Voice Recognition Software Review

In reviews, it's generally Dragon vs. Dragon

The best reviews of voice recognition software cover all the alternatives in what are several distinct one-horse races. Almost every reviewer reaches the conclusion that Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10 is by far the best third-party voice recognition software program. Testers achieve an average of about 97 percent accuracy, even without training. However, Dragon NaturallySpeaking is extremely demanding of even state-of-the-art computers. It requires Windows 2000 SP4, XP or Vista and 512 MB of RAM with 1 GB of free hard-drive space. This means that your system will partially dictate which speech recognition program is best for you.

For Windows users, the only true competitor for Dragon NaturallySpeaking is Windows Speech Recognition, software that's included in all versions of Windows Vista. An upgraded version of Windows Speech Recognition software will also be a part of the new Windows 7 operating system that debuts later this month. Though Windows Speech Recognition suffered some early missteps, reviewers comparing the current version of Windows Speech Recognition to NaturallySpeaking are largely impressed by Windows' program; a very few even prefer Windows Speech Recognition to Dragon, although the majority find that NaturallySpeaking is definitely -- if marginally -- superior.

If you have Windows Vista, plan to buy a new computer or to upgrade to Windows Vista or Windows 7, reviews indicate that Windows Speech Recognition is more than adequate for casual, moderate use. If you're a heavy user of speech recognition, particularly if you will rely on it for advanced editing and system command functions, experts overwhelmingly conclude that NaturallySpeaking 10 is worth the investment.

We found several excellent reviews of voice recognition software. TopTenReviews.com usually doesn't rate very highly with us, but it does a good job in this category, with individual reviews for the top voice recognition contenders, cross-referenced on a matrix that allows for easy comparison of features and editorial ratings; Windows Speech Recognition is inexplicably omitted from this ranking chart, but senior editor Lecia Monsen covers it in a decent supplemental review. David Pogue's articles in The New York Times compare Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10 with alternatives for Windows and Macintosh, as well as with Windows Speech Recognition. Michael Muchmore conducts a comprehensive and balanced head-to-head analysis of NaturallySpeaking 10 and Windows Speech Recognition for PCMag.com, while ArsTechnica.com's Aoife McEvoy and TrustedReviews.com' s Simon Williams deliver similarly strong comparisons of NaturallySpeaking version 10 with its preceding version. Amazon.com is a top destination for user-written reviews.