade-offs?
>>>>>>>> In your opinion after making the switch which is the better system?
>>>>>>>> Why?
>>>>>>>> Thanks.
>>>>>>>> Chuck
>>>>>> 
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>>>>>> --
>>>>>> Have a great day,
>>>>>> Alex (msg sent from GMail website)
>>>>>> [email protected];http://www.facebook.com/mehgcap
>>>>>> 
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>>>>> 
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>>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> -- 
>>> Have a great day,
>>> Alex (msg sent from GMail website)
>>> [email protected]; http://www.facebook.com/mehgcap
>>> 
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> 
> Mr. L. Alexander.
> Free Macs For The Blind.
> E-Mail: [email protected]
> Direct line: 07936 877500
> Twitter: @macsfortheblind
> 
> Free Macs For The blind is a charity project supplying older but working 
> apple macs for blind and visually impaired people throughout the UK FOR FREE!
> 
> Do you have an old unwanted mac, any hardware, software, old PC's, etc or a 
> copy of outspoken 9.2 you would be willing to donate? please get in touch.
> 
> Mac Access Dot Net; The British Mac Accessibility Network, we're here to help 
> anybody disabled with anything Apple!
> http://www.mac-access.net
> 
> 
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