Hello all,
I tired this out and to my dismay there is no facility to add custom vocabs in any great degree. ie it has to be done one at a time. What kind of product is that??. It means that Nuance will continue to rule supreme.WSR is relatively useless for persons like me without this feature. I know there are 3rd party add ons who are in bed with MSoft but the price for these is quite frankly a rip off. How did MS miss such an obvious feature. There is a way possibly with SIAP (or something like that) but its complicated compared to DNS
Does anyone know if Microsoft plans to change this in windows 8??????
Thaknk you.
Rag

                                Welcome to the KnowBrainer Forums

There are many reasons why we prefer NaturallySpeaking but in Microsoft’s defense, they included WSR with Windows 7 which essentially means they are giving away technology that they paid to develop. As far as a free speech recognition application is concerned, it's actually quite good but it's also aimed at light consumer usage. Anyone who requires heavy speech recognition use or plans to utilize speech recognition as a work tool should probably consider something a bit more robust. You might think of WSR as the equivalence of comparing WordPad, which is included with Windows, to Microsoft Word.

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Rag,

In general, Lunis hit the nail right on the head. However, Windows Speech Recognition (WSR) was originally created with the idea that third-party developers would fill in the gaps. While Microsoft Provides a basic macro creation utility that is free, it, in an of itself, does not provide what you're looking for. The WSRToolkit does provide this capability in addition to several other features. I can't believe that you spent the money on Windows 7 but you think that $29.95 for the WSRToolkit is exorbitant or a ripoff.

Given Microsoft's original intention, I'm doubtful that you're likely to see any additional utilities added to Windows Speech Recognition (WSR) in Windows 8. At this particular point, Microsoft has a kind of drifted out of the picture. However, the moderator of this particular topic, Rob Chambers, is the principal Microsoft Representative for Windows Speech Recognition (WSR). However, no one has heard from him in some time. You might want click on his name and send him a private message. You may or may not get a response depending upon whether he still in the Windows Speech Recognition (WSR) development group for Microsoft. At any rate, and at this point, it appears that Microsoft has kind of faded from the picture.

In addition, you might want to go and join the Ms-Speech forum on Yahoo. There are many users who are engaged in that forum which is specifically dedicated to Windows Speech Recognition (WSR).

Chuck Runquist
Technical Project Manager
VoiceTeach LLC
Home of VoicePower® Ultimate

"One of the sad signs of our times is that we have demonized those who produce, subsidized those who refuse to produce, and canonized those who complain." - Thomas Sowell

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Chuck,

It is $9.95 now--just ordered and got it Wednesday.

MDH

 

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MDH,

Whoops!!! My apology. I haven't looked at WSRToolkit in a while since I have the most current version anyway, but I haven't used it in favor of VoicePower for Windows Speech Recognition (WSR). I was working from what I remember the cost of the cost to be, but that could've been out in left field. Regardless, why anyone would get their hackles up over $9 and some change is even more puzzling. The WSRToolkit is quite good considering all of its features.

Chuck Runquist
Technical Project Manager
VoiceTeach LLC
Home of VoicePower® Ultimate

"The best of us must sometimes eat our words." - J. K. Rowling

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Chuck, 

I sent him a private message ages ago and did not receive a reply.  So for anybody thinking of sending him a private message, don't hold your breath on receiving a reply. 

It's a real shame because he was a really, knowledgeable guy on the subject of WSR.  He balanced out the subject perfectly. 

I have heard that Brad T has moved on to pastures new also. 

Thanks 

andy t

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andy t  



DNS 11.5 Pro, KB2011, Win 7 Ultimate/64 Bit, Inte Core2 Duo CPU  T9400  @  2.53 GHz 4.00 GB RAM. Plantronics CS60USB

 

 

I've seen rumors online in other forums indicating that there may be improvements to Windows Speech Recognition in the next Windows 7 service pack.

Clearly, Windows Speech Recognition is not as powerful as Dragon NaturallySpeaking. DNS is more accurate at dictation than WSR for sure. But for folks who use a computer like so many people nowadays are using Apple iPads -- to primarily consume information -- then Windows Speech Recognition is fine. It's fantastic for browsing the web by voice. It's OK for light email. And its performance is snappy even on computers with modest processors.

-Russ

Russell,

I don't know where you've seen these rumors, but they are just that rumors. Rob Chambers is the only one (moderator on the KnowBrainer forum for WSR) who can is to these types of questions being that he is the primary contact for Microsoft regarding WSR. As I said originally, he seems to have faded into oblivion.

However, it is highly unlikely that even if these rumors have some basis in fact that the next service pack release for Windows 7 will be out anytime in the foreseeable future. In fact, Windows 8 may likely be released long before any SP2 or Windows 7. The SP1 for Windows 7 did not include any changes to WSR in that service pack is little more than a couple months old.

I would concur with you that for general purposes WSR is most adequate in terms of both accuracy and performance and isn't as resource intensive as DNS primarily because it's built into the operating system. However, it doesn't hold a candle to Dragon as far as web searching is concerned. In fact, I'm kind of surprised that you would say that because web searching and WSR is very limited compared to WSR. In addition, the reason that it works with modest processors is primarily because of its limitations, which use less system resources. Nevertheless, it's quite good for general dictation and very close to as accurate as DNS trained properly and using a good microphone. I wouldn't say it's fine and I definitely disagree with you as far as it "being fantastic for browsing the web." Suffice it to say that WSR is just OK, but it is good or users who don't require the sophistication of DNS.

Chuck Runquist
Technical Project Manager
VoiceTeach LLC
Home of VoicePower® Ultimate

"Better a diamond with a flaw than a pebble without one." -  Chinese

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Chuck, I could not have been clearer in characterizing my statement as a rumor. Here is the source, which anyone can take for what it's worth. The original rumor actually refers to the improvements occuring in a Windows update rather than a Service Pack. My bad.

http://www.speechcomputing.com/node/3709

I didn't say anything about web searching in my previous post, so I guess I'm, uh, surprised that you would say that I had said that! :-) By "fantastic for browsing the web by voice," I simply meant navigating through web pages. DNS probably is better out of the box at web searching by voice, but a couple of WSR Macros could probably duplicate the capability that a user would want. (And macro code is likely available at the WSR Yahoo group.)

-Russ