Harry,

I'm running Windows 8.1 and use it as my full-time operating system. 
Though I remember there being a learning curve, I don't remember what 
was different from Windows 7 since things feel familiar. You can avoid 
the modern metro mode altogether by having Windows boot to the desktop. 
If you do find yourself in Metro, pressing the Start key should send you 
back to the desktop as does pressing Windows+d.

Windows 8.1 provides a better web experience for screen reader users. I 
have fewer crashes, hangs, instances of lost focus, and so on.

All that said, Windows 8.1 isn't perfect. Programs sometimes freeze. The 
web crashes. Etc. Etc. No operating system is perfect.

Narrator has come a long way, but it's not quite ready to take the place 
of a screen reader. It's actually really close, so I hope Microsoft 
keeps working on it. Most of the problems with it are bits and pieces. 
It doesn't read certain announcements, and it seems to read the text of 
edit fields only for Microsoft programs.

I've played with the voice recognition and speech commands. They're 
buggy, but I suspect they get better the more we use them, and I haven't 
used mine very much or very consistently.

As an FYI, Harry, for Windows 8, you need to set up a Microsoft user 
name and password so you can log into your computer and download your 
Microsoft software. There's no getting around it.

Ciao


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