Using Windows Seven’s speech recognition

A recent hand injury has left me unable to type for while. This is a recurring problem in my life, so I finally gave up and purchased Dragon Naturally Speaking Premium.

While I wait on my dragon to get here I am trying out Windows 7’s built in speech recognition. Although it is pretty buggy, Microsoft’s speech recognition on Windows 7 works better than I originally and expected. After a short training session, it is working well enough that I am able to write this post in notepad and transfer it to my blog using my voice.

I am running a Dell studio 15 laptop with 4GB of RAM and an Intel Core2 Duo CPU P8700 @ 2.53GHz. What I have found so far:

• It works well enough for me to write emails in Microsoft Outlook and yahoo web mail in Internet explorer.  -With a little luck I was even able to figure out how to navigate these mail clients without looking up the directions.
• I am able to do some navigation of my WordPress blog’s backend to submit this post.
• It helps to speak swiftly but clearly (especially when giving commands).
• Does not work as well in browser as in some other applications.
• I can not enter passwords into my browser using win seven speech recognition.
• Firefox does not respond well when windows seven speech recognition is running. – Even if I am trying to type instead of using my voice, Firefox keeps “Not Responding” and going slow.
• Extra sounds, such as the heater running, pet birds chirping, or a kid playing in the next room can cause a lot of errors. But it does know to record nothing about 2/3 of the time when I cough or sneeze.

What does this client do to my resource usage?

CPU usage:
• 15% while speech recognition not open.
• 15% while speech recognition opened but not running.
• 32% while speech recognition in use.

Ram usage:
• 2.05 GB when speech recognition not open.
• 2.16 GB when speech recognition open but not running.
• 2.20 GB when speech recognition in use.

How well does it work as a pet language interpreter?

Here is what I got when I let two our cheerful parakeets to do the talking:

“It’s it’s it’s it’s it’s”

At this Point I decided to join their conversation. All it record for me was “cheap”.

Then my boyfriend brought out some cooked spaghetti noodles – one of their favorites. The birds had a lot to say about that. ” it’s eats Its its its trying out a string it next thing and Ching Tseng “.

I guess I will get a lot more experience with this this speech recognition stuff over the next few weeks, months, and maybe even years. I think the windows seven version will be good for a lot of people who casually use the computer. (although I am not sure how would it work for someone with an accent) But since my job depends on my ability to use the computer efficiently, I need something that makes less mistakes. I can’t wait to see her dragon compares!