[Athen] 64-bit and AT

Sean Keegan skeegan at stanford.edu
Thu Jan 29 13:52:07 PST 2015


Yep - 64-bit is the way to go. Developers, computer manufacturers, etc. are not investing any time to support the 32-bit architecture. Windows 7 is still a solid OS if you are going with that, but I have found 8.1 to be…interesting. I really wanted to hate it (and I did for awhile), but once I learned the interface I have found it to work well. Like Al, I have not found any major conflicts with AT applications and Windows 7 or 8.1 (64-bit).

From a hardware perspective, though, I would check that you have at least 4GB of RAM on 64-bit systems. Anything less and the system will seem slow, not to mention a lack of responsiveness from the AT applications.

Sean


On Jan 29, 2015, at 1:00 PM, Al Puzzuoli <alpuzz at msu.edu> wrote:


> 64 bit is really the way to go in order to future proof yourself. There are already some software packages, such as current versions of Adobe Creative Suite, which will only run on 64 bit systems. The biggest downside to 64 bit is that you may lose driver support for some older devices, such as printers, scanners, etc. In our lab, we are running Windows 8.1 X64. The software we are using includes Jaws 16, NVDA, Zoomtext 10.1, and Kurzweil 3000 version 13. We have had no issues related to Windows 8.1 or the 64 bit environment.

>

> Al Puzzuoli

> Information Technologist

> Michigan State University,

> Resource Center for Persons with Disabilities, 120 Bessey Hall East Lansing, MI 48824-1033

> 517-884-1915

> http://www.rcpd.msu.edu

>

>

> From: athen-list [mailto:athen-list-bounces at mailman13.u.washington.edu] On Behalf Of Ron

> Sent: Thursday, January 29, 2015 3:40 PM

> To: gdietrich at htctu.net; Access Technology Higher Education Network

> Subject: Re: [Athen] 64-bit and AT

>

> 64 bit is fine, though Windows 8 can be a problem since the AT vendors have not been keeping up.

>

> Ron Stewart

>

> On Thursday, January 29, 2015, Gaeir Dietrich <gdietrich at htctu.net> wrote:

> Hi all!

>

> We are getting ready to install a new Windows OS in our lab and are debating the pros and cons of 32-bit vs 64-bit. Any feedback on issues with AT if we go to 64-bit? We will be using the current versions of the programs. Thanks!

>

> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

> Gaeir (rhymes with "fire") Dietrich

> 408-996-6047 or 408-996-4636

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