Okay,
So it’s been over a week since I first started using Windows Vista on my new computer. It’s going okay; there are a few little quarks that I’m getting used to on a daily basis. I thought I’d highlight some of those for you. The first and most obvious being that Dragon NaturallySpeaking version 9.0 doesn’t work with Windows Vista. Relax, this doesn’t exclude users from taking advantage of the technology. They just have been download the latest version NaturallySpeaking 9.5 directly from the site.
Other quirks that I have encountered while reacquainting myself with the program include the reorganization of some of the common commands. Because of time, I’m not going to go through every single one. I’ll highlight just a few. Opening a program is pretty much the same process, but the command name is pretty much dependent on what you labeled the icon. For example, it took me some time just to realize that dad had switched the label of “America Online” to “AOL”. As a result, it only in response to the command “Open AOL”
Working with Microsoft Office products is pretty much the same, and yet different. If you remember, Windows Vista is best known for its ability to protect your computer from unknown viruses and spyware. This is a good quality, however it poses a difficulty when trying to open a program by a voice. Why is that exactly? Well, the computer asks the user to verify each program by clicking “cancel” or “allow” However, this is not possible to do by voice. Disabling this option is possible, but I don’t know how exactly. My dad dealt with this problem while I was not around to watch. If you are interested in further information regarding this process, I would be happy to ask and fill you in later
In terms of working with Microsoft Office products, commands like “file”, “save” and “print” work in the same way, but hidden under a different menu. Using the above commands, they can be located under the “home menu.” Another thing to point out, depending on which menu you have opened by a voice, certain commands should be shown on the top of your Microsoft Word screen. For instance, if users have the above example open, they will notice the top bar divided into five sections. These sections include: “clipboard”, “font”, paragraph”, “styles”, and “editing”. In order to access these menus further, users may say one of those keywords.
Oh, and for some strange reason the command “control menu” no longer works while using Internet Explorer. Well it works. It just stalls out the computer
Hi Debbie,
That would be why I wait till my computer becomes an antique before I swich to new technlogy. Or, I let others brave those new waters before me. So, thank you. I look forward to reading this blog everytime it comes out.
I had a hard time running an internet search to find this site from school. An update on say, google searching via voice would be appreciated. Your friend and fellow dragon user,
Lauren
Great news about living with Rosalyn. I’m happy for you.
Hi Debbie,
That would be why I wait till my computer becomes an antique before I swich to new technlogy. Or, I let others brave those new waters before me. So, thank you. I look forward to reading this blog everytime it comes out.
I had a hard time running an internet search to find this site from school. An update on say, google searching via voice would be appreciated. Your friend and fellow dragon user,
Lauren
Great news about living with Rosalyn. I’m happy for you.
Hi Debbie
I am a fellow Christian and found your blog a blessing.
I’m also a computer geek and know a little about Vista.
Vista comes with an awesome speech recognition engine. I’m not sure if it is better then Dragon for ordinary dictation, but it is more integrated into Windows, it allows dictation of text, and it allows new types of speech interaction that were not possible before. You can even command the mouse cursor to click and drag items with your speech.
For more info, go to http://www.microsoft.com/enable/products/windowsvista/speech.aspx
I am curious to see how your experience with Vista goes.
As a computer programmer, I am always happy to see technology improving people’s quality of life, especially in cases like yours.
God bless
Hi Debbie
I am a fellow Christian and found your blog a blessing.
I’m also a computer geek and know a little about Vista.
Vista comes with an awesome speech recognition engine. I’m not sure if it is better then Dragon for ordinary dictation, but it is more integrated into Windows, it allows dictation of text, and it allows new types of speech interaction that were not possible before. You can even command the mouse cursor to click and drag items with your speech.
For more info, go to http://www.microsoft.com/enable/products/windowsvista/speech.aspx
I am curious to see how your experience with Vista goes.
As a computer programmer, I am always happy to see technology improving people’s quality of life, especially in cases like yours.
God bless