[Nfbmo] Windows 8, Microsoft Surface

[DanFlasar at aol.com]

Hi all,   
     I've been delaying implementing Windows 8 -  actually don't plan to 
for as long as I can hold out  Anyone have any  experience with it?    I just 
got JAWS 14 last week but haven't  installed it.  I'm hoping it will 
overcome the crashing endemic with JAWS  and Windows 7.
 
 
      Also, Microsoft came out with their answer  to the iPad last week, 
the Surface.   The NFB tech team has a video of  their first take on the 
surface on the website - they like it for many reasons  but it still falls short 
in some important ways.  For one, since this is a  tablet and not a standard 
PC, the version of Windows it uses will not allow you  to install JAWS or 
any other screen reader - you will have to depend on  Narrator, their 
home-grown text-to-speech engine.  Though it got decent  marks, it's not quite 
there yet - we have to wait until July when the Surface  Pro comes out with a 
more mature version of Narrator.  However, the Surface  Pro will cost around 
$1200, not a very good answer to an iPad!
     If you're interested, here's a note from "Flying  Blind", a tech talk 
email alert referencing the NFB evaluations of the  Microsoft Surface:
 
 Blogs of Joe Orozco and the NFB Technology Center contain reviews of  the 
Microsoft Surface RT running Narrator, and both come to very similar  
conclusions. Here is Joe's review:
_http://joeorozco.com/blog_microsoft_surface_from_a_blind_perspective_ 
(http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001jRb_S39vDrUlqdX1kNTFeUNSeCf-j02yW9_PdVfEZqeNo4zmU
cnLuOp63iVtS0jZiBqBY3RxnczHUJ2scPMbqmuA8J9CYMsJY6Zt_HOLUMuIjmWn7NfnLi17AfP5y
OGWZa5f3T38tBjeFuTQMJ7plZHzDtcv_fUv6T9vc-Inm8k=) 

And  the AT Blog:
_https://nfb.org/blog/atblog/microsoft-surface-rt_ 
(https://nfb.org/blog/atblog/microsoft-surface-rt) 
 
 
Dan