I think that a lot of blind and VI people haven't updated to Windows 10
because there's a lot of misinformation out there about its accessibility.
* Edge, the new web browser, is not accessible, but other
browsers--Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Chrome--work just fine, and
they can all be set as the default.
* I've heard that the mail client isn't accessible, but I used it in
Windows 8 at a previous job, and I tried it again just for giggles when
I updated to Windows 10. While there were a few routine bumps here and
there, I was able to use the program fairly efficiently to read and
respond to large amounts of mail. I will say that, at the time, both
Narrator and NVDA provided better experiences than Jaws. According to
the latest FS Cast, Jaws now behaves like Narrator and NVDA.
* I've heard Groove Music, the new Media Player, isn't accessible. this
is true though I read somewhere that this is supposed to change. Windows
Media Player still works, and so do other media players mentioned on
blindness lists.
* I've heard the new interface is a nightmare. The Metro tiles are very
cell-phone like and not something that's right for everyone, but if you
get your computer to boot to the desktop or to go into desktop mode, the
experience is very familiar.
* The memory issue is important if you do a lot of high-powered stuff,
like audio editing and file transferring. for people who mostly surf the
web, use email, and text edit, 4GB works 99% of the time. I know because
my secondary computer is 4 GB.
* Windows 10 does require that you update Office, so there's a little
extra expense. I have a free year of Office 365 on my tablet and regular
versions of Office on my laptop and desktop. There are some small
differences, mostly involving uploading to the cloud. I personally like
the standard Office better, using Drive and Dropbox to sync, but this is
a matter of preference.
* There are some differences between Windows 10 and Windows 7 or XP. I
remember having trouble with this or that the first few weeks, but then
I got used to the new way
of doing things, and all is well.
* My own experience is that the web works better in Windows 10 than in
earlier versions.
I personally don't understand why our community is so resistant to updating.
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