As far as I know, spoken alerts default to "Off" within the OS for OS X. In fact, I'm quite sure about that, having recently done a clean install on my G5 - speaking would have made me go stabby.
The Speaking, however, is an API that any application can access, so it's quite possible for any OS X program to default to speaking certain things - in fact, writing an Apple Script to say, well, anything at all is one of the first basic things you learn in the language. I think it's highly encouraged that speaking be one of those things that requires a ticky box to ENable, rather than DISable. I know that no Apple program defaults to speaking, well, anything.
So hate it all you want, but Steve Jobs didn't do it. He just made it available for others to abuse (or just use. I think it could be useful for announcing who sends me AIM messages from across the room, for example, and may eventually set up my AIM program to do that eventually.)
OTOH? Life sucks, I hate the default install Microsoft "Hells Bells" opening in Windows 98.
You seem to be making the huge assumption that because I dislike Apple, I must love Microsoft. I don't. I think they both suck equally, and I don't think either company gives a rat's ass about what their customers actually want. It's just that right now it's a G5 that's giving me the most grief, and I'm getting fed up with it.
My Powerbook has never spoken to me -- what are the instances in which OS X does that?
There's an option for spoken alerts somewhere in the preferences. If it's enabled then whatever text is in an alert dialog is spoken to you.
Huh. Wasn't default on in my install.
Make it say bad words ita! You know you want to!
Huh. Wasn't default on in my install.
Yeah, I just checked multiple installs and it's not default on in any of them, I've got 10.3.4 on one partion here, 10.4.1 on another partition, 10.4.1 on the Mac Mini, 10.3.8 on the powerbook, and 10.3.9 on my server. All of them are on the default setting and they are all speech disabled.
I'm thinking that DX's G5 is possesed, or that someone was trying to be helpful and turned it on just to mess with him.
I'm the only one who knows how to even find the preferences on that machine. I know I didn't turn it on. I don't think Quark turned it on, because it's a pre-OS-X version, plus, it was print monitor that was squaking, not Quark. That leaves the only other possibilities as either that it was on by default, or that our building was built on an indian burial ground, a possibility that I'm not about to discount.
That could be cool! Maybe you'll get ghosts.
Kodak to stop making B&W paper. I guess the digital SLR is looking better and better.
I need to see if there's a digital that can share lenses with my optical. Of course, it's been so damned long since I used my SLR, I don't remember what it is.
