[nabs-l] Basic Questions About Mac versus Pc

[Joe Orozco]

Hello all,

I keep hearing about all these wonderful things about Macs.  I was very
interested in the iPad review on Access World, and my employer's offer to
switch out my PC for a Mac just gets more tempting by the moment.  Still, as
I get older I am less tolerant of drastic changes to my office assembly, and
yet, temptations abound.

1. In the most recent platform upgrade, how has the accessibility changed in
terms of the screen reader?  Is the screen reader only updated with system
upgrades, or are there ever updates between major upgrades?  If you had to
compare Voiceover to JAWS, how does their functionality break down?  I know
it's not fair to compare one to the other because the logic is a bit
different, but I'm hoping you can speak to the level of manipulation you
have over the applications in your computer.

2. How has the compatibility changed in terms of Macs and software packages?
I originally hesitated, because it seemed the industry was more prone to be
compatible with PC products.

3. How easy is it to control documents in the word processor?  Do Macs use
their own version of MS Office, or is there a native word processor that
makes Office documents readable?

4. What can you tell us about their e-mail client?  Outlook has its quirks
but is almost 100 percent accessible.  Sunbird, by contrast, would be great
but in my opinion still had some accessibility shortcomings.  I'm wondering
if the same is true of iCal and Mac-based applications?

5. How much freedom do you have with Macs to go outside of iTunes?  I don't
much care for proprietary packages unless it's unavoidable.

6. Are hardware repairs truly limited to Apple stores?

I know the best thing is to play around with Macs yourself.  I intend to do
that when I visit our home office in California in a month, but I'm hoping
those of you who are daily users of the system can give up-to-date
information since reviews can quickly become outdated.  And, I'm sure that
even playing with a Mac for an hour or so would not truly give me a sense of
how well they meet my daily task expectations.

Thanks for any information and/or website recommendations.

Best,

Joe

"Hard work spotlights the character of people: some turn up their sleeves,
some turn up their noses, and some don't turn up at all."--Sam Ewing
 

__________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature
database 5096 (20100507) __________

The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus.

http://www.eset.com