The final update for Windows XP is scheduled for exactly 6 months from next Tuesday in case anybody has forgotten.
I agree with Mr. Damery so far as people should start looking in to upgrading their respective systems. Personally I have upgraded all of mine to Windows 7 as 8 doesn't present anything of interest to me, I'm not saying nobody should upgrade to 8, it's just not on my horizon at this time, because 7 is serving my needs just fine. David Ferrin A complex system that does not work is invariably found to have evolved from a simpler system that worked perfectly. -----Original Message----- From: JAWS-Users-List [mailto:jaws-users-list-boun...@jaws-users.com] On Behalf Of Eric Damery Sent: Wednesday, October 02, 2013 9:16 AM To: jaws-users-list@jaws-users.com Subject: Re: [JAWS-Users] Jaws15 is must required for XP users? Actually, in addition the bug fixes and new Windows 8 support including touch screens, the following list of features that were added also apply to Windows XP. I would strongly suggest you consider looking at a new computer in the coming months. Microsoft is going to stop support of XP shortly which could lead to significant problems with cyber attacks if you remain connected to the internet in the future with XP. Regards, Eric Damery Vocalizer Expressive Synthesizer JAWS 15 supports Vocalizer Expressive voices from Nuance Communications. These new voices work exclusively with JAWS. Vocalizer Expressive offers many benefits including pitch control, so you can more easily identify upper case characters, improved performance, especially in the areas of latency and speech quality, as well as support for a wide variety of languages. To download these voices, go to the Vocalizer Expressive Voices Web page. Each voice can be downloaded as high premium or premium. The high premium voices are large files, but offer the highest quality speech. The premium voices offer very good speech quality and a smaller file size. Both high premium and premium versions of a voice can be installed on the same computer so they can be compared. After installing a voice, a Vocalizer Expressive profile will be added to the list of JAWS voice profiles. New FSReader 3 with HTML Support A new version of FSReader, Freedom Scientific's software DAISY (Digital Accessible Information System) book reader, is included with JAWS 15. In FSReader 3, the text area of the book is now in HTML format, which means you can navigate using the same techniques that you use on the Web. You can use navigation quick keys such as H to move by heading or P to move by paragraph. You can also use the JAWS list of links, list of headings, and more. To learn more about using FSReader 3 to access DAISY content, refer to the FSReader Getting Started book which can be accessed by pressing F1 while in FSReader. Download Freedom Scientific Training Materials Using FSReader You will now download and install Freedom Scientific training DAISY books directly through FSReader 3. Training materials will no longer be listed in the JAWS Check for Updates dialog box. To access Freedom Scientific training DAISY books, do the following: 1.Start FSReader 3. 2.Press ALT+F to open the File menu and choose Open JAWS Training Table of Contents to open the table of contents book. 3.Each available DAISY book is identified as a link. Navigate to the book you want to open and press ENTER. If the selected book has not yet been installed on your computer, FSReader will automatically download and install the book and then open it. Otherwise, the selected book is opened. New Speech History for Speech-only Users For years, braille users have had a mode where the braille display would show the exact information spoken by the speech synthesizer. You can also pan the braille display back to review the last 50 spoken items. The New Speech History feature in JAWS 15 extends this functionality to users who rely on speech more than braille. If you miss one or more messages spoken by JAWS, you can press INSERT+SPACEBAR, followed by H to open a Results Viewer window containing up to the last 50 announcements spoken by the synthesizer. When the Speech History window opens, you are placed on the line containing the most recent announcement. To clear the history, press INSERT+SPACEBAR, followed by SHIFT+H. The history is also cleared when you lock the computer or completely log off. If you do not want JAWS to maintain a speech history, clear the Enable Speech History check box in Settings Center. The braille mode, previously called Speech History, has been renamed to Speech Output in order to avoid confusion. Updated Skype Support JAWS 15 now offers support for the latest version of Skype. Using Skype, you can make free voice and video calls as well as send and receive instant messages with other users across the Internet. If you are running a version of Skype earlier than 6.3, you should update to the most recent version to take full advantage of JAWS support for Skype. For best results using Skype with JAWS, it is recommended that you switch to Compact View, which displays your Contact list in the main window, while conversations are displayed in their own separate windows. You can then use ALT+TAB or the Window List dialog box (INSERT+F10) to move between conversation windows and the Skype main window. To switch to Compact View, press ALT+V to open the View menu, press UP ARROW to Compact view, and press ENTER. Some other key enhancements include: *When Skype alerts you to an incoming call, JAWS automatically speaks the text of the notification regardless of what application you are currently using. The notification is also shown on the braille display as a flash message. *If you are in a chat window typing messages back and forth with another Skype user, JAWS automatically announces incoming messages as they are received. Incoming messages are also shown on the braille display as a flash message. If you are involved in multiple conversations and you are using the Compact View, which opens each conversation in a separate window, JAWS will also read incoming messages from other conversations in the background. *Pressing CTRL in conjunction with number 1 through 0 on the number row will read the last 10 items in the history list with CTRL+1 being the most recent. Pressing these keystrokes twice quickly will display the corresponding message in the Virtual Viewer. *Pressing CTRL+SHIFT+E will move focus to the chat entry field if the currently open Skype window contains one. *Pressing CTRL+WINDOWS Key in conjunction with number 1 through 5 on the number row will let you specify up to 5 conversation windows you can quickly switch to by pressing INSERT+SPACEBAR followed by number 1 through 5. *Pressing INSERT+SPACEBAR followed by SHIFT+R will repeat the current background notification, such as who is calling or an incoming message. For more information on using JAWS with Skype, refer to the Skype help topic. Third-party Braille Display Drivers now Included in JAWS Installation For the past several years, Freedom Scientific has worked closely with braille display manufacturers to help them create drivers that enable their displays to take advantage of all of the latest braille support offered by JAWS. This includes BrailleIn and the ability to enter text into applications directly from the braille display's Perkins-style keyboard. Once Freedom Scientific had verified and digitally signed a driver, users of third-party braille displays would need to download the JAWS driver from the manufacturer's Web site in order to use it. Beginning with JAWS 15, several third-party braille display drivers will now be automatically installed with JAWS and will be available for adding through the Synthesizer and Braille Manager as soon as the JAWS installation is complete. Users will no longer have to download and install a separate JAWS driver for their display from a different Web site. The latest braille display drivers from the following manufacturers are now included with JAWS: *American Printing House for the Blind *BAUM Retec AG *Handy Tech *HIMS *HumanWare *Optelec Tieman Group (Only Alva BC-640 at this time) *Papenmeier Note: Certain braille displays may require you to download a separate Windows driver from the Manufacturer's Web site before they can be used. Auto Detection of Braille Displays If you establish a USB or Bluetooth connection with your braille display, JAWS now immediately detects and begins using the display without the need to first close and restart JAWS. This is especially useful if you use JAWS in a school or training environment where multiple braille displays may be used with the same computer. For instance, if you are using a Focus 40 Blue over a Bluetooth connection and you establish a USB connection with another display, JAWS will begin using the braille display that is connected over USB. If you then disconnect the USB display and power on the Focus 40 Blue, JAWS will switch back to the Bluetooth connection with the Focus Blue. More Braille Options Added to Startup Wizard The JAWS Startup Wizard consists of a series of pages that let you quickly configure some of the more commonly used JAWS settings without the need to go through several menus and managers to locate them. In JAWS 15, the Braille page of the Startup Wizard has been expanded to include more common braille settings that users tend to configure the most when they first install JAWS. In addition to contracted braille options and flash messages, you can now also set the braille mode (Structured, Line, or Speech Output), enable or disable word wrap, reverse the panning buttons on your display, select the placement of your display's status cells, or set the firmness of the braille dots on your Focus or PAC Mate Portable Braille Display. In addition, if you read braille in more than one language, you can specify the primary language table. Instant Switching Between Braille Tables If you regularly access information in other languages using your braille display, JAWS now allows you to configure preferred braille tables that you can switch between on-the-fly using Quick Settings or a convenient keystroke. To set preferred tables, open the Settings Center, expand the Braille group, expand the Advanced group, and then choose Braille Tables. A dialog box opens listing all of the braille tables included with JAWS. You can choose the tables you want to set as preferred tables as well as set one of your preferred tables as the primary table. For instance, you may want to switch between English, Spanish, and French, but have English as your primary table. Once you have set your preferred braille tables, you can open Quick Settings from any application and use the new Preferred Translation Table option, located under the Braille Options group, to cycle between your preferred tables. You can also press DOTS 2-3-4-5-7 CHORD from the Perkins-style keyboard on your braille display to quickly switch between preferred braille tables. Braille Structured Mode Improvements When using JAWS with a refreshable braille display, Structured Mode gives you descriptive information about the current dialog box and the current selected control. Previously, the only way to change how Structured Mode presented information was to select Define Structured Mode in Settings Center to open a dialog box where you could individually configure each control type, for instance, check boxes and buttons. JAWS 15 makes the process of configuring Structured Mode much easier by adding a new Structured Mode group under the Braille group in Settings Center that contains options for configuring how the structured line is displayed so you do not have to modify each individual control. In addition, when displaying a structured line, JAWS will align the braille display to show the most relevant information, such as a prompt, to eliminate the need to pan the display in order to locate this information. To access the new Structured Mode settings, Open Settings Center (INSERT+F2), expand the Braille group, and then select the Structured Mode group. The following options are now available: *Open the Include Optional Components group to configure what control info is shown on the braille display. This includes, the control type and whether it will be displayed in the status cells or not, level and position, hotkeys, hints, dialog box title information, dialog box descriptive text, and control group info. *Select or clear the Align to Structured Segment option to determine if JAWS will align the display to the most appropriate Structured Mode segment when a control gains focus. *Select or clear the Reverse Order of Structured Data to change how the structured line is shown on the braille display. When selected, the control info is shown first, followed by the group, and then the dialog box information. *Select Advanced to open the Control Type Options dialog box where you can modify symbols used to represent controls on your braille display as well as the symbols used to represent the states a control can be in - such as selected or cleared for a check box. By default, the control type, such as chk for check box and btn for button, is shown in the status cells of the braille display. If you encounter multiple types that need to be shown in the status cells, the symbols for each individual type will be combined into a single symbol that will fit in the status area of the display. For example, if you encounter a graphic within a link, you would see ilnk. If the graphic was part of a level 1 heading, you would see ih1. If a graphical link was part of a level 2 heading, you would see ilh2, if the display has four status cells, or just ilh if the display has three status cells. For more information, see the Braille Display Modes help topic. Changed Braille Symbols for Structured Mode The following braille symbols used to represent various control states in Structured Mode have been changed. *A - is now used to indicate opened or expanded. *A + is now used to indicate closed or collapsed. *Disabled and Grayed are now represented by xx. *Required is now represented by rq. *Pressed is now represented by the = symbol. *Graphics are now indicated by img. Enhanced Table Reading in Braille JAWS allows you to determine how much information is shown on your refreshable braille display for tables in Word documents as well as virtualized documents such as Web pages and e-mail messages. Using the settings in the Table Options group, located under the Braille Options group in Quick Settings, you can choose to display the current cell, current row, or current column. In JAWS 15, enhancements to these options have been made to make it even easier to access the contents of tables using braille. If JAWS is configured to display either the current row or current column, JAWS now displays the vertical bar symbol (dots 1-2-5-6) between cells to help indicate where one cell ends and the next begins. If JAWS is configured to display either the current row or current column, JAWS now displays the vertical bar symbol (dots 1-2-5-6) between cells to help indicate where one cell ends and the next begins. If the current row is being displayed, JAWS will now display the current column number before the cell where the cursor is located. In addition, if JAWS is configured to speak column headers, the header for the current column will also be shown in braille following the column number and prior to the cell containing the cursor. Similarly, if the current column is being displayed, JAWS will now display the current row number before the cell where the cursor is located. In addition, if JAWS is configured to speak row headers, the header for the current row will also be shown in braille following the row number and prior to the cell containing the cursor. Error Reporting In order to more promptly respond to customer issues, the new JAWS error reporting feature will allow you to send information about any JAWS errors to Freedom Scientific over the Internet. If JAWS unexpectedly closes, a memory dump file, containing diagnostic information, is created in the JAWS user settings folder. If you also experience any issues where JAWS appears to still be running, but you have lost speech or braille, you can press INSERT+WINDOWS Key+F4 to manually close JAWS, terminate all related processes, and create the memory dump file. After the memory dump file has been created, JAWS will automatically restart and display a dialog box indicating that an error was detected and will ask if you want to send this information to Freedom Scientific. Choose the Send button to transmit the error report directly to Freedom Scientific. JAWS will display a message to indicate that the report was sent successfully. If there was a problem sending the report, for instance, you do not have an active Internet connection, you are asked if you want to try sending it again. Choose Yes or No. Choose Don't Send if you do not wish to send the error report to Freedom Scientific. Choosing to send any error reports helps Freedom Scientific to continue to improve JAWS. The information transmitted to Freedom Scientific is limited to the memory dump file as well as generic information allowing Freedom Scientific to investigate the source of the issue, such as your product version number, the date and time the error occurred, number of times your system has experienced an error, and the error code related to the problem that occurred. The only information related to your specific environment that is transmitted is your computer's MAC address to find trends on a particular system. However, there is no way for us to map MAC addresses to any particular individual, and no personal identification information is transmitted. In addition, you can choose from one of the following radio buttons: *Ask me if I want to send error reports to Freedom Scientific each time: Choosing this option will cause this dialog box to be displayed each time an error is detected. This is the default setting. *Send all error reports to Freedom Scientific without asking: If you choose this option, future error reports are automatically sent to Freedom Scientific without displaying a dialog box. *Never send error reports to Freedom Scientific: If you choose this option, any future error reports will not be sent to Freedom Scientific and you will not be prompted to send an error report. You can also configure this setting using the new Error Reporting combo box, located on the Miscellaneous page in Settings Center. Navigation Quick Key Changes The following Navigation Quick Key assignments have been changed to be more consistent with the Navigation Quick Keys available when using the Touch Cursor: *Next Radio Button: A *Previous Radio Button: SHIFT+A *List Radio Buttons: CTRL+INSERT+A *Next Region: R *Previous Region: SHIFT+R *List Regions: CTRL+INSERT+R *Move to the main region of a page: Q *Next OnMouseOver: SEMICOLON *Previous OnMouseOver: SHIFT+SEMICOLON *List OnmouseOvers: CTRL+INSERT+SEMICOLON The scripts for moving to the next or previous anchor and the next or previous block quote as well as listing anchors are still available, but are no longer assigned to keystrokes. If you still wish to use this functionality, you can assign new keystrokes through the Keyboard Manager. Back to top from JAWS 15 Features -----Original Message----- From: JAWS-Users-List [mailto:jaws-users-list-boun...@jaws-users.com] On Behalf Of Chris Hill Sent: Wednesday, October 02, 2013 9:02 AM To: jaws-users-list@jaws-users.com Subject: Re: [JAWS-Users] Jaws15 is must required for XP users? Bug fixes. Often that's the only way you will ever get them, no matter what the release highlights. Some day you will upgrade, and you won't save any money by not keeping current. On 10/2/2013 00:03, Siddalingeshwar Ingalagi wrote: > Hi friends. I am using j14 whith xp propessional. So how mutch will > help j15 for xp user in future? And j15 is specially dedicated > forwindows8 users? And what are benifits cann we get mean xp user, if > we instal j15? Please discuss. > For answers to frequently asked questions about this list visit: http://www.jaws-users.com/help/ For answers to frequently asked questions about this list visit: http://www.jaws-users.com/help/ For answers to frequently asked questions about this list visit: http://www.jaws-users.com/help/
