James

JAWS chose me, so to speak, rather than I initially choosing it.

When I entered into the world of Windows in the mid to late 1990s,
I chose Window-Eyes over Jaws as I was terrified by JFW's
user key system (I just didn't understand it, nothing more,
and GWMicro just seemed to allow straight installation).

I was a very happy and content WE user until the very end; and accepted
the offer of a Free JAWS so I took the offer.
I continued as the yearly SMA cost was nominal; and t he program seemed to
do what it's supposed to do.

It works fine; has great user support through lists such as this, and
people like Brian Hartgen with his tutorials and his script packages,
especially Leasey..
Moreover, Vispero offers a lot of resources via their website; and JAWS
supports my preferred speech synthesizer, currently TripleTalk USB.

I have nothing against NVDA and admire how much free time dedicated
developers give to it.
But, with something as vital as a screen reader,
I am more comfortable with something that is backed by a company rather
than a group of volunteers.
Paying the SMA (I do it on a 2-year basis) is my way trying to insure that
they can continue to do what they're doing.

Most certainly, if the need ever arose that JFW didn't meet, a certain
need of mine,
I would certainly add NVDA to my screen reader toolbox.
Right now, JAWS, Narrator, and, yes, even the Old Window-Eyes final
release meet my everyday needs as a retired person.

I used to love learning new programs and operating systems as they came,
but, in time, mastering the evolving world of technology is like
chasing the proverbial rabbit that is never caught. You get close
to catching; but then the rabbit springs forward again in amazing speed.

I marvel how the programmers and developers of screen readers have been
able to keep up
as given the constant changes they face.