Very good and informative post. but bit technical and difficult to
understand by those without much knowledge in the field. can you make it a
bit simpler? there are many important issues referred in your message.
Thanks
Umesha
----- Original Message -----
From: "kaveinthran" <kavein2...@gmail.com>
To: <accessindia@accessindia.org.in>
Sent: Saturday, October 29, 2011 8:47 PM
Subject: [AI] Wants to no more about windows 8?
• the changing landscape, review of windows 8 build 7989
posted by : tamas geczy
The changing Landscape, review of windows 8 build 7989
Respected readers,
Once again, the time has arrived to provide more details on your ride.
Which ride, you ask? I call it the ride of the future, for what I write
about today
could very well, and is likely to, become what you will see 2-3 years
down the road from today. We all like to think of the future, right?
Earlier last
month, I wrote up a comprehensive review of Windows 8 build 7850. That
was a long time ago, when looking at today's standards.
Then, late last month, I created a podcast of Windows 8 build 7955. You
can find it, still in it's original unedited form, at
http://goo.gl/2vv2b
and it details some of the features I described in build 7850, including
the new narrator.
A lot of people have asked me, "Why didn't you do a write-up of 7955?"
and I have a simple answer for them. "I am a lazy person and writing one
up would
have taken too much time!". Actually, all joking aside, I saw my
opportunity with a podcast to be greater than writing one up in text
form. This is because
in order for people to grasp windows 8, you have to see it in action.
This, at the time, mostly applied for the new narrator interface, but no
doubt in
the future there will be another podcast covering some of the more
significant features of this coming Operating system.
And new features there are. There is a lot that will be different with
Windows 8. I would compare it to being a highly evolutionary release,
but not as
Windows Vista was to Windows XP. The magnitude here is greater than
Windows vista to 7, however Microsoft is really trying to show the world
that they
have learned from their Vista mistakes. To date, they have delivered all
announcements on schedule, and we can only hope that this will continue
on throughout
the development of Windows 8. The beta is supposed to drop on September
13, at which time it will be given to developers and hopefully the
general public
as well in limited quantities.
Windows 8: The name.
At the end of May, Microsoft had a d9 conference where Steven Sinofsky,
who leads the Windows devision over at Microsoft, talked about Windows 8
in great
detail. (I recommend you visit
http://www.winsupersite.com/article/windows8/windows-8-sinofsky-d9-trans...
for a transcript of this fascinating discussion. We found out that
Windows 8 will probably not be the final name of the product. Instead,
it's a codename,
much like Longhorn was a codename for Windows Vista at the time. I'm not
sure when we will find out the final name of Windows 8, but my bets are
on late
2011 as a Christmas gift or early 2012. In a year's time from now, we
will be tentatively waiting for the OS to be given to computer
manufacturers and
hardware makers.
There's a rough year ahead, but only if you plan on installing Windows 8
on your computers and evaluating every copy that leaks to the internet.
I have
said that I'm walking a tight line here, but as always I feel it very
necessary to let the public know of what's ahead. This, in my opinion,
applies both
as equally for the sighted as it does universally to the world of
assistive technology. If the public isn't aware of how their next
computers might look
and function, they might be in for a shock come 2013. Either that, or
everyone sticks with Windows 7, which will, by the time, be almost 4
years old. And
XP, well, XP will be like Windows 2.0 was during the XP days, in terms
of age. We all must acknowledge that we can't stay stuck for too long
with the "best
thing", otherwise the thing that was the best will slowly become
deprecated over time. I would imagine that for 3-5 years once windows 8
is released, windows
7 will enjoy mainstream support. But by that time, we'll be looking
forward to the next Windows, and only time knows what changes that will
usher into
the desktop and the tablet. I have talked about the concept which is
being engineered behind Windows 8 before, for a long time. The idea of
"Windows everywhere".
Basically, Microsoft is now realizing what Apple realized 3 years ago:
In order to make a well-designed and streamlined product, they have to
make life
more universal for all the devices it runs on. Whether this strategy
will be successful for them is up for debate, but it's even said that
the next version
of Windows phone could possibly be a scaled down copy of Windows 8. All
this is just the roomermill, though, so take that with a grain of salt.
About Build 7989:
Build 7989 was compiled on April 21st, 2011, and won't expire until
March 15th, 2012. When compared to 7955, it sports many "internal"
changes, which for
me, so far, make it the most stable Windows 8 build I have ever run. It
is an x64 release, meaning that it cannot run on my old Thinkpad t60. Oops.
Unfortunately, Microsoft has not done anything to change the poor state
of x64 Windows. Your program Files folders are still split into an x86
and regular
(x64) directories, and the sysWow64 folder which contains all 64-bit
dlls, is still present. While I realize the need to keep legacy
applications to run
in Windows, no other 64-bit operating system today manages it's 32-bit
compatibility in such a poor manner. All gripes aside though, the speed
of Windows
8 is not effected by it being a 64-bit build.
From my "About Windows Dialog":
"
Microsoft Pre-release Windows Operating System
Version 6.2 (Build 7989.0.amd64fre.winmain.110421-1825).615974c7346f7374
Copyright © 2011 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
The Microsoft Pre-release Windows Operating System and its user
interface are protected by trademark and other pending or existing
intellectual property
rights in the United States and other countries/regions.
Evaluation copy. Expires 3/15/2012 7:59 PM
Unauthorized use or disclosure in any manner may result in disciplinary
action up to and including termination of employment (in the case of
employees),
termination of an assignment or contract (in the case of contingent
staff), and potential civil and criminal liability
"
.
First Impressions: A radical shift in accessibility.
I am going to talk briefly about Microsoft's intentions on
accessibility, because it was the first noticeable change I found in
Windows 8. I would imagine
this information is not important for the sighted, but if you are a
Windows developer, you may want to take note, because although the
blind/disabled market
is a small one, it is important to develop applications on the basis
that they will work for everyone.
Windows 8 is finally getting rid of display mirroring. Last year,
Microsoft announced their intentions to do this, and they really weren't
joking at the
time, either. Windows 8 7989 can no longer work with mirror display
drivers. For those that don't exactly know what those are, they
replicate, or mirror,
the contents of the display for screen reading and other assistive
technology software. In many mainstream screen readers, mirroring is one
of the only
ways the product gathers information on what is on the screen.
This is rather unfortunate, as with Windows 8, mirror drivers will
install and appear to function normally in the system, but will not
provide information
to the screen reader. I can honestly say that I grew a few gray hairs
trying to figure out just what was wrong after I first installed 7989.
JAWS (and
later, Window-eyes 7.2) installed fine, reported no errors, yet my
abilities to read what is under the mouse were severely limited. This
showed me two
things, right off the bat. 1, That Window-eyes and JAWS, particularly
the ladder, rely too much on the information they gather from this extra
device driver.
Other screen access solutions, such as NVDA and Serotek's System Access,
worked very well with Windows 8, until they too began experiencing
problems which
I will discuss later in this document. Both GwMicro and Freedom
Scientific are going to have to radically rethink and shift their stance
on screen reading
if they wish to survive in a post - Windows 8 world.
Entering Microsoft's Narrator into the picture, it will be even harder
for these companies to make big bucks off something as basic as screen
reading.
I believe in the idea that screen reading, and accessibility for that
matter, is something that shouldn't be a question, but should be
naturally implemented.
Therefore, I do not see much justification in $1095, especially now that
we have open-source solutions like NVDA on the seen. NVDA was coded by 2
very
dedicated people, and never once have they used money or expenses for
justifying development. Windows 8 will be in favor of free or low-cost
screen readers
like System Access, because the competition will be about providing
users something which is greater or is used differently than Microsoft's
own solution.
For many users, Narrator's "voiceover-like" approach to screen
navigation is too much of a shift, and for these individuals
alternatives like NVDA or SA
will be their way of enjoying their freedom of choice. No, life will not
become a monopoly once people adopt Windows 8.
Couple this with Microsoft's increased requests for using UI automation,
we have a pretty clear picture of how Windows 8 will be used. Unlike
Apple, Microsoft
does not publish strict development guidelines for Windows developers.
It also seems as though that with Windows 8, they are increasingly
starting to advocate
HTML 5 and the web, which would mean that all screen readers will have
the same amount of access to material, regardless of company. While our
world won't
become HTML5 only, increased reliance on web applications will mean that
companies will be able to make easy to use products for those with
disabilities.
Narrator: What's changed and new?
At this point, it is very hard to say if Microsoft is or isn't committed
to accessibility. In build 7955, we saw the introduction of 28 extra
commands
to Narrator, which totaled the exact number to a whopping 56 commands.
56! That is a very good amount for a start, but I would still like to
see more extensible
web navigation and cursor reading commands. As of now, navigating
websites is virtually impossible and tedious to do with Narrator. Yet
there still is
a year ahead, so I have no concerns that if Microsoft wants to pull this
together, they will have no problems perfecting Narrator as a powerful
screen
reader. Add in a voice which is more natural than Microsoft Anna, and we
will have a winner.
Red Pill: More features to unlock!
In build 7955, a program so called a Red Pill was created to unlock new
Windows 8 functionality that has been purposefully hidden by Microsoft
engineers.
The Red Pill, as so called, allows for the unlocking of several new
features, including the ribbon view in Windows Explorer, a new logon
dialog which is
styled after Windows Phone 7, a new task manager, PDF reader, and even
the Internet explorer which is designed for tablets.
In 7955, I only had the red pill activated briefly, because I found that
a lot of features, like the new log-on window, were not accessible for
blind users.
I would place my computer in standby, only to find that once I returned,
I could not log back in because, well, no screen reader could focus the
cursor
to my user name and the password box. In build 7989, I do not have this
problem anymore. I have successfully used NVDA and System Access to log
back into
my computer. Although the buttons are not focusable by tabbing, using
the Virtual Mouse and NVDA's object navigation allowed me to see them
and interact
with the controls. There must have been changes here which finally
allowed access for screen readers. Score 1 for Microsoft.
New System Settings dialog for Tablet Computers:
In build 7955, I saw the introduction of a new system settings dialog,
which was made for tablet computers. It allows for functions like
turning off wi-fi,
changing date and time, and even changing the behavior of the virtual
keyboard. It again was a dialog which I could not access easily, but in
7989, I can
now read the labels of the links. Tabbing around only results in the
word "link" "link" being announced, but using object navigation actually
lets me read
and deduce what each link is for. In short, this dialog is your one-stop
way of changing basic tablet system functionality.
new log on providers.
Windows 8 includes several new ways of logging on to your computer. Once
build 7989 has been unlocked using the red pill, several new options
appear in
the user accounts control panel applet. These include:
-"Enable touch access",
-"setup a pattern for pattern log on"
and, once touch access is enabled, "disable touch access."
The most interesting of these is the pattern log on. In order to set it
up, you must check squares in a grid (or so it appears with screen
reading software).
The grid is a 4 by 4 one, and you can check as many of the boxes as you
want. Interestingly enough, you can't setup a pattern without having an
actual
password on your account, so you can't make a pattern your only log on
option
To use your pattern, at the log on screen, a new option, "more logon
options", allows you to choose between different "logon providers". This
might suggest
that you could have abilities of logging into your account through other
means, perhaps using other credentials, though I highly doubt this
becoming a
possibility.
"You will be able to use this pattern to log into Windows. You must
select a minimum of three squares."
A new Portable Workspaces Creator: 32 GB, Please
I discussed Portable Workspaces in detail during my review of build
7850. It's the Windows functionality which lets you create a USB copy of
Windows and
use it to boot your computer, allowing you to have a fully functional
copy of Windows. There has been a major redesign of this dialog. Let's
take a look.
"
Portable Workspace Creator
Portable Workspace is a Windows feature that allows you to run Windows
from a USB storage device.
Search automatically for a pre-configured device. Button. I have a USB
Drive that was configured by my organization. Windows will automatically
create
my Portable Workspace.
Create a new Portable Workspace. Button. I would like to evaluate or
customize my Portable Workspace. Guide me through the creation of a new
Portable Workspace.
What is Portable Workspace? link
"
As you can see, the new ability to search for a configured device is
pretty interesting. It seems to allow you to load existing data from the
device into
your current copy of Windows 8, though I have not been able to test the
function.
However, to make matters worse, Microsoft has increased the disk
requirements to 32 GB from 16 GB. This makes the idea of using a
portable workspace on
a flash drive virtually impossible, and understandably, nobody wants
students to tamper with school computers by creating their own windows 8
flash drives
to boot.
More on the .APX file extension:
In windows 8, evidence of a new .APX application model is slowly
mounting. There is a new command line utility, located in
c:\windows\system32\installAPX.exe
, which allows for the deployment and installation of this new model. It
is said that .APX files use Microsoft Silverlite technology to run
programs. The
only concern here, of course, comes for those who use a screen reader,
as silverlite applications are not the most accessible out there. Also,
in Group
policies, system administrators can now limit the installation of .APX
files. The new setting, called "Allow all Trusted Applications to
Install", allows
for APX files to be limited based on their certificates.
Putting System Reset to the Test.
I was finally able to try out the new System Reset feature, which lets
you restore Windows 8 to it's default state without having to format
your entire
computer over. The functionality is very useful if you are experiencing
issues with your computer's stability, but don't want to wipe all your
data. Once
you run the System reset wizard, you are greeted with the following:
"System Reset dialog.
Do you want to keep user accounts and personal files?
Yes, keep User accounts and Personal accounts. Radio button. Checked.
No, Remove Everything from the Drive where Windows is installed. Radio
Button. Not checked.
Help me Choose. Link
System reset will remove all programs you've installed and restore
default Windows settings. If you choose to keep user accounts and
personal files, they
will be available after your computer is restored.
"
The process from here on out is pretty simple. Your computer will
restart, after which the reset process will begin. Once your system is
reset, another
restart should bring up the new copy of Windows, with all programs
removed yet user accounts intact.
I am using the word should there for a reason. In my experiences with
7989, I was told that "this hardware is not supported." after the second
phase of
my reset. It took me an entire re-install from a DVD to get Windows 8
back, and even then, oddly enough, my username was still in c:\users,
which meant
that I had to create a second username, log in, move my old user folder
somewhere, create a username with my own name, log out, log in to the
new user,
delete the first user, and restore my data from the folder I moved my
old user files to. A hassle? Yes, you bet. I don't see the process as
bad in the
final Windows 8 release though, ideally you should be able to reset your
system and come back 20 minutes later to a brand new fresh windows. Only
your
documents and desktop files are kept, all shortcuts are erased as they
would not work do to the program files being removed.
The Brand New Metro User interface.
As stated, the new log on dialog is inspired by Windows phone 7.
Microsoft is intending to move Windows and Windows Phone 7 into a
unified view. This means
that just as Apple has done with Lion, Windows 8 will include the
tile-based interface.
But unlike Apple, Microsoft is completely ditching the start menu and
taskbar for a grid-style view. To go back to "classic" Windows, the user
would start
an application called Desktop on their start screen. Instead of taking
you to the start menu, the windows key would present your start screen,
where you
could launch the desktop application and see your familiar Windows View.
This is no simple change. I can see many users detesting Windows for
it's new interface, and on a personal level, it brings back memories of
Windows 3.1,
although this is nothing like the program groups of 1994. Tiles can
auto-update, for example, your Facebook tile could display live content
as it happens.
In windows 3.1, you had icons, and you had to switch between program
groups such as accessories and entertainment. Similarly, you have a grid
here which
displays content.
Screen reader testing: Compatibility and Accessibility
NVDA seems to stand out as a clear winner for a third-party Windows
screen reader. It is responsive and well usable within Windows 8, though
there are
some very odd quirks which make the latest snapshot builds impossible or
very hard to use. Often times, when running a program, errors about a
certain
Verfault.exe come up, stating information about memory access violation.
These errors, from what I am noticing, do not occur in snapshot 4121,
which is
one of the only other earlier snapshots I have access to. I don't
exactly know from which point this starts, but already in snapshot 4472,
NVDA crashes
winver.exe . In snapshot 4487, running Windos Task manager results in a
Windows Shell common DLL crash, and with the sound settings dialog, a
crash of
rundll32.exe.System access works well, accept for a few problems. Combo
Boxes or drop-down lists in Internet Explorer 9 cannot be expanded and
used. After
about a day of using System Access, it stopped talking all together, and
uninstalling/reinstalling the product did not fix the problem of no
speech. Speech
only seems to exist in System Access' own menus and dialogs.
As mentioned, JAWS and Window-eyes have come to over-use video hooks.
This makes them nothing more than a nice dummy screen reader, as they
can only read
basic and very little information. In fact, JAWS, when restarted a
second time, is known to cause a nice memory dump which lasts a total of
8 minutes and
13 seconds. During this time, my computer's processor overheats, so I do
not advise running windows 8 and JAWS much. GWMicro has a better fait,
as Window-eyes
runs fine and is very responsive. It can provide much more detail about
screens than could JAWS, and overall I would rank it as the 3rd best
screen reader,
NVDA and System Access still being the first 2.
Conclusions
As it stands, Windows 8 will continue to be the Operating System I will
use on this main laptop. I know, I am very crazy for saying this, right?
I have
been using 7955 for over a month, and even though I have to rely on NVDA
for my daily Screen reading needs, I find myself enjoying the experience
quite
nicely. Windows 8 runs faster, is more responsive, and uses half the ram
when compared to Windows 7. Thus, it's safe to say that your old Pentium
4 computers
don't have to be thrown out into the trash, provided that they have at
least 1 GB of memory.
I feel that for a lot of users, there are many concerns. Don't worry, I
understand. Microsoft is once again turning the world of computer users
upside
down, and it is one thing I am not completely happy about. Will Windows
8 be Microsoft's next Vista? That depends on who you are. The general
stability
of the OS is far greater than that of Vista's problems during launch.
Application compatibility is pretty decent, and with this 7989 build,
programs like
skype work fine now. The only new, and perhaps bit daunting experience
will be the complete redesign of the way you use Windows. For those of
us in the
access field, we need to warn companies like Freedom Scientific and
GWMicro to plan ahead, so that prior to next June, their screen readers
will work with
Windows 8. I would really like to see partial if not full Windows 8
support in the mainstream screen readers by the time the second beta
hits. I find it
very unfair that those of us who take time and evaluate Windows for the
sake of helping corporations receive silent treatment, because it
results in screen
reading software not working properly on the product's launch date.
GWMicro has done an amazing job at being ready weeks prior to launch,
but JAWS has
known to sometimes be months away from a fully functional release even
after the new operating system has been released. With the creation of
Microsoft's
screen reader, these corporations have to realize that unless they speed
up their pace of advancement, they will be left behind in the dust. The
future
holds great promises for Windows 8. Staying positive yet firm in letting
others know, with an open mind, of what is coming is the only solution
to making
the transition a smooth and bump-free ride for everyone. Your journey
does not end here, of course. There are many more builds to come, and
this is just
the beginning.
-Tamas Geczy
June 21, 2011
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