Hi, folks.

I realize that this post is somewhat off topic for this list, but there are 
lots of well-informed people on here, and I'd rather get a few good 
recommendations than a bunch of fragmented ones such as what I might get if 
I post this quiry to the JAWS list.

Please send any replies to my personal e-mail address:

[log in to unmask]

I am now being forced out of necessity to purchase a new home PC.  My 
seven-year-old trusty HP Windows XP machine has finally given up the ghost.

Obviously, with any PC purchased today, Windows 7 will be the main operating 
system.

Fortunately, my University has just purchased the newest versions of Jaws 
and Duxbury for me, so at least that end of things is covered.

Here are my questions:

1.  Am I correct in assuming that I would be best off buying a 64-bit, 
rather than a 32-bit machine?

2.  What would be the most blind-friendly e-mail program for me to use? 
Right now, I have a g-mail account, and I'd like to run g-mail through 
another e-mail program like I have done previously with Outlook Express.  I 
suppose I could do my e-mail directly via the g-mail web site, but I have 
found the web site itself to be quite cumbersome.

Fortunately, for me, the transition to Windows 7 will be able to be done at 
my own pace, since I do have my University Windows XP laptop to fall back on 
if needed.  In fact, I am writing this e-mail on that laptop right now.

Any suggestions would be most appreciated, and thanks to all for tolerating 
the slightly "off topic" nature of this post.

Vy 73 from Tom Behler:  KB8TYJ