that review didn't mention narrator did it? I read it once but it may have been updated.
Sent from my iPhone > On Jul 30, 2015, at 8:21 AM, Richard Turner <[email protected]> > wrote: > > Two things: > 1. Edge, the new default browser is only accessible to NVDA beta so people > will have to figure out how to launch IE in Windows 10 for web use > 2. Here is an extremely long review from an accessibility perspective from > CoolBlindTech: > http://www.coolblindtech.com/stepping-over-the-threshold-windows-10-in-10000-words-thoroughly-reviewed/ > > If you copied this review into Word it is about 31 pages, but a lot of that > is chatter but it is a good, positive, thorough review with some warnings for > accessibility. > Richard > > > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of > M. Taylor > Sent: Thursday, July 30, 2015 12:13 AM > To: [email protected] > Subject: Microsoft Windows 10 review: Microsoft gets it right > > Hello Everyone, > > As so many of us use our iOS devices in combination with Windows, I thought > it appropriate to post this cNet review, on-list. > > I have done my best to remove any orphan links or references but I may have > missed a few. > > You may find the link to the original article at the end of the text. > > Enjoy, > > Mark > > Microsoft Windows 10 review: Microsoft gets it right > By: Nate Ralph > Reviewed: July 28, 2015 > > The Good: > Windows 10 bridges the gap between PCs and tablets without alienating > anyone. The new OS combines the best bits of old and new Windows features > into a cohesive package, while correcting nearly all of the missteps of > Windows 8. The upgrade process is mostly painless, and free for most Windows > 7 and 8 users. > > The Bad: > Many of the new features will be lost on those who don't care about touch. > Automatic, forced updates could spell trouble later on. Cortana's features > are better suited for smartphones. > > The Bottom Line: > Windows 10 delivers a refined, vastly improved vision for the future of > computing with an operating system that's equally at home on tablets and > traditional PCs -- and it's a free upgrade for most users. > > Windows 10 is the Goldilocks version of Microsoft's venerable PC operating > system -- a "just right" compromise between the familiar dependability of > Windows 7, and the forward-looking touchscreen vision of Windows 8. > > This new Windows, available as a free upgrade for existing Windows 7 and > Windows 8 noncorporate users, is built from the ground up to pursue > Microsoft's vision of a unified OS that spans all devices without alienating > any one platform. It's an attempt to safeguard Microsoft's crumbling > software hegemony, assailed on all sides by Google and Apple. And it's a > vision of the future as Microsoft sees it, where a single user experience > spans every piece of technology we touch. Welcome to Windows as a service. > > Yes, this new OS is chock-full of fresh features. To name just a few: a > lean, fast Internet Explorer replacement called Edge; Microsoft's Siri-like > voice-controlled virtual assistant, Cortana; and the ability to stream > real-time games to your desktop from an Xbox One in another room. (And in > case you're wondering: there is no "Windows 9" -- Microsoft skipped it, > going straight from 8 to 10.) > > But Windows 10 is also the end of a long, awkward road that began with the > release of Windows 8 in 2012, when Microsoft tried to convince a world of > keyboard and mouse wielders that touchscreens were the way to go -- or else. > Ironically, in 2015, the PC hardware for that touchscreen future is now here > -- everything from 2-in-1s such as the Lenovo Yoga line to convertible > tablets with detachable keyboards, like Microsoft's own Surface. And Windows > 10 smoothly lets users transition from "tablet" to "PC" mode on such devices > like never before. > > For the rest of the PC universe -- including those who still prefer good > old-fashioned keyboard and mouse navigation -- Windows 10 is a welcome > return to form. The Start menu, inexplicably yanked from 8, is back and > working the way you expect it to. Those live tiles from the Windows 8 home > screen still exist, but they've been attached to the Start menu, where they > make a lot more sense. And the fiendishly hidden Charms bar has been morphed > into the more straightforward (and easier to find) Action Center. > > As always, there are some quibbles and gripes with the end product, but > all-in-all -- after living with Windows 10 for months -- I can say it's a > winner. It's flexible, adaptable and customizable. And it's been > battle-tested by an army of beta testers for the better part of a year, > making it one of the most robust operating system rollouts in recent memory. > > A fresh Start > The Start menu is back; it's almost funny how relieving that is. That humble > Start button has been a fixture on the lower left corner of the Windows > desktop since the halcyon days of Windows 95, offering speedy access to apps > and settings. Press it on Windows 10, and you'll see the latest step in a > long conversation about the state of the PC industry. > > I spend more time than I'd like to admit rearranging the Start Menu. > > The past sits on the left: a neat column with shortcuts to your most used > apps. Press the "All Apps" button and you'll get an alphabetical list of all > of the apps installed on your PC. There are folders in there too -- press > them, and extra options will fly out, just like they always have. > > The future -- or at least, the future as Microsoft envisions it -- sits on > the right side of the Start menu. These are the colorful, animated live > tiles that debuted in Windows 8, pulling double duty as app shortcuts and > informative widgets. You can resize these live tiles, drag them about to > arrange them into groups and pin as many apps as you'd like -- the entire > Start menu can be shrunk or expanded to suit your liking. It's essentially a > miniaturized version of the fullscreen Start menu we saw in Windows 8. Hate > live tiles? Then unpin them to excise them from your computer, leaving you > with the narrow column of frequently used apps we've known for so long. > One step back, two steps forward > > The Start menu in Windows 10 is admission that Windows 8 maybe have been a > bit too forward thinking. But Microsoft hasn't abandoned that vision of > unifying all manner of devices under a single operating system: Continuum in > Windows 10 is the latest attempt to bridge the gap between touch and > non-touch devices, and this time it doesn't force us to relearn how to work > with our PCs. > > To start, there's no divide between the Windows 8-style "Modern" apps you > get from the Windows app store, and those you install the old-fashioned way. > Everything exists as a traditional windowed app, sharing space on the > desktop. If you're on a two-in-one device like Microsoft's Surface Pro 3, > pop the keyboard off and Windows 10 will switch to tablet mode. The Start > menu and your apps will stretch to take up the entire screen, and all of the > miscellaneous apps and shortcuts on your taskbar will disappear, to give > your finger fewer obstacles to hit > > Reattach the keyboard, and everything slots back into place. It's an > instantaneous, seamless process (once you've shooed away the annoying > confirmation window). It's also entirely optional: you can disable the > feature and switch to tablet mode manually, or forget that this whole touch > concept exists at all. > > This is what Windows 8 always should've been: an operating system that > bridges the divide between touch and non-touch, without alienating folks who > fall into one camp or the other. Like it or not, the future belongs to > devices with touchscreens. But Microsoft (finally) understands that we'll > all get there at own pace, and Continuum makes the transition painless. And > now that there are so many hybrid devices to choose from, making the switch > to touch without abandoning the interface we know is more important than > ever. > > Learning new tricks > Microsoft hasn't stopped at making touch make sense on a Windows PC. With > Windows 10, just about every facet of the OS has been tweaked and updated, > and a few new features have been rolled in. In typical Microsoft fashion, > there's a dizzying array of keyboard shortcuts and touch gestures for each > of these features, giving you no fewer than three ways to access the things > you're trying to get to. No need to memorize them all -- just use whatever > suits you (or your device) best. > > Virtual desktops > If I had to pick my favorite new feature, I'd go with virtual desktops. > Click the new Task View button on the taskbar and you'll get a bird's-eye > view of all of the apps you've got open. Drag one of those apps onto the > "new desktop" button, and it'll be moved to its own independent workspace. I > can keep one workspace focused on work, a separate desktop for gaming > forums, yet another workspace for the new camera lenses I'm checking out; > there's no limit to the amount of virtual desktops you can create, and each > one is treated as its own little private island. > > Virtual desktops are far from a new development, and they've been available > in past versions of Windows thanks to third-party apps. But it's nice to see > Microsoft catching up here. The feature could still use some work: desktops > are numbered, but if you create a lot of them it can be hard to keep track > of where everything is. The "traditional" Win32 apps you might download and > install from a website are happy to open a new instance on any desktop, > while clicking the shortcut on an app from the Windows store will yank you > back to whatever desktop you used it on last. > > You can move apps across virtual desktops -- just drag them, or right-click > to shunt them over -- but there's no way to reorder the virtual desktops > themselves, which would be really useful for staying organized. I'd also > like to be able to set a different wallpaper for every virtual desktop -- I > can do both of those things in Apple's OSX operating system, and have always > found it really handy. > > Windows Snap > The Snap feature introduced in Windows 7 has gotten a bit of an upgrade, > too. Drag an app to the left or right side of the screen, and it'll "snap" > to fill that space. The new Snap Assist feature will then chime in, showing > you little thumbnails of any other apps that are currently open -- click a > thumbnail, and it'll fill up the remaining space. You can also snap an app > into a corner of your display and fill your screen with up to four apps, > divided equally across the screen -- this could prove useful for folks with > massive monitors. > > Action Center > The new Action Center replaces the "Charms" introduced in Windows 8, and is > another nod to mobile operating systems. Click the Action center icon on the > taskbar to bring up a panel that houses all of your app notifications, and > offers quick access to a few important system settings, like toggling your > Wi-Fi network or switching in and out of tablet mode -- you can choose the > options that turn up here in the settings menu. If you're coming from > Windows 7 and have no idea where to find some of the settings you're used > to, there's a good chance you'll find them here. > > Wi-Fi Sense > I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Wi-Fi Sense. While technically not a new > feature (it's part of Windows Phone 8.1) its presence in Windows 10 > should've been a welcome addition: Wi-Fi Sense connects your devices to > trusted Wi-Fi hotspots. > > I love the idea. Automatically sharing Wi-Fi credentials with my friends > would remove much of the hassle of most social gatherings, when people just > want to jump on my Wi-Fi network. And -- this part is key -- Wi-Fi Sense > doesn't share your actual password, so it theoretically eases a social > transaction (the sharing of Wi-Fi connectivity) without necessarily > compromising my network security. > Until Wi-Fi sense offers granular control over sharing, I'd avoid it. > > But the implementation is, in a word, daft. I do want to automatically share > my network with a select group of friends who are visiting, and have them > return the favor. I don't want to automatically share access with everyone > in my Outlook address book, or on Skype, or the random assortment of folks > I've added on Facebook over the years. Give me the ability to choose who I > share access with, down to the individual, and I'll give it a shot. Until > then, I'll be leaving Wi-Fi Sense off -- I recommend you do too. > > Windows Hello and Windows Passport > Microsoft is also beefing up security with Windows Hello. The feature will > use your Windows 10 devices' camera or a fingerprint scanner to turn your > body into a password. Once you've authenticated yourself with Windows Hello, > Windows Passport will then give you access to a number of third-party sites > and products, without forcing you to log in all over again. This should make > it a bit more convenient to log in to your devices, so you don't skimp on > traditional measures, like having a robust password. The only catch is that > Hello isn't widely supported on a lot of existing hardware: you'll need a > device sporting Intel's RealSense camera, or a fingerprint scanner. > > Original Article at: > http://www.cnet.com/products/microsoft-windows-10/?roi=echo3-28191086352-293 > 96149-dd7f5e652252fc71d16b9ce74dfd1ee2&ftag=CAD1acfa04&bhid=2269466738168683 > 9172315209628767 > > > > -- > The following information is important for all members of the viphone list. > All new members to the this list are moderated by default. If you have any > questions or concerns about the running of this list, or if you feel that a > member's post is inappropriate, please contact the owners or moderators > directly rather than posting on the list itself. 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