DOES WINDOWS SPEECH RECOGNITION JUSTIFY AN UGRADE TO WINDOWS VISTA?
Itamar Even-Zohar	August 9, 2008; Updated June 6, 2009
The introduction of speech recognition into Microsoft's new operating system -- Windows Vista -- is a tremendous revolution that has not yet been acknowledged by the vast media or penetrated the public consciousness. Speech recognition, a completely new way to interact with computers, has now become popularly available to people who will get their new computers with Windows Vista installed. Beyond any disputes about the quality of the product this must be highly appreciated by anyone who supports speech recognition. Moreover, in view of the alarmingly diminishing interest in manufacturing applications for speech recognition, which has left only one single company on the international market, Nuance, the entrance of Microsoft into this arena is most welcome because it creates a proliferation of options and competition.
For people who have not been working with speech recognition, to receive this option bundled with their operating system opens very exciting opportunities. It definitely is worthwhile checking. In spite of its deficiencies, the application is fully functional for both dictation and command-and-control. In addition, if you are a multilingual user and you have purchased Windows Vista Ultimate version, you will be able to download for free from Microsoft’s site all of the available languages which support speech recognition in Vista. This is a sharp contrast to the very awkward way for acquiring languages for Dragon NS now produced by Nuance.
It is an altogether different matter if you are already an experienced user of speech recognition, working with it professionally and depending on it for your productivity. If you currently work under Windows XP with Dragon NaturallySpeaking, either monolingually or multilingually, there is no need to rush and upgrade to Windows Vista yet, in spite of the fact that a built-in speech recognition feature might be a structural advantage. The reason is simple: Windows Vista Speech (WSR for short) does not offer anything that Dragon NaturallySpeaking does not offer already except for a much more expanded command-and-control. If you need speech recognition not only for dictation and basic navigation, but also for extensive command-and-control, then WSR may be worthwhile switching to. However, if your needs are basically the creation of documents, although WSR does offer a fabulous set of commands (some of which would be highly desirable to have in Dragon NaturallySpeaking), recently made extendable by a new macro language, it still lacks some of the most practical features for convenient dictation, editing and general management. The quality of its speech recognition is very high indeed, but in no way more advanced than DNS or even Microsoft speech 2003.
For example, WSR lacks the ability to correct mistakes by typing the correct form into a correction line/box. Only correcting letter-by-letter is currently possible. In addition, there is no playback for the dictation and there is no tool for transcription. In DNS Preferred, playback is available as long as the file is not saved and transcription is normally of high quality. In addition, if you are a multilingual user, switching between the languages is quite cumbersome in WSR. Each time you need to switch to another language you must change the interface language of your operating system (or create multiple users and switch between them), while DNS simply allows you to stay working in your normal environment.
The bottom line is that if you have the latest version of Dragon NaturallySpeaking, there is no urgent need for switching over to Windows Vista. However, this doesn't mean that things are going to stay this way. The current version of WSR is after all only a first release that had to meet a certain timetable and therefore had to eliminate several features that could not be implemented in time, but development goes on at Microsoft's and therefore it is expected to gradually level up to DNS and possibly surpass it if DNS doesn't pay attention to this development. Consequently, if DNS wants to keep its advantages, it must improve its functionality on at least two levels: (1) update and enhance the set of commands which has not been updated at least since version 4, and (2) allow modular purchase of additional languages.
TO SUM UP
If you work with Windows XP and you have got Microsoft Office 2003, stay with Windows XP and wait for Windows Vista to mature, or better: wait for Windows 7 and grab it once it is out. If you work with Windows XP and you have got DNS, stay with Windows XP and wait for Windows Vista to mature, or better: wait for Windows 7 and grab it once it is out. If you work with Windows XP and you have got neither DNS nor Microsoft Office 2003, if upgrading to Windows Vista is cheaper than purchasing DNS, then it would be worthwhile to upgrade. However, when you upgrade to Windows Vista you may have to eventually purchase Microsoft Office, because Windows Vista Speech is not fully functional in alternative application such as Open Office. If this is the case, consider purchasing Microsoft Office 2003 first and test its speech recognition to see whether it satisfies you needs before you upgrade to Windows Vista. At any rate, Windows 7 is fully worthwhile waiting for. If you have no computer or you need to buy a new one, and if the deal you get for Windows Vista is better than the deal you may get for Windows XP, then do not hesitate to go for Windows Vista, but check the possibility of getting Windows 7. If WSR will not satisfy your needs as a professional user of Speech Recognition, you can always purchase DNS which is now verified to be compatible with both Vista and Windows 7 (RC1).