Hello Harry,
I'm not a Microsoft or a Mac user, I use Linux. The Orca screenreader 
isn't as polished as JAWs, but it works quite well. On the rare 
instances of needing to use a hard shut down, always because I tinker 
too much and make mistakes, the Linux file operations make for a smooth 
trouble free restart with no chance of file damage like you have in 
Microsoft. I don't need Orca for myself. Enlargement with a touch of 
magnification when absolutely needed does me very well.
I'd recommend switching to Mac, then, when you're ready, on your 
Microsoft machine investigate using at least one of the better 
accessible Linux builds like Vinux or Sonar or F123. You've got several 
different options for testing Linux.
You can install all three of the builds I mentioned inside of Microsoft 
through VMWare or VirtualBox and test and tinker to your heart's 
content. In the VM environment you can make several system snapshots, 
just like Microsoft's Restore feature so that if you mess up you can 
easily reload one of your earlier snapshots and start over from a good 
session.
You can install them alongside Microsoft in a multiple boot arrangement, 
but the multiple boot menu isn't accessible. You can have someone adjust 
settings for startup so that when the menu opens there's a beep or 
beeps, then you'd have to know how many times to arrow down for each 
boot option. Do-able, but a pain. On the other hand, after you've tested 
a couple and have a favorite, you could install just that one alongside 
Microsoft. That makes the dual-boot menu easier to handle.
The other testing option is to boot from individual DVDs, but running 
that way, no setting changes you make would be persistent.
By the way, there are special Ham Radio programs you can check out in 
Linux. I can't tell you if they're


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