[Blindmath] Computer operating systems and accessibility

[Roopakshi Pathania]

Hi,

I won't add too many new points, as I am sure that you might be overwhelmed with all the advice you have received.
Overall, I agree with Jared and Michael. A dual boot would be a good option. Besides that, you could also run one of the OS in a virtual environment. Linux can be your host system, and Windows your guest platform. 
There is an application called Emacspeak that runs on Linux, and will help you in studying with LaTeX, if you decide to do so.

Regards
Roopakshi from India

"Chaos Theory is a new theory invented by scientists panicked by the thought that the public were beginning to understand the old ones." 
~ Mike Barfield.


--- On Thu, 6/4/09, Tamara Smith-Kinney <tamara.8024 at comcast.net> wrote:

> From: Tamara Smith-Kinney <tamara.8024 at comcast.net>
> Subject: [Blindmath] Computer operating systems and accessibility
> To: "'Blind Math list for those interested in mathematics'" <blindmath at nfbnet.org>
> Date: Thursday, June 4, 2009, 10:57 PM
> Hi, all.  Since my major
> considerations in purchasing a new computer system
> have to do with whether I will be able to achieve my goals
> with it in the
> future, I thought I would ask this question here.  I
> am not, by nature, a
> lover of Windows and would like to make a change to Linux
> or Mac.  I'm
> actually think of a dual- or even triple-boot set up, but
> while I'm shopping
> want to find out what others are using and how.
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> How do Mac, Linux and Windows stack up in terms of
> accessibility and the
> ability to interface with adaptive software and
> technology?  I was a
> computer consultant when I got my beloved but now geriatric
> current system,
> so I went with Windows because that was what all my clients
> used and I
> needed to know how to answer their questions and do my
> thing with their
> systems.  I was living in a very rural part of the
> state, so had a small and
> not entirely savvy market to work with, so my services
> involved a little bit
> of everything.
> 
>  
> 
> So then life happened - specifically violent crime - and
> three years later
> I've got my body back to some sort of working order. 
> And everything has
> changed!  I might as well have a nice resume as a
> dinosaur wrangler! /lol/
> I love the rapid changes in technology and applications
> when I'm in the game
> and racing to keep up with them, but it is very odd to once
> again be a total
> ignoramus.  I had to go to the teenagers in the
> neighborhood to learn about
> what's going on with the internet.  /lol/
> 
>  
> 
> Well, I have a long way to go, but the tech market here
> crashed and burned a
> few months ago, so I'm back to consulting as my best option
> to get into the
> field again.  I think I want to focus more on the
> application
> design/development end of my skills and talents, since
> that's really the
> best fit for me.  But I use graphs and flowcharts
> heavily, so need to be
> able to work with them and create them.  I would also
> like to aim towards
> systems design/analysis, so there's the math and graphing
> again.
> 
>  
> 
> That all may be a pipe dream, but I want to build in the
> foundations for it
> when I buy my new system.  So the operating system's
> capacity for
> interacting with adaptive software and tools is the Number
> One
> considerations.  Besides, one thing I *will* do is go
> on studying math!
> Last I check, three years ago, I can't go to any college in
> this city - and
> it's our state's major metropolitan area - to study 
> math if I'm going to be
> all unrealistic and want textbooks I can read or a means to
> complete
> assignments and other such frivolities.  I would add a
> smile for sarcasm
> there, but that's actually what I've been told, and I do
> not find it
> amusing.  I like studying math in a university
> setting, being around others
> who are studying math because they love it, soaking in all
> the extra
> knowledge one can get from a professor, and I want the
> credit for my career,
> but.  I'm a sort of compulsive self-studier anyway,
> and I can't stand being
> a math ignoramus anymore, so I plan to learn to do math
> nonvisually, then
> find materials to use in taking my skills to the next
> level, and the next
> one after that.  Maybe domeday I will find a way to
> take a test so that I
> can get that college credit for it, which is a good thing
> to have on the
> resume!  /smile/
> 
>  
> 
> Thank you!
> 
>  
> 
> Tami Smith-Kinney 
> 
>  
> 
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