Hi,

I'm still a bit confused here. What do you guys want in spreadsheets, exactly? 
I don't get it. I was never a big fan of them, so I wouldn't really know. Why 
did I not used to be a fan of spreadsheets? I really don't know. I guess I 
couldn't be bothered using Excel.

As for the rest of it, I love my Mac. The Mac is not a machine to "play" with. 
It is an amazing and enjoyable, and very engaging experience. I would say 
"immersive" but the fact that would be a 3D experience surrounding the user 
would sound a bit weird. But that's what it feels like. Even if I only perform 
the various tasks of writing documents, e-mails and managing files, not to 
mention browsing the web, it always feels new. I always enjoy doing it, as 
opposed to doing it on a Windows machine.

Regards,
Nic
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On Apr 21, 2010, at 2:15 PM, Dan Roy wrote:

> I love my Mac and would never go back to using windows as my main machine.  
> However,the point about spreadsheets is, unfortunately, a good 1.  I am 
> forced to use windows for spreadsheet work, for now anyway!
> 
> 
> On Apr 21, 2010, at 3:38 AM, Dónal Fitzpatrick wrote:
> 
>> good morning Denise,
>> 
>> I would agree with the others who have replied to this thread stating that 
>> the Mac can be used as a productivity tool.  I am a University professor (in 
>> the American sense of that word rather than the Uk/Irish meaning) which 
>> means I must use my mac to write papers, grade student exams and to carry 
>> out other functions.  However, I have not totally abandoned my Dell.  While 
>> the word processor in iWork 09 is accessible, I don't like either the 
>> Numbers spreadsheet application or indeed the access provided by VO.  It's 
>> just an opinion, and no doubt the zealots on this list will vehemently 
>> disagree, but I still believe that the browsing of spreadsheets using Jaws 
>> is unparallelled.  Vo lacks the kinds of semantic access to this kind of 
>> data that Jaws/Excel provide.  
>> 
>> I would particularly agree with the comment which said "preview" is a lovely 
>> PDF reader, however it has given me problems when used in full-screen mode.
>> 
>> Cheers
>> 
>> Dónal
>> On 21 Apr 2010, at 01:23, denise avant wrote:
>> 
>>> Hi,
>>> 
>>> Yes. Particularly since I am a lawyer with the public defenders office. And
>>> my primary role as an appellate and post-conviction attorney is to write
>>> briefs, with case citations.
>>> 
>>> I knew about the fusion program, as I have spent time talking to others
>>> about the program. I didn't know about the snap shot.
>>> 
>>> So thanks.
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> From: macvisionaries@googlegroups.com
>>> [mailto:macvisionar...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of John J Herzog
>>> Sent: Tuesday, April 20, 2010 7:14 PM
>>> To: macvisionaries@googlegroups.com
>>> Subject: Re: the apple user?
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> Hello, 
>>> 
>>> As a macbook user, who has to write substantial papers for law school, and
>>> who has used his computer at a summer internship with Pepsico, I feel I can
>>> helpfully answer your questions. 
>>> 
>>> Forgive the length of this email. 
>>> 
>>> First, the idea that macs are only play toys is complete and utter nonsense.
>>> On my mac, I do use the apps like Itunes and Ichat, but I use serious apps
>>> as well. Iwork is quite accessible, as is text edit, allowing you to do
>>> extensive formatting of documents. Also, the preview application on the mac
>>> is one of the best PDF readers I have ever seen. The text is readable with
>>> voiceover, and there are few, if any crashes. What other screen readers can
>>> you say that about? 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> Next, I will address your concern about microsoft office applications not
>>> being accessible. It is true that they do not work with voiceover. However,
>>> for about seventy dollars, you can pick up a program called VMware fusion.
>>> Fusion allows you to install windows and run it at the same time as your
>>> mac. This means that you can use whatever screen reader you like for windows
>>> and run office without a hitch. 
>>> 
>>> There is one more upside to running fusion on mac. After you have configured
>>> windows just the way you want it, you can create what is known as a
>>> snapshot. The snapshot will restore your system to its exact configuration
>>> at the time you took it, meaning you will always have a fresh install of
>>> windows, office, and your screen reader a click away. It's awesome, because
>>> it does a complete and utter system restore when windows decides to go south
>>> on you. For a blind person, I actually think a mac with fusion is better
>>> than a standard windows PC for this reason. Note that a fusion snapshot
>>> literally restores all files and settings to the way they were when you took
>>> it. It is much more extensive than using the built in windows system restore
>>> utility. It has saved my skin a number of times, and I will give you a
>>> perfect example. 
>>> 
>>> At the beginning of law school, I found it necessary to purchase a scanner
>>> with a document feeder. Previously, I had a different scanner that I was
>>> using with kurzweil 1000. Now, when I installed the twain drivers for the
>>> new scanner, after trying to unsuccessfully remove the old drivers, I found
>>> myself in a situation where neither set worked. If I had a standard windows
>>> machine, I was facing the real possibility of having to reinstall windows to
>>> get either unit to work reliably. Either that, or it was having to spend
>>> hours and hours messing with system dll files, and we all know what happens
>>> after that. 
>>> 
>>> So, instead, I just restored a snapshot I made of my XP machine prior to
>>> having installed either Kurzweil or the scanner software. I then installed
>>> both on what was essentially a fresh copy of windows, and all was smooth
>>> sailing from there. It saved me from endless headaches, plus the burden of
>>> having to get a sighted person to help install the screen reader again, and
>>> the time that would have been wasted in such a pursuit. 
>>> 
>>> I hope this helps answer your questions. 
>>> 
>>> John 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> P.S. If you go to www.blindcooltech.com, you can find some excellent demos
>>> of the macintosh by Mike Arigo. He even shows how fusion and voiceover work,
>>> and he runs window eyes on the XP side of things. 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> Hope this helps. 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> On Apr 20, 2010, at 7:52 PM, denise avant wrote:
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> Hello all,
>>> 
>>> Please forgive the length of this message.
>>> 
>>> In researching the issue of whether to purchase an apple mac or not, I've
>>> come across a few people who have expressed criticism if not concern about
>>> the mac computers themselves. I own the iphone, and have enjoyed it
>>> tremendously. I've been able to do things with the phone I was never able to
>>> do with other phones. The only problem I still have is putting in extensions
>>> and account numbers once the number is connected.
>>> 
>>> But having said this, I seriously doubt whether I will ever buy another
>>> phone, where I don't have accessibility built in.
>>> 
>>> There is an applestoe here in Chicago, and when I've had any problem of any
>>> kind, the sales staff has been very easy to deal with.
>>> 
>>> Even when I call on the telephone, I find a very friendly staff.
>>> 
>>> I have my own personal sales representative since I have mac book pro on the
>>> drawing board.
>>> 
>>> What I enjoy most of all, is that I can go to an appelstore, and with the
>>> exception of a couple of products, there is accessibility right out of the
>>> box, with no extra costs or smas to worry about.
>>> 
>>> I'm seeking opinions from those of you who use these computers with voice
>>> over. The biggest criticism I've heard that if you're conducting a business
>>> or doing a serious project, the mac is not for the blind user. This
>>> apparently has to do with the fact that the office aps are not accessible
>>> with vo, and iwork9 acts strangely sometimes.
>>> 
>>> Basically, one person, who doesn't use the mac, but is familiar with the
>>> product line, told me that the operating system was those who wanted to
>>> "play."
>>> 
>>> Can those you have used the macbooks or other appel operating systems
>>> address these issues. Thanks.
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
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