I will add that there are quite a number of podcasts that will help with training, but unfortunately there is not a book for learning the Mac that would compare with the iOS books from National Braille Press. I was a bit surprised that there are not any current books from RFB&D related to switching from Windows to the Mac. There are a couple from Bookshare, but not all graphics are spoken. They are, however, useable. -----Original Message----- From: macvisionaries@googlegroups.com [mailto:macvisionaries@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Alex Hall Sent: Wednesday, April 03, 2013 2:52 PM To: macvisionaries@googlegroups.com Subject: Re: Serious question about Mac vs. Windows
Well, if you have iOS devices there are more advantages, since things like contacts, notes, calendars, and more sync to all your devices. You can, for instance, do a lot of typing in reminders or contacts on the mac, and then the changes will appear on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch. I'll not talk about the other advantages of the Mac, since they are basically the same for sighted and blind users so any Gogle search can give you more than I could think of. I will mention the cost of screen readers, though: vo is free, whereas most Windows screen readers cost money. However, the free NVDA screen reader nullifies this point somewhat. I still don't like browsing the web on the mac as much as on windows, but I have grown used to it. Still, I like the windows approach to the internet much more (well, technically, I like windows scree readers' approaches to it). Aside from that, and having less hotkeys in dialogs (balanced by the ability to assign custom hotkeys to items in the dropdown menus), I can't think of disadvantages except, of course, the price. I use both Bootcamp and a virtual machine solution, so both avenues are open to you assuming you have a license key for your copy of windows. I'm not suggesting you have an illegal copy, I'm saying you will need the 25-character code to re-authorize your copy of windows if you want it to work normally. You can find isos of Windows online and use them, but they will expire and you could run into some problems if that happens. The bootcamp vs vm debate is also something I will not get into here, as it has little to do specifically with the blind and so information you find online will apply to you as much as anyone else. If you have additional questions, let me know. On Apr 3, 2013, at 3:36 PM, Shannon Gerdts <bambam...@gmail.com> wrote: > Hello list, > I'm a new subscriber as of today and would like to ask this direct question without getting a lot of elitest Mac/Windows mentalities. What I mean by this is I would love to get some feedback from you guys on the list about an unbiased bit of feedback on your experiences with the Mac. I also would like to know what you guys have experienced as being pros to the switch from a windows machine to that of a Mac system as well as cons if there is any. Have any of you used boot camp or another way of running windows successfully on a Mac? > The reason I want to get this information is because my wife just recently had her Toshiba laptop give out on her after just three to four years and is rather disappointed with her experiences in windows laptops so she is tossing around the idea of a Mac. However, before making the decision to just jump into the decision she would like to get as much information as possible and weigh the advantages and disadvantages first so that she makes the best decision for her in the long run without being stuck shelling out money on a system she won't like. I ask about running Windows in boot camp or through another avenue because she enjoys mudding and uses VIP mud which is made only for windows so will likely need to use this in the short term at the very least until she can find a client that works as well with voiceover on the Mac. > I thank all responses you guys can give us and thank you all in welcoming me to the list. > > Take care, > Shannon Gerdts > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "MacVisionaries" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > To post to this group, send email to macvisionaries@googlegroups.com. > Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries?hl=en. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. > > Have a great day, Alex (msg sent from Mac Mini) mehg...@gmail.com -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "MacVisionaries" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to macvisionaries@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries?hl=en. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "MacVisionaries" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to macvisionaries@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries?hl=en. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
