What's New in the JAWS 3.71 and the MAGic Update?

MAGic 8.0 and JAWS 3.71
With the JAWS 3.71 Update you can use MAGic and JAWS at the same time! To run MAGic 8.0 and JAWS simultaneously, you must first install both JAWS 3.71 or greater and the MAGic 8.0 update. You will find links for both provided below. With versions of JAWS 3.71 or greater, MAGic and JAWS determine whether they are running at the same time. If MAGic and JAWS are running concurrently, JAWS handles all speech commands. MAGic temporarily disables all speech functions, which makes the Speech menu and buttons found on the MAGic user interface unavailable. Use JAWS hot keys to utilize speech functionality. MAGic continues to magnify your display, and all commands for magnification remain unchanged. 

Run JAWS First with Windows NT/2000 Professional
Using Run JAWS First in the NT and W2K environment no longer causes problems in the Applications where Document Object Model is being utilized. This also addresses issues where workstations are locked during sessions and then unlocked letting the user continue without the need to restart applications.

Support for Adobe PDF files read with Acrobat Reader 5.0
Adobe Acrobat allows you to create documents in the Portable Document Format, or PDF. Many people use PDF documents to exchange information, because once a document is formatted in this way, its content and appearance are preserved. No one can change the document. To view or print PDF files, one must use the Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is available free of charge on the Internet. JAWS now supports PDF created with Adobe Acrobat 5 and allows you to read these PDF files, in the same manor as you would read a Web Page. For more information regarding Adobe Acrobat, please visit http://www.adobe.com.

Some Known Problems:

These versions have undergone a great deal of testing during the past several months. We are continuing to work on addressing issues everyday but feel there are great advantages to posting these versions for customers now. Coming soon will be solutions to the following:

When using JAWS 3.71 and the MAGic 8.0 Update together, the Start Menu may not visually track properly when using the arrow keys. All other menus are working correctly.

With JAWS 3.71 and Acrobat Reader 5.0, when working in Forms with Edit fields, you may find that JAWS is experiencing problems correctly reading the prompts in some cases.

When in PDF Forms using refreshable Braille, turning Grade 2 Translation on can cause repeated system dings. Computer Braille is working correctly in this case and if you are not in a form, Grade 2 will work for reading through the documents.

Reading PDF files within your Web Browser, you may have limited success. It is suggested that you open these files directly from Acrobat Reader 5. See the Edit Menu, Preferences/Options in Acrobat Reader 5 to set this up.

Note that you will need to download both the Public 3.71 Beta and the MAGic Update or the MAGic full version if you intend to use JAWS and MAGic together. If you are only using JAWS 3.7 and wish to use 3.71, you do not need to download the MAGic Update.