I’m trying to decide between using Windows with JAWS or Mac with VoiceOver as my main setup going forward.
Windows with JAWS is generally considered better for programming in the long run, has stronger Office app support, and makes things like OneDrive and even local storage easier to manage. Mac with VoiceOver, on the other hand, sometimes works better with certain tasks, is free, can be less buggy, and has smaller updates — but it’s less customizable, and Macs are less common among programmers and in the workforce overall.
I recently got my JAWS certification and was impressed with all the functionality it offers — for example, JAWS 2025’s Face Scan feature uses AI to check lighting and face position before you join a video call, there are useful VS Code options with JAWS, and FS Companion for managing settings and resources. That said, my experience with JAWS support was disappointing: I reported a bug where JAWS jumps to the top of the page whenever I press Enter, and they told me, “We know it’s a bug but aren’t fixing it currently.” For a paid screen reader, I expected more.
VoiceOver has its own issues — it often freezes, and Finder can be frustrating to use for organizing files.
Another factor is GPT Canvas: it works fine on Mac with VoiceOver through the ChatGPT website, but doesn’t work for me on Windows with JAWS. That’s something I’d like to use more, especially as I work on improving my coding skills with AI.
Given all this, I’m trying to decide which I should use more this upcoming year — and longer term, whether I should get a Mac or a new Windows device next year. Thoughts? anyone here used mac for coding, whats it like? how should i get started?
Comments
You could do both
You could always get the best of both, buy a mac with solid specks, i.e, 16 or more ram if possible, and vm windows via parallels or fusion. Alternative if you get a intel mac you can bootcamp but, i'd say vertual machines are better. Unfortunately, I cannot help you much with the coding aspect, but finder is easy to use Once you get the hang of it. Voiceover is as of mac os sonoma and later, way more customizable than it was prier. But yeah, if you want both or are undecided i'd say get a mac and vm windows. I'd say do it the other way round, except you cant really vm a mac onto a pc. You can but as far as I know its, not reliable.
Also the we know its a bug but we're not working on it attitude is, for the amount of money you pay for jaws,, tbh ridiculous, especially given the pay over and over if not your sma will expire or just to stay subscribed.
go for a mac
Go for a Mac. Jaws is underwhelming. When I can afford it I'll upgrade to a mac.
An alternative solution
First and foremost, I'm not going to suggest which operating system you should stick with, or switch to. In my time here on AppleVis, I have learned that when folks post a thread such as this one—asking which OS they should use for whatever purpose they have a need for—they typically have already decided and are just seeking validation. So, I will let you decide on your own merit which would best suit your needs, macOS, or Windows OS.
If you do decide on Windows, I would recommend an alternative to JAWS, however, and suggest giving NVDA a try.
NVDA is highly customizable, a much smaller program which loads extremely fast, is portable, meaning you can put it on a thumb drive, and run it from any PC simply by plugging in the thumb drive and manually running the.EXC file. Furthermore, NVDA comes with a host of add-ons specifically for programming and coding. Best of all, it's free!
I would also say that, currently, you will have an easier time doing any form of word processing via Windows than you will with macOS.
Best of luck to you, with whichever you choose. 😎
My Experience
As someone who works in tech, did computer science classes and uses a fair amount with AI, including coding before they even came out with these much more advanced coding agents.
I would, with out hesitation, choose JAWS, preferably on a Surface laptop with at least 32 gigs of ram.
I've used Mac, I've coded on Mac. I won't say it can't be done. I will say that doing it on Windows with VSCode is incredibly easier and faster than working with XCode and Voice Over, or, last I tried, Voice Over and VSCode.
Also, the reality is, if you're thinking about the working world, most bigger companies use either Microsoft Office or Google workspace.
On the JAWS note, I use it's AI picture smart feature and new AI feature to create labels for unlabeled controls to unblock me with inaccessible web apps, when someone doesn't know I'm blind and sends me screenshots and more. Plus, JAWS gets bug fixes and new features about monthly.
I will say that, with Addons, NVDA can do many of these things, but enterprises sometimes prefer JAWS because security policies tend to conflict with ideas like NVDA's ability to install all kinds of content created by third party developers.
As the previous poster said, ultimately, you have to make the decision yourself. If you want to make Mac work badly enough, you probably can find a lot of ways to do it, especially for school. In my experience though, it takes more time and effort, which is why myMac mostly exists for compiling Swift code or running accessibility testing tools on iOS devices.
Best of luck, which ever path you choose!