State of the Mac

[Jesse Kragiel]

I'm very thankful for the level of access we get using the Mac. Compared with my past in Windows, I now get things done quickly and efficiently in Pro Tools, and love the software. I am concerned, however, with the state of the Mac. I realize the Mini has been refreshed, and Im thrilled over that, but more and more, Macs are less and less user serviceable. the MBP with the touch bar is just obnoxious without an external keyboard and dongles, and there's no way to add memory after the fact.Apple charges a premium for flash storage, so what it used to take to invest in a usable system which could be upgraded is just a drop in the bucket compared to what I'd pay to buy a new Mac. Has anyone but me considered these things, and does anyone but me wish PT had the level of access in Windows it does on the Mac?

[Phil Muir]

Personally I do wish that PT had the same access on Windows as it does on the Mac for the reasons you have stated below and because I believe in having any DAW accessible on all of the platforms where it is used. Can't ever see that happening though as most visually impaired users who use Pro Tools do this on the Mac. Have taken a look at Pro Tools on WIndows and I suspect that to make it accessible on the Windows platform would not be a trivial task. Having said that I have been able to achieve some basic things in Pro Tools on Windows.

On 13 November 2018 16:23:46 GMT, Jesse Kragiel <jessek...@gmail.com> wrote:

I'm very thankful for the level of access we get using the Mac. Compared with my past in Windows, I now get things done quickly and efficiently in Pro Tools, and love the software. I am concerned, however, with the state of the Mac. I realize the Mini has been refreshed, and Im thrilled over that, but more and more, Macs are less and less user serviceable. the MBP with the touch bar is just obnoxious without an external keyboard and dongles, and there's no way to add memory after the fact.Apple charges a premium for flash storage, so what it used to take to invest in a usable system which could be upgraded is just a drop in the bucket compared to what I'd pay to buy a new Mac. Has anyone but me considered these things, and does anyone but me wish PT had the level of access in Windows it does on the Mac?

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Sent from my Android device with K-9 Mail. Please excuse my brevity.

[Jesse Kragiel]

I'm sure basic things can be done with key commands, and you're absolutely right. It probably would take a miracle to get it working in Windows. Voiceover's method of interacting with elements just lends itself to quicker navigation. I suppose Jaws scripting could be done, but that particular screen reader costs as much as a mid-tier Mac Mini. In order to level the playing field, PT would have to be able to run on NVDA, or Narrator, which is becoming a pretty capable screen reader in its own right. If the way programs drew graphical elements was standardized, it probably would help a lot.

Sent from my iPhone

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[Phil Muir]

With regard to Jaws, that depends really. Have found some really cheap options available from venders for keeping it up to date with an SMA or upgrade option. Of course there are other DAW options on Windows such as Reaper which work with all of the screen reader options and I think further down the line, Samplitude will not just be a Jaws solution. Actually you can already get a lot done in Samplitude with NVDA etc but I won't go into that here because it's off topic. Still it would be nice to get Pro Tools accessible on the Windows platform but have no idea if PT could be made to work with UI Automation on Windows. Can't ever see that happening. Would love to be wrong though :-)

[Steve Matzura]

Anything is possible if enough time and money are poured into it. I've never had the opportunity to try Pro Tools in Windows, but I'd love to just to see what really can and/or cannot be done with it. Screen readers aren't what they used to be, so maybe it's getting on toward time to see what, if anything, is better now than it was the last time anyone checked, which to my recollection was years ago.

[Phil Muir]

Took a look at PT in Windows last year. Not much has changed then although I guess it is possible that something had changed since last year.

[Steve Martin]

This all seems to be predicated around the cost of hardware, to which I’d say there is always the Hackintosh route as an option.

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[Phil Muir]

True although if you take that rout you are breaking Apple's licencing agreement.

[Jesse Kragiel]

The problem with that would be glitchy hardware drivers for some things. Besides that, with Apple's new T2 chip in place, the hackintosh option won't work forever.

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