Wouldn’t Freedom Scientific have the right to sue NVDA for using their keyboard layout?

James B 

While I’m not the person who you asked this question to I’d like to address it anyway. NVDA is free and is a very capable screen reader. However, while both NVDA and JAWS are Windows-based screen readers they are no by means identical in what they do and each program has their pros and cons. In the case of JAWS it offers features that aren’t currently available in NVDA, such as text analyzer, flexible Web, better Outlook support, just to name a few.

My question is and maybe it is perceived as being nosey.  If you had NVDA which is free, why would you go back to JAWS, a paid service? 

While I’m not the person who you asked this question to I’d like to address it anyway. NVDA is free and is a very capable screen reader. However, while both NVDA and JAWS are Windows-based screen readers they are no by means identical in what they do and each program has their pros and cons. In the case of JAWS it offers features that aren’t currently available in NVDA, such as text analyzer, flexible Web, better Outlook support, just to name a few.

My question is and maybe it is perceived as being nosey.  If you had NVDA which is free, why would you go back to JAWS, a paid service? 

My question is and maybe it is perceived as being nosey.  If you had NVDA which is free, why would you go back to JAWS, a paid service? 

Hello all


Just recently got my Jaws more up to date. I'm not running the latest
but I'm not far behind either. This leads onto my question.


Since I live in the UK and our Jaws distributer is: Sight and Sound.
When in discussion with them, about getting my Jaws upgraded, I
mentioned the annual licensing system. Apparently though, we don't have it.


My question is: those who live in the US or Canada, Do you prefer the
"annual licensing system" over the older "perpetual license." If so why?


With kind regards


Daniel

Josh

One issue that comes to mind that, if someone were to do what you suggest,
is that the billing address would not be a U.S. one which is likely the
requirement.

Hey Daniel!
Nice to meet you. If you ask me, I believe the perpetual license is superior as it won't ever expire. I have a perpetual license, which Freedom Scientific gave me back when I purchased JAWS 3.7. I still have it to this day, though the latest version that can run on it currently is JAWS 15 (they updated it for me for free, on my birthday!). I wanted to update it to run JAWS 2021, but my American sister insisted on giving me the Annual license which is due to expire in 5 years. This was simply because I had to get a new computer last year after my Dell decided to fail on me, and I was short on funds. Luckily this machine is a custom built one. Both my machines are. One has Windows 7 (The one with JAWS 15 Professional), and this one I'm on right now, the one with JAWS 2021 Home, has Windows 10, with which I've had more troubles than ever!

On 10/29/2022 12:06 PM Daniel McGee <danielmcgee134@...> wrote:

Hello all


Just recently got my Jaws more up to date. I'm not running the latest
but I'm not far behind either. This leads onto my question.


Since I live in the UK and our Jaws distributer is: Sight and Sound.
When in discussion with them, about getting my Jaws upgraded, I
mentioned the annual licensing system. Apparently though, we don't have it.


My question is: those who live in the US or Canada, Do you prefer the
"annual licensing system" over the older "perpetual license." If so why?


With kind regards


Daniel

On 10/29/2022 12:06 PM Daniel McGee <danielmcgee134@...> wrote:


Hello all


Just recently got my Jaws more up to date. I'm not running the latest
but I'm not far behind either. This leads onto my question.


Since I live in the UK and our Jaws distributer is: Sight and Sound.
When in discussion with them, about getting my Jaws upgraded, I
mentioned the annual licensing system. Apparently though, we don't have it.


My question is: those who live in the US or Canada, Do you prefer the
"annual licensing system" over the older "perpetual license." If so why?


With kind regards


Daniel

This answer has to depend somewhat on whether or not you already purchased the full perpetual version, as I did twenty years ago. For me the SMA is the one and only choice which makes sense. On the other hand, if you are only now starting with Jaws, I would think it best to go with the annual plan for financial reason.
But if you can afford the initial purchase price and are going to be using it for many years to come, it might still be the best option since, if you can't keep up the SMA you can continue to use whatever version you have until it no longer works with the latest OS.
And there is always the personal preference.
Marie

-----Original Message-----
From: main@jfw.groups.io <main@jfw.groups.io> On Behalf Of Gene Warner
Sent: Saturday, October 29, 2022 3:12 PM
To: main@jfw.groups.io
Subject: Re: annual vs perpetual License which is better?

I don't remember how it worked when I bought JAWS. I am assuming in my
calculations about cost that JAWS doesn't come with any upgrades (SMAs)
or if you need to start paying for SMAs if you want even the first
upgrade after buying the software.

If you do get a couple of upgrades, or even just one, the break even
point between the two licensing methods would be a year or two farther away.

You are the second person I've run across that got caught up in the
Window Eyes buy out. The other person said that he would continue to use
Window Eyes until it no longer worked. At the time both of us were still
running Windows 7.

Gene...


On 10/29/2022 6:01 PM, Mike Pietruk wrote:

Gene

A couple of factors come into play when it comes to the perpetual license
(forgetting the initial outlay). l
First is one's age. As an example, I'll be 70 in Jan. Thus, a perpetual
license would likely make little sense as I stand a great chance of not
living that long.
Secondly, purchasing the software for $1,100 is making a bet that JAWS
will be around for the next couple of decades.

Note that originally, the big upfront outlay was the only available option
for getting into JAWS with upgrades requiring the SMA.
I was one of the lucky ones, so to speak, as I ended up with JAWS when
Window-Eyes hit the big bucket being taken over by the developers of JAWS.
We were given, as part of the take over, free JAWS plus a couple of SMA
years so we were very fortunate in that regard.
It was a struggle adjusting to JAWS as, in many ways, I was far more
comfortable with Window-Eyes as I had been using it from its early days.
And, Window-Eyes in many ways is still usable in Win10 though, of course,
JFW is more solid given that it remains umder continual development and
fine turing.

This whole question of what is best as far as paying for JAWS is not one
of one right answer but what one feels most comfortable with and works for
them.
And most folks have valid reasons lfor their decision given their
individual situations.

For me, it is cheaper to get the SMA at $165 for 2 years as apposed to $90 USA funds per year. 

This answer has to depend somewhat on whether or not you already purchased
the full perpetual version, as I did twenty years ago. For me the SMA is
the one and only choice which makes sense. On the other hand, if you are
only now starting with Jaws, I would think it best to go with the annual
plan for financial reason.
But if you can afford the initial purchase price and are going to be using
it for many years to come, it might still be the best option since, if you
can't keep up the SMA you can continue to use whatever version you have
until it no longer works with the latest OS.
And there is always the personal preference.
Marie

-----Original Message-----
From: main@jfw.groups.io <main@jfw.groups.io> On Behalf Of Gene Warner
Sent: Saturday, October 29, 2022 3:12 PM
To: main@jfw.groups.io
Subject: Re: annual vs perpetual License which is better?

I don't remember how it worked when I bought JAWS. I am assuming in my
calculations about cost that JAWS doesn't come with any upgrades (SMAs)
or if you need to start paying for SMAs if you want even the first
upgrade after buying the software.

If you do get a couple of upgrades, or even just one, the break even
point between the two licensing methods would be a year or two farther
away.

You are the second person I've run across that got caught up in the
Window Eyes buy out. The other person said that he would continue to use
Window Eyes until it no longer worked. At the time both of us were still
running Windows 7.

Gene...


On 10/29/2022 6:01 PM, Mike Pietruk wrote:

Gene

A couple of factors come into play when it comes to the perpetual license
(forgetting the initial outlay). l
First is one's age. As an example, I'll be 70 in Jan. Thus, a perpetual
license would likely make little sense as I stand a great chance of not
living that long.
Secondly, purchasing the software for $1,100 is making a bet that JAWS
will be around for the next couple of decades.

Note that originally, the big upfront outlay was the only available
option
for getting into JAWS with upgrades requiring the SMA.
I was one of the lucky ones, so to speak, as I ended up with JAWS when
Window-Eyes hit the big bucket being taken over by the developers of
JAWS.
We were given, as part of the take over, free JAWS plus a couple of SMA
years so we were very fortunate in that regard.
It was a struggle adjusting to JAWS as, in many ways, I was far more
comfortable with Window-Eyes as I had been using it from its early days.
And, Window-Eyes in many ways is still usable in Win10 though, of course,
JFW is more solid given that it remains umder continual development and
fine turing.

This whole question of what is best as far as paying for JAWS is not one
of one right answer but what one feels most comfortable with and works
for
them.
And most folks have valid reasons lfor their decision given their
individual situations.

This answer has to depend somewhat on whether or not you already purchased the full perpetual version, as I did twenty years ago. For me the SMA is the one and only choice which makes sense. On the other hand, if you are only now starting with Jaws, I would think it best to go with the annual plan for financial reason.
But if you can afford the initial purchase price and are going to be using it for many years to come, it might still be the best option since, if you can't keep up the SMA you can continue to use whatever version you have until it no longer works with the latest OS.
And there is always the personal preference.
Marie

-----Original Message-----
From: main@jfw.groups.io <main@jfw.groups.io> On Behalf Of Gene Warner
Sent: Saturday, October 29, 2022 3:12 PM
To: main@jfw.groups.io
Subject: Re: annual vs perpetual License which is better?

I don't remember how it worked when I bought JAWS. I am assuming in my
calculations about cost that JAWS doesn't come with any upgrades (SMAs)
or if you need to start paying for SMAs if you want even the first
upgrade after buying the software.

If you do get a couple of upgrades, or even just one, the break even
point between the two licensing methods would be a year or two farther away.

You are the second person I've run across that got caught up in the
Window Eyes buy out. The other person said that he would continue to use
Window Eyes until it no longer worked. At the time both of us were still
running Windows 7.

Gene...


On 10/29/2022 6:01 PM, Mike Pietruk wrote:

Gene

A couple of factors come into play when it comes to the perpetual license
(forgetting the initial outlay). l
First is one's age. As an example, I'll be 70 in Jan. Thus, a perpetual
license would likely make little sense as I stand a great chance of not
living that long.
Secondly, purchasing the software for $1,100 is making a bet that JAWS
will be around for the next couple of decades.

Note that originally, the big upfront outlay was the only available option
for getting into JAWS with upgrades requiring the SMA.
I was one of the lucky ones, so to speak, as I ended up with JAWS when
Window-Eyes hit the big bucket being taken over by the developers of JAWS.
We were given, as part of the take over, free JAWS plus a couple of SMA
years so we were very fortunate in that regard.
It was a struggle adjusting to JAWS as, in many ways, I was far more
comfortable with Window-Eyes as I had been using it from its early days.
And, Window-Eyes in many ways is still usable in Win10 though, of course,
JFW is more solid given that it remains umder continual development and
fine turing.

This whole question of what is best as far as paying for JAWS is not one
of one right answer but what one feels most comfortable with and works for
them.
And most folks have valid reasons lfor their decision given their
individual situations.