I am sure that the Mac will provide a good experience for all the things you mention.
I take the approach of using VM fusion with my Mac and I consider that I therefore have the best of both worlds. If I need to study a table I switch very quickly to Windows, Word and Jaws. If I need to read a PDF I use the Mac. I set up a boot camp partition but, if starting again from scratch, I would not now bother as fusion is a far better solution , including the capacity to install and set up Windows without sighted help. Once you get used to it file management is far easier on the Mac. There are differences but whenever I am in Windows I find myself wanting to use column view . Downloading files is very efficient and fast on the Mac in my experience but again it is completely different from Windows and you will need to learn different techniques if you want to monitor downloads. The main problem with picking up the Mac is that there are lots of information out there which is useful for visually impaired people but it tends not to be centralised as much as for the commercial Windows screen readers. However lists like this are invaluable as a learning assistant. A big learning curve is ahead but I am sure you will enjoy it. David Griffith -----Original Message----- From: mac-access-boun...@mac-access.net [mailto:mac-access-boun...@mac-access.net] On Behalf Of chris hallsworth Sent: 14 January 2012 17:15 To: Mac OSX & iOS Accessibility Subject: Switching to a mac Hello all. Well, I have been using the other operating system PCs since 1997, and it's time I now fancy a change of scenary. So in the future I am considering switching to a mac. It should allow me to do the following: 1. Browse websites such as Facebook. 2. Manage my e-mail. 3. Listen to and manage music. 4. Buy music from iTunes or other online stores like Play.com. 5. Do a very small amount of Word Processing, and I mean very small, with hardly any formatting or other complex requirements. I am looking into a laptop style mac. 6. I am willing to use the other operating system where necessary, either via bootcamp or a VM. So no issues there on that front. I am going to take my time with this research, so please comment with no rush necessary. Again, I just fancy a change since I have been using Windows PCs since 1997. It kind of also makes sense since I have both an iPhone and iPod Touch. Thanks for any comments, good or bad, on this. It will be much appreciated. <--- Mac Access At Mac Access Dot Net ---> To reply to this post, please address your message to mac-access@mac-access.net You can find an archive of all messages posted to the Mac-Access forum at either the list's own dedicated web archive: <http://mail.tft-bbs.co.uk/pipermail/mac-access/index.html> or at the public Mail Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/mac-access@mac-access.net/>. Subscribe to the list's RSS feed from: <http://www.mail-archive.com/mac-access@mac-access.net/maillist.xml> The Mac-Access mailing list is guaranteed malware, spyware, Trojan, virus and worm-free! Please remember to update your membership options periodically by visiting the list website at: <http://mail.tft-bbs.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/mac-access/options/> <--- Mac Access At Mac Access Dot Net ---> To reply to this post, please address your message to mac-access@mac-access.net You can find an archive of all messages posted to the Mac-Access forum at either the list's own dedicated web archive: <http://mail.tft-bbs.co.uk/pipermail/mac-access/index.html> or at the public Mail Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/mac-access@mac-access.net/>. Subscribe to the list's RSS feed from: <http://www.mail-archive.com/mac-access@mac-access.net/maillist.xml> The Mac-Access mailing list is guaranteed malware, spyware, Trojan, virus and worm-free! Please remember to update your membership options periodically by visiting the list website at: <http://mail.tft-bbs.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/mac-access/options/>
