Hello All, I think I missed the genesis of this thread; but, as for zoom on the Mac versus Zoomtext for Windows, Zoomtext is far superior. This truly saddens me as, were they equal or more closely matched, I would use my Mac even more than I currently do.
I have been lobbying AI Squared, the makers of Zoomtext, to port ZT over to the Mac. I hope, someday, that it will. I do not fault Apple for this as Apple is an OS developer where as AI Squared is a screen magnification company. I am certain that if Apple were primarily a screen magnification company it would be the best on the planet. Mark -----Original Message----- From: macvisionaries@googlegroups.com [mailto:macvisionaries@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Louie P. (Pete) Nalda Sent: Saturday, January 07, 2012 6:34 PM To: macvisionaries@googlegroups.com Subject: Re: Switching to a Mac from PC Here are the main differences between ZoomText and Zoom on the Mac. Zoom on the mac doesn't offer windowed or partial screen magnification as ZoomText Does, though to It's benefit, it does offer several tracking options of how the screen moves with the pointer. I use Continuous mode. and of Course there is keyboard tracking as well. Like ZT, there is also font smoothing. Zoom does not have the doc reader app, but will happily move along with VoiceOver as VO reads text. Zoom can quickly change magnification with ctrl+ 2 finger up/down on the trackpad, which I find is just as handy as using the wheel on a mouse. On Jan 7, 2012, at 7:53 PM, Sean Murphy wrote: > Hi chuck, > > I think people have missed the main point of your message and have gone on a tangent which isn't what you were asking. > > Large (magnification) on the Mac is very good from my understanding. You can quickly change the size of the font. But I do not know what the feature differences between Zoomtext and Mac Magnification. Only think I do know is that it is very feature reach. > > Web development and other like presentation tools under the Mac is very feature reach. > On 04/01/2012, at 12:44 PM, Chuck wrote: > >> Thanks for the information. I do plan to use my PC and the Mac Mini >> in parallel until I get used to the Mac. I am familiar with voice >> over and zoom on the iPhone and iPad and I'm hoping that they >> translate as well to the Mac Mini. >> >> I have a sighted friend who also says that the Mac is a little more >> sluggish than the PC. I don't do any gaming, 90% of my computer uses >> buying online, word processing, and web development >> >> But having dealt with Zoom text for the last 15 years, I am totally >> frustrated with the program. I have to reboot it about five times >> every day in order to get the text smooting to work. And it no longer >> works with Internet Explorer nine. I'm sure that when they do finally >> fix it, they'll want another $150 for the update. >> Chuck >> >> On Jan 3, 6:22 pm, "Missy Hoppe" <melis...@fuse.net> wrote: >>> Very well said. I've had my mac since may, and although I've >>> recently become far more fond of Itunes than my bank account is >>> comfortable with, I just don't use it for daily tasks. I just can't >>> get comfortable with any of the word processing options, and since >>> I've been using a PC for close to 25 years, I'm always going to be >>> more comfortable on a windows platform. One of my favorite activities, especially while I'm unemployed, is playing games, and while I'm thrilled that the RS games client works on the mac, there aren't any other options. I'm still hoping for a truly accessible mud client; if atlantis is accessible, I sure haven't figured out how to make it speak automatically. >>> My other major task is writing/editing a story I've been working on >>> for several years now. I just can't get comfortable working on my files using the mac, so just keep using good old wordpad on the PC. >>> Since it cost me so much money, I have chosen to use the mac for >>> things that either don't work or I don't want to mess with on my PC: >>> adium, skype, itunes, and a couple of other similar things that I >>> can't remember at the moment. I figure that the mac is a lot easier >>> to fix if something goes wrong, and that's definitely something I'll >>> give Apple credit for; you can install the operating system without >>> any sighted assistance, and with carbon copy cloner and time machine, it's easy to restore your machine on the off chance that something catastrophic happens. Another thing that I really love about the mac is Growl. It essensially reads things that happen in the system tray: changes in dropbox files for example. That's 1 thing my PC can't do, or if it can, I don't know how to set it up, so the mac is really awesome in that respect. >>> With all that being said, however, while I certainly like my mac a >>> lot more than I did when I first bought it, to be perfectly honest, >>> there's still a rather big part of me that regrets the purchase. I eventually hope to get bootcamp and/or VM fusion up and running, but so far, that just hasn't happened. >>> I hope this makes at least a little sense and that it helps you in >>> your decision. Sadly, I can't comment on the large print side of >>> things, but I've become moderately comfortable with using Voiceover. Good luck in whatever decision you make, and I hope this helps you out at least a little. >>> Missy >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> -----Original Message----- >>> From: macvisionaries@googlegroups.com >>> [mailto:macvisionaries@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Alex Hall >>> Sent: Tuesday, January 03, 2012 8:01 PM >>> To: macvisionaries@googlegroups.com >>> Subject: Re: Switching to a Mac from PC >>> >>> I got a Mini after hearing nothing but great things about the Mac >>> and VoiceOver. I can honestly say that I regret the decision. I >>> never understood editing, my system seemed sluggish compared to NVDA >>> with Windows, and web browsing is slow on the Mac when using vo. Also, a lot of what I do on the pc is audio gaming, and not so much as a good, accessible version of Solitaire is available on the Mac, let alone shooting, strategy, or other intensively audio games. >>> I am still willing to admit that a good, long skype session with >>> someone who is an experienced Mac user may help me, but as of right >>> now I almost never boot into Mac, using the Windows half of my >>> dual-booting mini almost exclusively. If you do switch, make sure to >>> either set up bootcamp or a virtual machine so you can run Windows, because I can pretty much promise that you will still be using Windows for a while after you start playing with the mac. Sorry to be so negative, but that's my experience so far. >>> >>> On 1/3/12, Red.Falcon <velocity.focu...@virginmedia.com> wrote: >>>> Hi Chuck! >>>> Although I do not use windows and never have! >>>> I have seen posts about the zoom and one thing the Mac cannot do is >>>> change colours! >>>> So its black on white or vice vursor! >>>> hth Colin >>> >>>> On 4 Jan 2012, at 00:05, Chuck wrote: >>> >>>>> Hello everyone, >>>>> I'm seriously considering switching to a Mac Mini from PC. >>>>> I intend to use both the zoom and voice over programs. >>>>> I am currently using a PC with Windows 7 and zoom text as my >>>>> magnification and reading software. >>>>> I would like to hear from those of you who have made the switch. >>>>> What pitfalls should I look for? Are there any trade-offs? >>>>> In your opinion after making the switch which is the better system? >>>>> Why? >>>>> Thanks. >>>>> Chuck >>> >>>>> -- >>>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>>>> Groups "MacVisionaries" group. >>>>> To post to this group, send email to macvisionaries@googlegroups.com. >>>>> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >>>>> macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >>>>> For more options, visit this group at >>>>> http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries?hl=en. >>> >>>> -- >>>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>>> Groups "MacVisionaries" group. >>>> To post to this group, send email to macvisionaries@googlegroups.com. >>>> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >>>> macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >>>> For more options, visit this group at >>>> http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries?hl=en. >>> >>> -- >>> Have a great day, >>> Alex (msg sent from GMail website) >>> mehg...@gmail.com;http://www.facebook.com/mehgcap >>> >>> -- >>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "MacVisionaries" group. >>> To post to this group, send email to macvisionaries@googlegroups.com. >>> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >>> For more options, visit this group athttp://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries?hl=en. >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "MacVisionaries" group. >> To post to this group, send email to macvisionaries@googlegroups.com. >> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. >> For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries?hl=en. >> > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "MacVisionaries" group. > To post to this group, send email to macvisionaries@googlegroups.com. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries?hl=en. > Egun On, Lagunak! (Basque for G'day, Mates) Louie P. "Pete" Nalda http://www.myspace.com/musikonalda http://www.facebook.com/lpnalda http://www.linkedin.com/in/lpnalda Twitter @lpnalda -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "MacVisionaries" group. To post to this group, send email to macvisionaries@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries?hl=en. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "MacVisionaries" group. To post to this group, send email to macvisionaries@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries?hl=en.
