Operating Systems Rule!

Hello dear planeteers,
I was going to post a guide here on how you can turn your PC into a mac, by way of the
Hackintosh movement.

This is an illegal process. While you aren't violating copyright law, you are violating Apple's License agreement.


What's a hackintosh, you ask?

A hackintosh is a machine which is made to run Mac OS, Apple's operating system used on Macs. The movement began in 2005, when people started to experiment with the then Apple to Intel transition.
Since Macs use Intel Hardware, they have similar functionality to regular-based PCs.

AMD systems, like the one I have, can also run the Mac Operating system.
I have mad eall of my computers into Macs. in fact, I'm running Mac OS right now.

I will not provide you with a guide as to how to due this. I want you, if you are blind, to take the initiative. Please know that I have made all 3 of my machines into hackintoshes, and throughout it all I only needed 5% sighted help all the way. That's 25 reinstalls at least on one of my systems (the AMD desktop), 5 on the other (my laptop), and 10 on my netbook. It took a long time, but can be done, even if you are blind. Please don't let it limit you.

There are certain torrents, or pirate sites, which contain Mac OS dvds already patched to run on PC hardware. Be aware, these might not contain voiceover during setup. The only ones that due are Kalyway and Hazard's snow leopard. If you decide to take the more illegal route, I recommend you try Kalyway first and go from there. Kalyway is Leopard;Hazard's version is snow leopard.
Otherwise, you can patch your snow Leopard DVD to run it on a PC. I myself own a legal copy of Snow Leopard, but I have no dual-layer DVDS. Patching your Snow Leopard disk requires that you re-burn it onto a dual-layer DVD. However, I really really suggest you purchase a legit copy of Snow leoaprd from your Apple store, which costs around $50. That way you not only have a legal license for Mac OS, but can also use the dvd if you need to install components (like Alex's voice) which were cut out of these patched dvds.


And that's all I'm going to say about this. I recommend you check out insanelymac.com, wiki.osx86project.org, and hackint0sh.org . They all contain guides and resources you can use.

Do you need computer experience? Not really. I am more than happy to help you out in getting your hackintosh running, but only after you've read through those websites. Please don't ask me where to start;Those websites are your guides. Use them wisely. Once you've read them and have checked if your motherboard (computer insides) are supported, send me a message. Even if it isn't, I might still be able to help you, provided you understand the guides and basics of making a hackintosh.

I'm just not going to put Inclusive Planet at risk. I know Apple has cracked down on guides which instruct people on how to build a Hackintosh. I respect Apple, and actually I'm looking into getting a real Mac in the future. And I also want the safety of our planeteers.

With lots of warm love and respect,
Tomi

Dear readers,

I know, I know. I'm again defying my own odds and I suppose the odds of others. Just a week ago I was enthused about System access, and now, what's this? The mac?

It turns out that my attempts at installing iPhone OS 4.0 really made me start to enjoy the mac operating system. This is because I could only restore from within a mac, and, I also got wireless Internet up and running on it.

Before I begin my conquest at talking in length about the Mac, I wish to discuss with you… Apple licensing. Licensing has always been, and will always be, one of those " controversy subject areas of discussion anywhere.
The apple license agreement states that you can run the software on Apple-branded hardware. It does not specifically state that this has to be a Macintosh computer, which for me, is the upside of the mac.

I have never been at one with Apple's pricing schemes. The $1100 macbook which customers can purchase could cost $900-800 in another laptop computer hardware. I suppose quality will also be one of those key differing areas among users, but any laptop with the hardware Apple gives in it's laptops and desktops is bound to have a more quality feel to it.
With that said, Apple Macs are probably one of the best designed laptops, but also one of the most breakable ones. They are glossy which makes them shiny at times. Generally, of course, this is to attract consumer's attention. Somehow the smooth feel of my mother's macbook, though, has always lead me to feel a bit more careful about the delicacy of those machines.

So at the moment, I have Mac OSX 10.6.3 running on two out of the three machines I own-one of which, a 2006 IBM Thinkpad, was purchased by my family. It works well on that computer and also my Intel Atom Toshiba netvook.
I won't go into detail as to how you can get it up and running on your own computer, but will say that having a retail copy of Snow leopard will always be a handy help. I used something called iPortable Snow OSX as well as the retail DVD to restore the MBR onto my machines. So regardless, you will have to buy Snow Leopard for $30 from your nearest Apple Store. The cost offset of running Snow Leopard on your PC, however, is a lot less than if you were to go out and buy an actual mac.

The closer the hardware, the better you'll be able to run the Operating System. For example, my AMD machine, at this moment, cannot run the Mac at all, and will probably only be able to do so within a Virtual Machine because of the non-Intel hardware.

I did also, use three Apple stickers to brand my computers as Apple branded. I suppose this helps, though again licensing will always be up in the air and be questionable in any of these situations.

I also wish to note that I won't provide support or answer questions for any of those who wish to venture out and do this themselves. I don't think you need a lot of technical knowledge, but rather will have to be able to follow directions well and enter commands or procedures in order. The only two resources I give you are insanelyMac and Hackint0sh. And that is it-no more.

Mac OS: Why do this?

I often ask myself this question. I mean, I just got System Access, and really in this case what's the point of using a Mac now?

I have three thoughts to say on the matter.

First, is that while using my iPod touch, I've actually come to love the simplistic designs Apple puts in their product. I guess I'm no average Joe, but I do like when my work is able to be done in an efficient manner-without issues or problems or hard to find keyboard shortcuts. As most of you probably already know, my switch to Linux didn't go to well but was nearly there. (I'll revisit that OS in about a month's time).
Mac OSX is based off Linux. While it's not open source, it's half open, half closed. The underpinnings of the system, called Darwin, is actually released by Apple as an open kernel. Darwin is based off of free BSD and the Mach kernel, and this is why the terminal application uses Linux commands.
What isn't open source, however, deals mainly with the user interface of the Mac, commonly called Coco. Coco and Carbon are also frameworks Apple created and encourages developers to use them in their applications in order to provide a more streamlined interface across applications.
While I certainly don't know if any personal information is submitted to Steve and his company, I could, with some effort, at least examine the base of the Mac-Darwin. I have faith, though, that perhaps some of the Linux geeks out there have done this already and would of alerted the community if any code was found that compromises privacy.

I certainly think it's a lot better than Windows-at least I'm not running an OS which is totally in closed code!

But let us go back to the system Access issue.
While I might use the mac as often as I can, the sad truth is that I will still need Windows, especially at first during this time. You have to admit, most computer hardware to date is built around Windows, which means that 99.9% of computers will be Windows compatible. Not that there's a chance of me buying a new computer any time soon, it's nice to know that unlike with the Mac, Windows updates don't have a chance of completely breaking the operability of my computer.

System Access will also be useful in situations where I have to use the computer lab. With a $100 upgrade price I could easily take it on the go on my flash disk. Even now, having Satogo there to use in any lab situation is comforting enough. I'm thrilled that I've finally moved away from JAWS and am no longer in hold by their SMA requirements. I have faith in Serotek and that their products will improve over time, and maybe in a year might even match JAWS as far as those features which I lacked are concerned. So no, at this point in time, I do not regret my purchase.

What it takes to Switch: A quick rundown

When I tried switching from Windows to Linux
, I immediately
bumped into the issue of lack of supported apps. Those programs-such as AIM or Yahoo Messenger- had to managed by an entirely different application, requiring a new learning curve. Most Windows applications are also available for the Mac. Yahoo! messenger, for example, looks and behaves almost identically to it's Windows counterpart. About the same goes for AIM. I'm not sure if Net Transport, the download manager I use, has a Mac-equal, but I'll find this out probably tomorrow.

Voiceover support for applications also generally are good, mainly because of Apple's encouragements to use Coco, as well as the interaction which the screen reader allows within various applications. While Orca does have a flat review cursor, I have often found that screen items weren't able to be interacted with too often. The lack of a unified interface also meant that programs like the Ubuntu Software Center were completely inaccessible.

The mac faces it's own challenges too. I find that I miss the keyboard navigation I used within Windows. I can see the advantage of the rotter, but you have to cycle between the choices in order to find the right one and this can sometimes make web browsing take more time. I can't just jump to the next form, I have to cycle through tables, headers, links, visited links… To get to it.

At this point, I'm also looking for an accessible Twitter client. I've tried Syrinx, and wasn't too impressed, though it's certainly a nice improvement over some of the other clients I've used on Macs. And broadcasting on a Mac? That's out of the question, for now-not only because of the software costs, but also because I'm not sure if my microphone output s supported.

Conclusions:

The mac isn't perfect. In some aspects, it's more efficient-such as the ability to use the dock not just to access frequently used programs but to also find options on the bottom of application screens. (While the dock doesn't hold application options, most apps do have a dock-like interface, where options are located in rows of buttons at the screen's bottom or top.)
I've also found, during testing, that the Mac does load websites faster on my Netbook than Windows. This is nice, because in Windows Internet Explorer does take a drain on the processor when rendering. I suppose that because it's Linux based, the OS does not utilize as many resources as would Windows.

I've always loved Apple's software. It's their hardware and policies that I don't meet eye to eye with. They restrict their developers, in particular on the iPhone, and dictate a closed-source platform which is not only prevalent in that device but also the lockdown which Mac OSX is placed into. While this certainly makes the corporation more efficient and prevents fragmenting, it also attracts them less customers. Apple made one of the biggest mistakes when, in 1997, they shut down the Macintosh cloning project. And had Jobs taken IBM and Microsoft upon their offers, we would have seen a completely different market situation among computer manufacturers and consumer choices.

-Tamas Geczy

April 13, 2010
Written on Mac OSX 10.6.3 with voiceover.

hello to all respected readers,

How would you react if I told you that this review is being written from Linux itself?

And that, as of now, I am running
Vinux 3.0 beta 1A?

In the background, festival is downloading. In the foreground, I'm writing this in Mozilla Firefox.

Before I get into the nitty-griddy of Linux, let's talk about what Linux is and why Linux.

Linux is UNIX based. UNIX is a really really really old Operating System, older than Dos, and probably one of the first operating systems to ever appear on personal and business computers. While this will not matter to most of the regular average people, it is important to state the roots of Linux here.

Linux is also free. 95% of Linux distros (distributions) are free. There's probably well over a hundred Linux forks. Ubuntu, Debian, Phedora, Red hat, Mandraik, etc. Vinux could also be considered a distro, but on a smaller scale: It uses (now) Ubuntu as it's base. Same goes for Mint Linux and other Ubuntu-derived versions.
Apple uses the Mach kernel, which is UNIX based. My sighted twin told me, "that looks like a mac!" when I showed her the Ubuntu Main Menu. So the basics internally are similar. Did you know that the iPhone also uses this Mach Kernel? And Google's rising Android OS? A lot of proprietary cell phones also use Linux;Motorola is one good example. So there probably are very few people in this world who don't own an appliance with Unix/Linux.


So let's talk about you, the average user. I try to make my reviews and articles as average as possible, whilst still satisfying those of you who might not be so average and enjoy more of the geeky things of our technological world.

Ok, so you are Joe. (please don't get offended if you really are Joe-it's a common name.). And you like your computer, you use it for the average Facebook/Twitter, e-mail, web browsing. Maybe audio editing/Photoshop from time to time. Ya know, the "normal" stuff.

You're probably used to Windows. Windows is no doubt one of the most intuitive and perhaps greatest Operating systems. 90% of the world uses Windows, and there is so much support behind it, with millions of applications.
Good old Windows. You also have an easy to use interface. For those of us who are not so familiar with computers, you have tooltips and cute looking bubbles which simplify usage. The visually impaired have several screen reader options also - such as JAWS For Windows, Non Visual Desktop Access, System Access, and more.

On the downside, Windows isn't free. That means Microsoft could of put code in there which sends information to Microsoft and it's third parties-without your consent. Usage statistics, they call it- and it is anonymous.
Not being open, you also don't know and can't see the bugs within the code. Sure, that's Microsoft's job-they alone have the SourceCodes- but in some instances, the idea that the community can scout out and fix bugs could actually speed things up. In Linux's case, there are thousands of code changes made each day by hundreds of people.
A lot would also say that as a result of this, instability could be an issue. But there usually are people who "oversee" a project. In Ubuntu's case, you have Canonical LTD. who founded the idea. They still keep track of releases and updates, but hold developer summits to do so, thus allowing the community at large to provide input on what they want.

Because Ubuntu is free software, you generally won't find many commercial products for it. For some again, this could be a downside. You have apps like Open Office-the best free alternative to Microsoft Office. While it's an excellent tool, I've heard many complaints about how graphically it isn't appealing, and how compatibility is lacking.
Take the Media player, Rhythmbox, built into Ubuntu: My sister's first comment was, "it looks ugly.". Of course, there are no professional graphic designers who are (specifically) higher to make everything smooth and pretty. It's free software. People volunteer.

On the upside, because it's free, not only are most of the applications simple to use and for the Visually impaired, accessible right out of the box, but they are also more intuitive and to some, easier to use.

Now, that doesn't mean everything is accessible. I haven't tried many apps on Ubuntu, so I really can't say. But there are certainly things which are critical that need accessibility, such as the new "software center" in Ubuntu-which currently uses Webkit and thus does not work at all in terms of functioning with the screen reader of Linux, Orca.

But certainly a lot of apps are built in already, such as for music playing, photo editing and more. Programs such as the Linux bit torrent app Transmission, the Media player, mail client seem to work fine.
There are also a number of support groups if you are blind. These include the Vinux mailing list, the Orca list, Ubuntu accessibility, and more.

Linux accessibility has certainly come a long way, especially when looking towards the last 3 years. 3-4 Years ago you had Speakup-a very basic screen reader for Debian which only supported Hardware synthesizers. The good thing was that even back then, we had a few blind hardcore geeks who went out of their way and actually used Linux.

Now we have Gnome, and the new Orca screen reader. The Internet and a whole host of apps are now accessible and usable.

One thing that personally always captures my heart when it comes to Linux is the dedication these people have towards free software. Just look at the people over at the Ubuntu Launchpad. Or Tony Sales and his Vinux team, the entire "vinux-development" list. These people have a passion for this. They are, from my experience, kind-hearted individuals bent on improving computing and work in a team to do so. That is a key: teamwork. Free software would not exist without it. Everyone knows everyone else-their rolls- and everyone knows how to contribute, even if it is just beta testing and reporting bugs.

Ubuntu 9.10 was unusable, at least if you had no sight. That's because it used a new sound system called Pulse Audio, as opposed to the previous Alsa. (Jaunty 9.04 already had Pulseaudio, but it was not enabled.)

It was during the new Lucid 10.04 development cycle that people such as Bill Cox worked on trying to fix the considerable lag which existed with Ubuntu Karmic due to the above mentioned change. And it looks like they've gotten it pretty well down.

Installation:

I initially installed Vinux Alpha III. For those who are not familiar with Vinux, it is a version of Linux (Ubuntu) which speaks right out of the box, without having to enter any commands. It also has a few other customizations and tweaks to allow for better accessibility. Essentially, however, you are getting a release of Ubuntu-just as the other sighted users around the world are.

I originally tried Alpha III. The Alpha had several issues, in particular freezes and odd quirks when it came to operation - two instances of Orca talking when auto-log in was enabled was one of them.

Nevertheless it has come a long way when looking at the current Beta 1. So far, I've never in my life had a Linux distribution installed on my computer for more than a week. Will I finally make that switch?

The install process went smooth as ever. I have not tried dual-booting Ubuntu and Windows 7 yet, since my last experience where my entire Windows OS wouldn't load after Ubuntu was installed still left me a bit "traumatized" as far as making another attempt. But tomorrow I probably will end up installing it on my Netbook in a dual-boot environment-- and this should make my install process more detailed.

It took me around 10 minutes to get the system installed. I enabled auto login, in order to see if my Alpha III issue was still there. Orca was very responsive during install.
There were, however, instances where I tried hitting on the element in focus and Orca wouldn't respond, not even tabbing. In these cases I simply hit escape to get back to the install screen. So it does seems as though you manually have to click on the forward button.

Once installation was complete, I restarted the virtual machine. One notable change which Vinux makes to Ubuntu is the PC speaker beeps - you hear them when starting up and shutting down your computer. It's actually pretty cool and makes your computer sound a bit like from the 1990s-but it also a great way to know when you can choose boot options.

Desktop accessibility:

Again, a great thing about Vinux is that speech starts automatically. Chances are that when Lucid does get released, you will also be able to start Orca using the live CD, however this can sometimes be complex-especially because the new Gnome release incorporates a new boot screen. During a alt+f2 (run dialog) and typing in Orca is certainly an option, but will require you to log in and out of the live CD, which can and has proven to be tricky.
But anyway. Linux has no start menu. There is the main menu, which you access with alt+f1. It can be accessed from anywhere.

There is a desktop. To get to it, alt+f9 minimizes your current app and should work in getting you there.

There were no crashes when using and accessing the settings panels or tasks, a nice change from the Alpha.

Inaccessibility:

At this point, the only inaccessible Ubuntu area is the new application center, which uses HTML content-and Gnome's new web-kit. To get around this, I used the terminal found in accessories and typed in
sudo get-app
and it worked fine. Quite simple, though I'd love to be able to browse through the 35000+available applications.

Web browsing and other challenges:

Personally, using Firefox proved to be a bit difficult for me. Because Orca uses the dom version of a page, using up/down arrows can lead to links being clustered. For example, doing one arrow down on Google.com would result in Orca saying: "web link images link news link..."
and you cannot navigate these individually like with Windows and JAWS.
I also found entering in forms a bit of a challenge-Orca enters forms mode automatically and pressing "E" for the next edit field results in the letter E being entered in my form.
Password fields, oddly enough, were not entered into automatically.

Conclusions:

At this point, there isn't much to say. I'm not certain how good Linux will turn out. The ease and comfort of Windows will be missed. Who knows if I c an broadcast my radio show from within Ubuntu?
There's a learning curve for everyone, no doubt. However, a lot of keyboard commands, like copy/paste, are the same as within Windows, which lessens this curve when opposed to, let's say, a Mac.

Accessibility will also be another of my focuses. Linux is developing each day, and I feel that it has reached a fairly stable ground when it comes to both usage and accessibility where it could be compared to Windows or the Mac.

But who knows-I might be wrong. I will be providing everyone with updates on how this project will go -with an open mind and patients, I think it'll end up well.

-Tamas Geczy
March 30/31, 2010

Although I neither have the time or budget to travel all the way to Barcelona for a week's time, I have to say that I've been following a lot of the commotion which went around at this year's Mobile World Congress. (or is it World Mobile Congress? no :) )

Perhaps one of the bigger announcements which showed up it's head at the event was, in fact, something expected: Windows Mobile.

Windows Mobile has really fallen to the wayside in the recent years. With iPod touch and Android phones hitting the Markets (yes, I just called the iPhone an iPod touch Phone, because that's what it really is), the technology which ran and operated Windows Mobile really became something of a drag. The user interface which held some of the dialogs, like settings together can easily be traced back to 1996.

Of course, Windows mobile 6.5 and now 6.5.3 really tried solving this problem by adding new functionality into the interface and changing how things functioned. While 6.5 was more of an update for touchscreen phones, 6.5.3 did add a faster web browser even to standard phones.

But You could of seen it coming. While Windows Mobile dropped it's title and was now called "Windows Phone", it really didn't help much. "I have a Windows Phone!" Why not call it a WiPhone?
Early September last year, Microsoft rolled out it's Zune HD device, in an effort to take on the iPod touch. In a way this was successful: Many flocked to the Zune because it gave a better music experience, +HD radio. For those of you who have never heard of the Zune HD or even the Zune, it is not an international product, meaning that only lucky champs in the US are able to buy it.

But the Zune also, in a way, represents something new. I've known (and I think most of us have) that it runs a form of the CE kernel - meaning that the operating system is a wide modification of the Windows Mobile OS. This has been the case since the first Zune generation that appeared in 2006, and one which I actually got and experienced for about a month before returning it for an exchange to an iPod video with Rockbox.

So let's discuss this a bit. Zune=Windows Mobile revamped. You could of seen this one coming, really, even though there is no need to jailbreak a Zune - it can be programmed with XNA without the need to sign and approve apps.

So, as I was saying. You could of seen it coming. Microsoft has a perfectly good and excellent platform under their belt, which really features no accessibility beside large font options. But back to the point. It's their own weapon, and the redmond-based company is not afraid to use it.

The new phone announced at Mobile World Congress was the Windows Phone 7 series. Yep, it's all about the 7 again, folks. It's really a lucky number, and looking at Windows 7 sales this may actually hold true.
The Windows Phone 7 Series drops pretty much all traces of Windows Mobile ever existing - or shall we call it Windows Phone? We currently know very simple facts about the devices at hand, but it's clear that this is planned to be Microsoft's way of letting the cat out of the bag on the iPhone and iPod Touch. (No pun intended on Apple products)

I could focus on what will be new in these new phone series. I will say that all phones which will be released as a Windows Phone will now have to conform to tighter conventions, down to requirements such as each device having to have at least three buttons-Bing, Home, and Back. Of course this is meant to challenge the iPhone which, at the moment, only features a round home button. All phones must also feature a capacitive touchscreen, a technology which has been used in the iPod touch/iPhone ever since their inception. Unlike heat or pressure sensing touchscreens, these allow great sensitivity and you don't have to push down on them at all to activate an item.

And with that I really want to phase into what I intended this article to be about: What does the creation of the Windows Phone 7 Series mean to the Visually Impaired Community?

Normally I don't write reviews which only focus on the blind - I also try to taylor them to the sighted world as well. But this time, it's more about the future of accessibility than anything.
So let's look at the positive sides first.

Windows Phone 7 series really does bring a new OS to the table. There is no more today screen but rather tiles, no more Start menu really, and no more checkboxes and radio buttons-do you really see them on the iPod Touch beside those toggles?
So it really is a chance for all companies which design screen readers for the Visually Impaired to get a "fresh start".
I know I will be frowned upon for saying this by some people, but the current way we can navigate Windows Mobile touchscreen devices is very tedious. You have to remember four quadrants on the screen and know which quadrant combinations do which commands, or otherwise scroll through a command list thanks to Mobile Speak 4. While the Command list partially solves the problem of memorizing each and every command (which could include up to 30-50 things and combinations of quadrants to remember), it really is a bad approach to touchscreen access. And I'm scared to think what the sighted world would think of such an approach to using their touchscreens if they were forced to.

Don't get me wrong, the quadrant approach was great in it's day, before Apple took it one step forward by actually allowing the blind to use a full-fledged touchscreen by double tapping items or even swiping around it. Though Mobile Speak does offer a lot more commands than voiceover which is very very true, Apple could still use a number of swipes and gestures to accomplish voiceover functionality, as they demonstrated with the iPhone 3gs and touch 3g.

For those of you who love the way Mobile Speak accesses the Touchscreen, that's great, and perhaps it could remain as an option which people could turn on and off during installation. I don't have any problems with the people who love this approach to access, I simply don't see it as a viable way of navigation - simply because it forces one to use a "special" way of accessing their device. And then we get the whole "is that a special phone made for blind people?" from our friends.

So the new Windows Phones could really change the game around, as most phones will likely not even come with a keyboard - they will, quite realistically, be iPhone rivals.

Another positive aspect will be that if the new phones become accessible, so will the Zune HD open up to the world.

A little bit about applications on the new phones. Because they use pretty much a shinier and newer kernel and OS than the older Windows Mobile devices, it looks like 99% of applications will have to be dumped out the window, as the entire interface is different. They call this new interface, Metro.

On the negative side we do have several issues.
As I've said, qwerty keyboards are really going out of style. In fact, none of the documentation I've read talks of Windows Phone 7 Series Standard Phones. (doesn't that just sound wonderful?)
Today, Windows Mobile Standard phones are quite scarce. These are the phones that only feature a keyboard, like the Motorola Q and the HTC Ozone. Touchscreens are seriously taking over our world today, and in many ways it's a great thing - they allow navigation around an interface so much easier and smoother, with a more realistic experience.
On the downside though this will require a serious adjustment for many who are visually impaired. The sighted world has had touchscreens since the mid 90s in several public places like cash machines and banks. I don't think that this "transition" will be as difficult for them as for the blind community.

But it has to happen some day. I don't see touchscreens replacing keyboards on Standard computers yet, though tablet PCs like the iPad bring us one step closer to such an era. As long as the keyboard's spacing matches that of a qwerty keyboard, I think we can say that it won't be as bad as people envision. But to the contrary, I do find typing on my laptop or even Netbook keyboard a lot more comfortable than holding my iPod awkwardly on my table or in my palm and trying to enter a text to my girlfriend. (yes you can text on the touch just fine)

I'm not sure how this will impact our community. The disappearance of touchscreens might sadly lead to several abandoning their smartphones for more simpler, dumber phones, because all they have is your standard 9-key phone keypad. But even those phones are getting touchscreens now - while the ENV isn't a true "dumb" phone, it for sure isn't a smartphone in the sense of being able to install custom built apps.

Another problem with the new Windows Phone 7 Series is, exactly how will we get a screen reader on this thing?
Perhaps if Microsoft built a narrator for Windows Mobile, it wouldn't be so bad, though this would cause a potential collapse of many companies who rely on support from governments and users who purchase their screen readers for phones.
To date, Windows Mobile is the most accessible phone system for the Visually Impaired. Ok, Simbian is also up there, but really it's what truly allows us to run standard and mainstream apps just like anyone else. Prior to the iPhone, it's really one of the only things we had. And many Note-takers are also based off the system and Kernel.
What will really happen?
It's kind of odd that note-takers today are declining, in favor of netbooks and other such devices. Not only are the companies like Humanware and Freedom Scientific slacking off on providing solid support and updates to their note-taking products, but netbooks/and numerous other low cost solutions are more viable to many people, particularly if you don't want to have your government pay for all of your gadgets.
Building in a Narrator into Windows Phones will allow more of a mainstream focus to the market, though I do hope that it won't be as weak as the actual Narrator you see in Windows.

Yet having Code Factory continue innovation will allow for phones with more diverse commands. One of the problems all of us are seeing with voiceover is that only the company can release updates to it. You only get an update when Apple decides to give it an update. You can't modify the system, at least not easily, to add your own enhancements like you can do to the desktop NVDA. (So far, there is no open source screen reader for Cell Phones, accept some Android-based projects I believe)
Code Factory, and for that matter Nuance, clearly have an advantage in their markets because they can implement a layout of commands and gestures which allow a great amount of verbosity customization as well as announcements of certain information. I'm not intending to down Apple here, because they really did an excellent job with Voiceover's first release on the iPhone and it is highly functional for day to day use. But it will always be an advantage to AT companies-the advantage of special customization gearing a product to the Visually Impaired by means of specialization.

Conclusions:

I think I will end my rant and observations here. Feel free to share your perspectives on all this.
Windows Phone 7 Series can truly be an innovation if we want it to be, but than again it could lead to a total disaster. While reports on Engadget and elsewhere are surfacing that Microsoft will keep support for the old Windows Mobile Classic Phones and devices, that'll doomed to become redundant some day. Are we going to stick with an old system for the next five years because it's more comfortable or will we take that leap forward and work ahead of the product's release? I think that there are advantages in both scenarios. If we take the first one, there will be a solid foundation for PDA devices which the Visually Impaired could use, because the Windows Mobile OS has been around for over 10 years now and thus is relatively stable and free of crashes. On the other hand, the second option prompts us with some more ethical questions: If we are going to work ahead of time, will we approach Microsoft with violence and protests or by asking several of their reps for information on accessibility?
The future is in our hands.


-Tamas Geczy
Febuary 17-18, 2010

Hi!
This is something I wrote last night at 4:30 AM. Sorry... I was inspired when thinking of Windows just before I fell asleep. I did a quick research online and found that there are a handful of people who actually agree with me!
Read below.

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joke: The Greenest Operating system

When considering a new computer, you have to look into many factors and aspects of your prey - which lucky dawg will get the chance to interact with you- or as Apple's CEO put it with the iPad, which one of those will be the most intimate with you. For the non-technical, it's really simpler to buy a computer than for the technical. Non-technical people can just consider the above question, and perhaps "what will I be using my computer for?" and "do I need something portable or something stationary.".
Techie geeks, though, have a myriad of other things to look at. What CPU? How much ram? Does it support Intel or AMD Virtualization technologies? Can it run 1002931 apps at the same time? What about a floppy drive for nostalgic purposes?

But we can all agree on one thing: Both of these people have one final other question they must ask:
How environmentally friendly is the operating system?
You might of just stopped reading this post. What? Environmentally friendly?

With all the hype on becoming green, the entire industry is shifting. Computers now have environmental ratings, like ROHs and Eppiet. My netbook has a nice sticker beautifully showcasing that, in fact, the computer has gotten numerous environmental approvals.
Personally, I'm all for environment conservation and love going green. I love nature and being out in it during daytime when I can be, just not in this cold winter season. It's all fun :)

But back to the point. What's this with an operating system's environmentally being friendly question?
It's highly important. Just think about it. Mac OSX has a trashcan, but not a recycle bin. A little five year old who grows up with Windows might be compelled to think of the environment and recycling bins if he/she reads "recycle bin" instead of trashcan. Right? We must raise our children with the right ideals.
In addition, some may highly be upset by the fact that Apple encourages trashcans and not recycle bins.
See:
Neowin Forums > Why doesn't Apple care about the environment?
http://www.neowin.net/forum/lofiversion/index.php/t835306.html

For a long debate over this. Seriously, people care.

Below are just some environmental considerations to make when looking at an operating system. Let's look at Windows and Mac, as I'm not that familiar with linux, + Linux mainly uses a shell and those that do have a GUI (graphical User Interface) tend to exhibit similar features.

The mac:

Macs are great devices, ultimately incorporating many accessibility and universal access features. If you are visually impaired, a Mac may be good if you don't have state or government support that buys you your assistive technology and can dish out $1300. (maybe $1100 for a lower end Macbook).

For the sighted, Macs are not only built on a solid foundation, but are highly recyclable. Just don't place it in the trashcan;Dispose of it by means of a local recycling outlet.

The mac OS is very solid, too, as it uses Linux as it's core. So not only do you get a solid computer, but also a solid OS. Again, don't leave poor Mac out of consideration.

Let's see. The mac has a dock. That's right. A dock. It's at the bottom of your screen and contains frequently used programs and applications. You can move these "ships" in your dock (as I will call them, though official name of applications on the dock may vary) any way you want.
Why is this significant?
Docks emphasize outdoors. A dock indicates that you are going to the water. Just looking at the dock might encourage you to go a few miles on your nearest Lake or body of water. There is no better way to truly appreciate the sea;You will be reminded of a rich dock every time you use your computer!

A builtin dictionary:
The mac is cool because you can type in any word into Spotlight and get it's definition instantly, even when offline. That's right. If you ever get stranded on an Island where even Robinson Crusoe hasn't ventured, you can use a dictionary to really gain useful information. Apple has included it for a reason, right?

As any OS, the Mac does have it's own environmental disadvantages. Firstly, the trashcan is a trashcan and doesn't encourage recycling, as stated above.
Apple also seems to be encouraging a self esteem boost. With spotlight and voiceover, you are sure to feel famous and, well, in the spotlight! Combine spotlight and voiceover, with a dashboard, and you truly have your daily self esteem boost. In a good way. While it's not environmental, it sure might prevent suicide among some.

Windows:

Microsoft is a different story altogether. While Windows is not Linux-based and thus as stable as the Mac, it sure packs a punch. So many apps exist for Windows, and there are a lot of PC manufacturers, ensuring a wide variety and diversity to your buying choices. For some people, that's a good thing, yet to others, the too many choices can cause a headache.
For our visually impaired readers, you also have many screen reader choices out there, and Microsoft's built in Narrator is sure to bring a smile to your face every day - since Windows Vista, you even get a sexy female voice built-in.

But let's look at Microsoft's environmental consciousness. Bill gates has his own foundation, so there must be something, right?

The recycle bin has been around since 1995, well before global warming became such a popular hit in the mainstream. It seems as though Microsoft really tried the hardest to think of the environment when building Windows.

So hard, in fact, that they built a run option. Run, which is an option on your start menu, really reminds you to exercise every day and not be a potato couch. Run! No, better yet. Start>run! Where is ready>set>? There is no ready and set. Instead, Microsoft wants you to give your run the hardest push when starting off- no need to wait and prepare for exercise.
On top of this, you have a shutdown option right after the run box. Depending on your outlook and viewpoint, this could be a positive or negative thing.
If you look at the start menu in reverse order, shutdown is before run. That, is a great danger. You wouldn't want to shut down before you run- that's pointless!
Yet when looking at the start menu in top-bottom order, run is before shutdown. Now this makes more sense and hopefully will give you the tinglie feeling in your legs to exercise. For those who don't like to exercise, you could look at it in this light: At least you won't be squishing tiny ants and insects with your running feet.

In windows Xp, Shut down was replaced with "Turn off Computer". This was taken away in Vista and 7. Kind of unfortunate, as turning off your computer encourages environmental friendliness - rather than "shut down" which is more nondescriptive. Seriously, folks, turn your computers off at night, don't leave it on.


On the downside's:
Windows. What's with that name? Microsoft sure crafted a popular OS, but they didn't tell us what kind of Windows they made. Glass Windows? Some cheap toy paper Windows? Metal Windows with bars?
Generally, in 1995, most Windows were not environmentally friendly. That is, energy efficient.
This holds up to date. Windows 7 is less energy efficient than Windows Xp - many have reported lower battery life with the new and popular operating system. Macs, on the other hand, are low-power consuming products. Because the MAC OS runs under Linux, it is lightweight and can conserve power. Just look into a Hackintosh (note: not officially Apple-supported). The idea is that someone could install the Mac OS on their regular PC-Since both the Mac and windows run on the x86 platform.

Conclusions:
Clearly, both the Mac and Windows have their environmental disadvantages and advantages. Please consider the points raised in this article before buying your new computer - you won't regret it. Being environmentally friendly is very important in today's world. Why not lessen your impact with the use of a proper Operating system?

hey!

Yeah... well... I will admit, I got lots of sighted help with 98 and 95 since sound is tricky to get up and running. You could have the virtual machine emulate a soundblaster 16 card by adding
"virtual.AudioDev = "sb16"
into the .vmx configuration file (first find the word sound and add it under that area where all the sound configurations are), which will get you sound right out of the box. I will say though that soundblaster 16 cards were old and didn't support multi-channel functionality.
By default Vmware emulates an es1371 soundcard. It's actually called... hmm. It's actually called a creative ES 1371 soundcard. There are drivers for this online floating around, and you'd need to install them into your Virtual machine.

Which brings me to your other query. Copying files.
There is a utility called vmware-mount which will let you mount the .vmdk file as a disk drive in Windows. You would need to use cmd (command line) to do this - the file itself is a standalone download from vmware, called vmware-mount. or vmware-mount utility. Basically it'll let you mount the disk file of your virtual machine. The odd thing about it is that you can't access (I couldn't) the disk from my computer, even though it had a drive letter of e: . I had to go into notepad, click open, navigate to e: (by typing it into the file name edit field) and hit enter to see the contents of my virtual machine drive. Then, I could open a new windows explorer window and copy/paste files into the notepad window in order to have them go onto my virtual disk.
It may sound hard to do, but it really isn't, and it comes in handy. For instance, to install JAWS, I needed to copy the j710_452a_ilm.exe file to the root (c:) drive of my windows 95/98 virtual machine. (actually In windows 95 jaws 5.10 is the last version to work well, even though support was discontinued in 6.20 ).
In addition I renamed the file afterward to j.exe (by right-clicking it within my notepad window and selecting rename) so that to install JAWS, all I had to do was dismount the virtual disk, copy it back to the virtual machine's folder and run windows 98 again. Then, I could hit windows key +r and type c:\j.exe to install JAWS.

In windows 95 jaws was harder to install. I had to install JAWS 3.20 first and then install 5.10, because 5.10 does not include all of the dlls it would need to run on Windows 95, even though it is supported in that release. Again, same methodology.

Hope that helps :)

all the best,
Tomi

hi thomas, I'm interested in these vm's you made.
Personally I tried making a 98 one, but I couldn't get sound drivers to work. more like did't knew how to... o that reminds me. is there a way to copy files from your host to a vm?

Virtual Machines are very useful little piece of software. They allow you to install more than one operating system on a computer, accept that you have it running within your current OS. For example, if you have Windows XP, you could install Windows 95, 98, 7, Vista, or any other operating system (even linux) within XP. It will run under Windows XP in it's own window. You might be wondering how in the world do you control a virtual machine when your keyboard is being used by XP. It's quite simple: With a keystroke, control is given straight to the virtual machine's operating system, from here on refered to as the "guest OS". For a visually impaired person, using a virtual machine can be a challenged. Think of a VM machine as a computer inside your computer: If you use a screen reader or screen magnifier, you won't find much luck being able to use those products within the virtual machine itself, as it has it's own environment. This for me has posed an interesting challenge, but also a great adventure. I installed Windows 95, 98, ms-dos, and windows 3.1 all in a virtual machine environment just by listening to the hard drive clicks and knowing when to type in what. Since I'm used to hard drive sounds, I now know the patterns a hard drive makes when loading or installing a certain component. Usually when my hard drive doesn't click, I know that a prompt has come up - on these I just hit enter mostly to accept the default options. But let's not jump too ahead. Several Virtual machine products exist. I've personally tried VMware's Virtual machine player (vmware player) and Microsoft Virtual PC 2004/2007. The interesting thing is that with Microsoft's product, the moment you alt-tab or click in the window of a virtual machine, control is transfered to the machine. To control your host operating system (remember that the OS in the machine is the Guest operating system and the one you are running is the host), you use the right alt key - right alt+f4 for example will quit the machine. Vmware's player is quite a versital product, as it allows you to hit control+alt once a machine has started, and get exclusive keyboard access, thus you can work in the guest OS. While in Virtual PC you can still hear keyboard presses you make in the machine by your screen reader, in Vmware's product you can't - and this avoids a serious problem of hearing two screen readers at once if you've installed one in your guest OS. This is why I recommend Vmware Player, which you can download by going to vmware.com (it's a free 89 meg download). You could download things for it called virtual appliances - already preconfigured virtual machines that you simply extract and run on your computer. These can be lengthy, as they include an entire OS already preinstalled and configured. Think of it as a friend giving you his computer already preloaded. I personally have my own virtual machines for Windows 3.1, ms-dos 6.22, 95, and 98. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions regarding installing any of these operating systems in Vmware . Since all of these products are abandoned by Microsoft, I may also be able to give you a copy of the virtual machine zipped into an archive - saving you the installation. All of my machines have JAWS loaded in 40 minute demo, with the exception of Windows 3.1 which at the moment does not have any sound drivers or a screen reader. One interesting thing about virtual machines is that they simulate actual hardware. For example, in my Windows 95 VM, it is said that I have a soundblaster 16 soundcard with a pentium I CPU. In the one for Windows 98, it's a Creative es1371 soundcard, and a Pentium III processor clocked at 2 GHz (256 mb of ram). Thus, you can easily use it to emulate certain programs - if you have old software you want to run, just use a virtual machine! That's all for now :) Feel free to comment with questions or anything in general - if you've used a virtual machine yourself. :) -Tomi

hello what i did is i installed 2 opperating systems on 1 computer its very easy but for a visually chalenged make shure that all softwairs are compatible with boath os how to do it take example you have windows xp on local disk c and want to install windows7 on local disk d or e 1 backup make it a point to backup disk d or e where ever you are installing windows7 2 put the windows7 cd and proceed with onscreen instructions make it a point that when you are doing it you have sighted help cause jaws will not support it when you are prompted where do you want to install select disk d or e don't select a cd wrom drive and thats it now when you reboot it will ask you which os do you want to boot from sellect the 1 you want follow this importent instructions 1 backup 2 see whether the byos and other muther board drivers are compatibal with that os 0or you will have problems dont try windows vista with windows xp cause windows xp softwairs are not so compatible with windows vista the following advantages are there 1 if you forget the login password of your windows xp account then you can boot from windows7 recover the pasword and reboot in windows xp however running 2 os on the old computers is not adviseable donot try this with pcs running windows95 or older os if you have any problems then post hear