Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10 Preferred Reviews

• Works Perfectly For Me

  
  By AZ5JI32JBGNU7 on 2008-08-30
  The only reason I'm reviewing this upgraded version of Dragon is because of all the negative reviews I have read. To be perfectly honest, I was hesitant to install the software because of all the problems I was reading about in the past 10 days. I received the Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10 CD almost a week ago and have not installed it for fear I would mess up my computer, LOL. Finally, after reading all the negative comments and doing a lot of research on installing the program, I crossed my fingers and took the chance.
  
  I can say in all honesty that it installed without a hitch. I receive no error messages, no constant reboot requests, no lost user files, nothing. Everything went smoothly. I have been using Dragon NaturallySpeaking 9 preferred for the past two years and decided to upgrade because of the faster recognition and updated features. After inserting the Dragon 10 CD in the drive, the software loaded and proceeded to install. It recognized that I had a previous version installed and asked if I wanted to keep my user files for the new version. I clicked yes and the software did the rest.
  
  I am using the program to dictate this review right now. It is very fast and accurate as you can tell. The words appear on the page much faster than version 9. When they say it's 20% faster, I think that is accurate. I am also noticing many less errors in recognizing my words. I'm not sure if that's because of my extensive user file or simply because the software is better.
  
  If you are on the fence about purchasing the software, you can wait for an updated version or do what I did and upgrade now. I'm glad I did even though there were so many discouraging reviews on Amazon and other websites. My experience was trouble-free and I hope yours will be also if you purchase and eventually install the software.
  
  
  

• Can't install it

  
  By A3KB7BREV3FH3X on 2008-08-15
  Update: As I said, I emailed customer service. I heard nothing so I checked the "support" site and looked at the action on my request. Here is what appeared:
  
  New Email
  
  *** Call Date: 8/15/2008 8:50:58 AM
  Agent: LorenC Level: 3
  Status: Closed
  
  
  I called the 800 number, followed the several voice prompts to "customer service" and got the recording, "all of our agents are assisting other customers, your call will be answered in the order in which it was received." I waited 15 minutes and then called the listed headquarters number (not toll free) There I ran into more voice prompts at three levels and wound up with the same robot telling me again how everyone is busy.
  
  I used to enjoy this program. Now I have such a bad taste for Nuance that I will go back to typing or to a quill pen and papyrus before I use anything from Nuance again.
  
  Here's my original review:
  
  I have a new HP laptop with plenty of memory and speed. It runs vista home premium. I tried to load DNS X and kept getting the message I needed to restart my computer in order to load the required runtime C++ I let it play that game with me about four times until I realized I was being played. I went to the Nuance technical support page and looked up the problem in the "knowledgebase." There it was - continually telling me to restart is apparently a common problem. There are detailed instructions on how to delete temp files and modify the registry to cure the problem. I did it all and still got the same message - "restart." So, it was time for an email to tech support to find out what I need to do. Well, the first thing I needed to do was pay Nuance 10 dollars to send the email.
  
  I wrote to customer service instead and said I want my money back under the 30 day guarantee. It's a good program and I upgraded from version 7. But I absolutely refuse to pay anything to any company to be able to install the program I just bought from that company.
  
  By the way - there is no way to download a trial to see if it will install before buying.
  
  

• overall I'm happy with the product

  
  By AO0HPTFIKQE9B on 2008-08-21
  I am writing this review with Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10 Preferred. I finally had to cut and paste "NaturallySpeaking 10 Preferred." because this program was performing so poorly. If ever this program was going to fail this is not a good time. LOL
  
  This program is buggy and tech support is horrible. I have never been able to get results like the ones I see advertised on the Internet. If I could type and spell well I would leave this program alone. Unfortunately I have dyslexia and am a slow typist. Dragons speak definitely adds to my productivity significantly. If you are in a similar situation like myself, I would advise purchasing the preferred version over the standard version because this program can read back what you have typed in. I find this very helpful because often times my mind wants to read what I think should be on the page instead of what's actually been written. Dragon speak has a funny way of changing your words slightly so that your sentences don't make sense. I would advise future customers to consider an upgraded microphone, plenty of RAM, and a decent CPU. I know people have complained about loading this program but I had no trouble. I'm using windows XP.
  
  Over the length of this review I probably touched my mouse or keyboard 10 to 20 times to correct minor errors with this program. this next sentence is an example of a common Dragon speak error."Fortunately I believe I only type I or two words." Correction Fortunately I believe I've only had to type one or two words.
  
  I hope you found this review helpful
  
  
  
  

• Save Your Money

  
  By A2H6WCJV2JS7W8 on 2008-08-15
  Dragon Naturallyspeaking Preferred 10 Us Retail Stores Only I have used Dragon Naturally Speaking software through the past three versions. When version 10 came out, I was optimistic that it would work with Vista, and it would be substantially improved over version 9. It has few improvements over the prior verson, and although it can be tweaked to work with Vista 32 bit, after fixes and getting third party drivers, it will not work with the 64 bit version of Vista, conveniently omitted by Nuance. Calls to technical support, through their annoying system (see prior review) finally elicits that they will try to get a verson that works by early 2009, and at a surcharge of $20-30.00 (one customer support operater advised that he was told to say the software is expected to ship around New year and the surcharge will be about $10.00, but he will nopt hold his breath either).
  
  If you make the mistake of buying, and want to return the software, be warned that some venders (and Nuance) will make you pay return shipping and will take a full two months to return your money. I will be looking at different voice recognition software in future.
  
  

• First and last time user

  
  By A2ZQ8X2BZO3XXS on 2008-08-17
  I purchased this as a physician to dictate directly into my office's EMR, but quickly discovered Nuance has disabled this feature with version 10. Version 9 Preferred would work in EMR's. Sure, they have a significantly more expensive "medical" version - in the $1400 range, but for essentially the same thing. The basic architecture for the program is identical, just an expanded medical database. Is that really worth another $1200? An online message board for my EMR is full of frustrated comments from other doctors who've been stung by this quirk from Nuance. Unfortunately for Nuance, they may have violated anti-trust laws by doing this. I agree with the above reviews as well, the installation process is severely flawed. Simply said, don't waste your time and money with version 10. I'm returning my purchase and going back to version 9.
  
  
• Can't install it either
  By A2HXBR4E6LV4Z6 on 2008-08-16
  I'm running Windows XP, and I can't install it either. Spoke with technical support, which doesn't cost you anything for the first time that you call them (so better not have any more problems after this). They weren't able to figure out what the problem was either. They said they would get back to me.
  
  Now, I'll throw out the caveat that I don't know if this is a problem with the software or my computer. But, I haven't had any significant problems with my computer in a couple of years, so I'm tempted to say it's the program.
  
  Perhaps they released this version a bit too early without working out all of the bugs.
  
  
• If you own Version 9, stick with it.
  By AKETYIAVBMSQ9 on 2008-08-23
  I have used Dragon NaturallySpeaking more than seven years, starting back with version 5. Each new version has been better, and version 9 was clearly a substantial improvement. It was fast, accurate, and reasonably stable. I use it every day for e-mail, notes, and letters.
  
  When I saw the advertisement for version 10, I trusted the ad line that it was even faster and more accurate. Besides, shouldn't my new Dell desktop with dual core Pentium processors (running Windows XP) be able to handle version 10.
  
  Wrong I was. After installing the software last week, I have experienced software lock-up every 15 or 20 minutes. Closing Dragon and restarting the software is not enough. I have to reboot my Dell to clear out memory in order to get another 15 or 20 minutes of reasonable function, until the software locks-up again.
  
  In addition, I frequently experience long (up to 15 second) delays between pronunciation of a sentence and appearance of the words on the computer screen. I will confirm that word recognition accuracy is good, even better than Dragon version 9 (which wasn't bad).
  
  My opinion: if you are running version 9, stay with it. Version 10 is unstable and interfaces poorly with other programs such as MS Word and MS Outlook. Version 10 still needs a lot of work before it is ready for prime time.
  
  
• Better to be lucky than good?
  By A27GUMWS9AABBW on 2008-08-22
  As a version 9 user I pre-ordered NaturallySpeaking version 10. I was happy with version 9 and had been using it extensively, so I was hoping for improvements in recognition and speed.
  Logged in with administrator privileges on XP SP3 (2GB RAM and 3 GHz dual core processor), I had no problems with installation. I've had no reason to contact Nuance for technical support but I may just be lucky.
  Initial training seemed much longer than it did with version 9. Initial recognition was also much poorer, but improved greatly in the first half-hour. Recognition is now excellent and most of the time only plurals seem to give it problems. I had to adjust the speed/accuracy balance far toward speed to provide the kind of visual feedback I had become used to with version 9.
  After about two weeks of use I'm still undecided whether it was worth the price to upgrade.
  
  
• Vicious company
  By A3BDNKH3HSKAIE on 2008-09-06
  This is one of those companies that treat you like a thief after you purchase their product. Installation is a nightmare -- solely to cut down on piracy -- and communication with this company is next to impossible. Responses are rude and a long time in coming -- and cost $15 each. A final point: don't even think about trying to install on a firewalled machine, since the program seeks frequent unfettered access to the internet so as to (again at cost to you for benefit to them) make sure you're not using the program you paid them for illegally. Appalling.
  
  
• Very accurate!
  By A3OKQ17M7QBSSU on 2008-08-24
  Very accurate. I was using version 9 preferred at work (for medical dictations), and I just got version 10 preferred and imported my user files from my previous version. I use PREFERRED instead of MEDICAL, for obvious reasons: $$$. The software engine is the same and the vocabulary is there for the most part... it just doesn't prioritize the medical words when you first start using the software. In my case, the software added a bunch of words from my documents, that it didn't know previously. It took me about one hour to train each word separetely, including expressions such as "BID", "qHS", etc. After doing this the accuracy improved significantly, as it now prioritizes the words that I trained.
  
  It took some effort, especially in the beginning, to correct the mistakes so it could learn not only from my style, but also for it to learn to prioritize medical words. A tip: when you correct a word, especially if you spell the new word, TRAIN that word. When I do that it will not make the mistake again.
  
  As they state, version 10 might not work with EMR... but I don't know. I use mostly Access to generate my notes, and sometimes Word, so I wouldn't know. I bet you can use the dragon note pad and then cut-paste into your EMR.
  
  Again... it takes a little bit of effort in the beginning to have it work well in the medical field. I'd say in one or 2 weeks - assuming you correct the mistakes and train the words - it should be pretty close, if not just as good as the medical version. That's not to say it would completely replace the medical version, especially if you need features such as saving the audio along with the document for someone else to review the dictations.
  
  Macros are possible with Preferred 10 and are a great feature!!! For example, you can create a voice command that will generate a big "canned" chunk of text, when you say only a couple of words. I precede all of them with the word "macro", in order to be easier for me to access them in my brain. For example... when I say "Macro Muffin", the program types "The patient was instructed and encouraged to control his caloric intake, monitor his blood sugar closely, exercise at least 3 times a week, increase fiber intake and avoid foods that are rich in fats and carbohydrates."
  
  INSTALLATION: I tried installing it in my personal tablet PC... which I don't use very much for dictations, and I had the same "runtime C++" error that others mentioned. It might be because it runs Windows XP tablet edition and it has a Centrino 1GHz processor. At work I use a Pentium 4 with Xindows XP Professional, and 1GB of RAM and it installed very easily. I don't use the headset that came with the software, even though it's accepable. I got a Logitech USB desktop noise-cancelling microphone and it works great.
  
  I hope this helps. I've been able to generate very complete notes with this software, and save a LOT of time.
  
  
• Still wishing it would work with an "English as a Second Language" speaker!,
  By A236HOR5PFM15P on 2008-08-18
  I bought NaturallySpeaking Preferred 8, 9 and now 10. They've worked fine for me (American born); but, I bought it for my wife, who is Chinese. English is a "second language" for her (we've been married 37 years and she's lived in the USA and England all that time). Although she speaks "reasonably good" English, NaturallySpeaking doesn't recognize hardly a word she speaks during the "training phase" where it's so important to "train" the program to the user's voice. She couldn't get through the training, resulting in horrible results when she attempted to dictate on the program. Still completely useless for her.
  
  
• awful cs emails
  By A57KNBGAZY2KE on 2008-08-18
  Ordered Thursday. No shipping info by Monday. Called to cancel; got thru to "screener" - ran into busy when she transferred me to cancel.
  Left after ten minutes of awful, tinny Muzak. Sent email: simple message - cancel order number so-and-so; return funds; thanks.
  Return message from Nuance: so sorry for your trouble. Backorder (I already had found that out); will send when we get it!
  How in the world is that a response to "cancel my order, return my funds."
  Avoid dealing with Nuance/Scansoft at all costs!!!
  
  
• won't install and other problems
  By A23MJOJ2CCCDJN on 2008-08-20
  Installing requires taking the former system off as well as all remnants including user files. So now, I cannot load Dragon 10, and I have lost all my user records for 9. This is a very poor showing after the Dragon 9 edition. Buyers should not be in this situation!
  
  
• Not compatible
  By ASZHD1AVNZ6VT on 2008-08-24
  I have never used speech recognition software before. Therefore, I was very excited to try Dragon Naturally Speaking 10, Preferred version. I pre-ordered ($99.95) it a week before release and when I tried to install it on my eMachines T3025 I received several error messages that failed to tell me why the software would not install. After considerable time on hold (long distance telephone calls) I was informed by a very polite and heavily accented "technician" that my processor did not possess the 2EE instructions required by the software. Not to be deterred, I purchased a new Dell desktop computer with a Core 2 Quad processor featuring the 2EE instructions and more. Today, when I attempted to install the software, the installation failed. The error message was that the software does not support 64 bit. Nuance's web pages offered no help that I could find. I dread the thought of additional long distance phone charges for being placed on extended hold; therefore, I'll post this on Amazon with a copy to Nuance. I have high hopes that someone more savvy than I can get me up and running. I'm waiting... :)
  
  
• Can't Install....
  By A3AR1YL4R5LTJ8 on 2008-08-25
  I was really hoping to try this software, but I can't install it on an IBM PC that has plenty of space and has all the necessary requirements. I tried calling the support line, but was on hold WAY TOO LONG! I tried calling their sales area since they were more likely to answer their phones and they said they have heard of some issues, but referred me back to the toll # for support. Still holding.....
  
  
• Another failed upgrade for Nuance.
  By A1OSSMGR0EY3S1 on 2008-09-17
  I have been using Dragon since about version 4. EVERY upgrade has been painful, and some just never work. I have version 9.5 running on Vista, and it seemed to be stable.
  
  This version would not install. I actually got through to tech support - no mean feat - and they worked with me for more than an hour. But no luck.
  
  Wait for 11 or 12...then go through the pain for significant returns - STAY AWAY FROM THIS ONE.
  
  
• do NOT upgrade
  By APLN2UH6RAQBB on 2008-09-25
  What a mistake! I have recently purchased what I thought was an upgrade for Dragon NaturallySpeaking Preferred 9.0 by responding directly to an upgrade announcement. What I received was a mess in the form of Dragon Preferred 10.
  
  The company shipped software with a fatal flaw. The software would not load directly from the CD. Nuance knew this, but shipped anyway.
  
  They compounded the problem by making it very difficult to find out how to make the program work. Could have included instructions, but NO! Instead offered interesting alternatives: I could pay to talk to a tech service rep or I could pay to send an e-mail. Oh, but I can only send you an e-mail if I go through multiple steps of creating "a user ID."
  
  They must be kidding! This bears no resemblance to customer service.
  
  By spending significant time on their website, I finally found the buried instructions on how to bootleg the software. In fact they had to post two alternative in case their first "fix" didn't work! If I would copy the disc to my hard drive, I could work around the error of the software writers. Unfortunately this led to a new problem: either by design or on purpose the software could not recognize that it was an up-grade. As a result it deleted all my Dragon 9.0 files as a part of the installation process... including my user files. I'm sure you can imagine how delighted I was to spend time retraining the software.
  
  Don't buy
  
  
• Good product when it works, but too many barriers:
  By A1UBDXH2QCAGVF on 2008-09-04
  I go all the way back when Dragon Dictate was a research project, saw the engineers demo it at Rehab Institute of Michigan before it was ever on the market (was then a tool for people with paralysis.) I've been through version 4 on, now on 9, won't be getting 10. My version of 9 needed an update patch, it worked fine on first 2 installations, but never after that. I was told that after 2 installations, it won't allow another installation and registration, won't allow another service pack update, to prevent piracy of a copy. I complained to a sales rep who contacted me (trying to sell me V9, which I already had) that it should not require my credit card number just to contact tech support, the system should allow any number of installs as computers in such settings as mine (Univ of Florida Health Sci Center) change very often, etc. He said he'd call me back with answers but never did. I've presented to faculty groups here at UF on DNS and helped sell many copies of Preferred over the years, but no more. I suspect the purchase of the original company by Nuance has killed customer service. When DNS works, it works pretty well. If you have problems, you're on your own. And you better never move it after the first 2 computers you install it on, you could hit a wall after number 2. Thought you owned it? You pay to rent it.
  
  
• Terrible product, worse customer service
  By A22MFUAM7YZU2O on 2008-09-07
  I purchased Dragon NS10 for my HP computer running Vista 32 bit. Like everyone else, I was not successful in installing the product. All suggested solutions did not work and I absolutely refuse to pay a company for tech support when their product does not work in the first place. I will NEVER buy anything from them again, unless they change their policy and offer real support for their products, especially for the faulty ones like Dragon 10. A serious company, given the scale of the problem, would offer free support and paid shipping for returns. Nuance is only offering to take more of our money for expensive support calls, while no real solution has been even posted on their website . This is not a professional business behavior, and I truly hope that Nuance will face the appropriate consequences for this. I am returning the product, and probably won't purchase version 9, only because I refuse to support this company.
  
  
• NOT Vista-compatible
  By A3R74EHB34JTTP on 2008-09-26
  I was hoping to upgrade from version 9 to 10. However, this version requires a Visual C++ Runtime file to be installed first, and it is NOT compatible with 64-bit Vista. The application prompts you if you want to continue anyway, for some unknown reason. Why? What's the point? It doesn't complete the install even you click Yes. NONE of their documentation should claim that this runs on Vista when it only runs on SOME versions of Vista.
  
  The tech support is a long-distance phone number that's only available until 7 PM Eastern, and Customer Service is only available until 6. (And every tech support call after the first one is not only long distance, but $20 as well.)
  
  Nuance has clearly lost interest in both the "customer" and providing any "service." And for what this product costs, and what it used to be, that's a shame.
  
  
• horrible install experience, just to find it doesnt work, i need a refund
  By A2E3D4FAG3MNIE on 2008-10-18
  I was excited at the chance to buy any dragon naturally speaking, and expected to buy version 9. when i went looking, i found new release version 10...read some reviews, compared versions, etc for several days before purchasing.
  
  first, it took 8 days for it to arrive in the mail, too long. read the manual 1 day 1st before even trying to intall software - the book is very skimpy and doesnt address troubleshooting, but then it doesnt even have the company's website listed on/in it...that should have been a sign.
  then ive been frustrated for 3 days trying to install this software. nuance help files, faq, and especially the index are absolutely horrible. and yes, they say they will charge you for any help, whether by phone or email, which is absolutely stupid after paying 190$ for the software in the first place.
  
  1st problem was the C++ runtime/reboot error, where repeated rebooting doesnt fix the problem. the nuance knowledgebase had several possible fixes, including a zip download, none worked. i found a forum elsewhere that said to just go to C:/program files folder and look for the new dragon folder to delete it (bcs install was created and started, but not finished, so you wont lose anything anyway), and sure enough that solved the problem. rebooting and running dvd again then installed the c++ runtime that was needed.
  
  2nd problem then was trying to install the dragon naturally speaking. it started installing, then some english cab file has an invalid digital signature, and instead of passing over it or using it anyway, it "rolled back" and wouldnt install any of the files. at least this error had a code "1330", which nuance knowledgebase had listed, and their solution 1 (of 3) worked, which is that you have to copy the entire dvd to your harddrive desktop, then run the install from the desktop instead.
  3rd, then even while doing this, it wouldnt copy one of the .ini files, so i just was able to skip it.
  
  finally the software installed. happy days, i thought.
  
  i then tried to run it. a "serious error" occurs when trying to initialize and run. no code numbers, no other info, and no clue as to what a "serious error" means or what to do about it. ARRRGGHHH !
  the stupid nuance index was clueless for a bit, but finally on the index word "initialization", i found the tech response. a cpu must be able to use SSE2.
  
  never heard of it, but wikipedia helped. end result is that your cpu has to be built since 2006 to have sse2 capability. there is no way to add SSE2 instructions to any other types of cpu/chips. so, altho i have an 1.8 gh amd processor, which is what is stated in the minimum requirements, my processor was built in 2003 and thus is incapable of ever running this software.
  
  ++
  
  so, if you have an older-than-2006 cpu, or also if you have such a new cpu that it runs 64-bit, DONT BUY THIS SOFTWARE, you'll never get to use it. this SSE2 requirement SHOULD HAVE been included in the CPU requirements both on amazon's site as well as on nuance's site so that you would check this stuff out before purchasing and returning software.
  
  after finding this error, i did find another tech forum that addressed using dragon n s 10 and SSE2 requirement that is kept a big secret by nuance, and they suggested too, that nuance should either put it on their website, or on their box, or in their manual, or in their knowledgebase, or somewhere.
  
  i agree, as i wasted 3 days of time over something that i knew about my computer, had it just been listed somewhere as a requirement.
  
  but any company that charges for tech support for even the initial installing when you pay 200$ or more for the software, especially when they dont have a sufficient troubleshooting knowledgebase, is a company that i dont care to do business with. i am returning this product, and i better get my f*&(*&#$g refund from these screwy people.
  
  
  
• terrible company
  By A2K09JKHKYP8FT on 2008-08-28
  I've purchased and tried to use Dragon Naturally Speaking 9. Terrible experience, terrible product. I've been using many, many software products longer than I would care to remember. Without a doubt, this company has the worst customer support I have ever seen. Never was able to use it.
  
  Please do yourself a favor and save yourself a lot of aggravation. Keep away from anything this company produces.
  
  
• DragonNaturallySpeaking 10 Preferred Edition
  By A2GA4W1K16UWVG on 2008-09-15
  Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10 Preferred
  I purchased this product and found out that there was no 64-bit Windows Vista version. I've contacted the manufacturer who said they have tentative plans to patch the product by the end of the year. I am waiting to see if they do so.
  
  
• Does not support Electronic Medical Recors
  By A1PU5SRWZQDGDH on 2008-08-26
  I have been a loyal Dragon supporter since the early years. I am a physician who uses voice recognition for dictation into an electronic medical record. Unlike prior versions which would support dictation into any application, Version 10 will not allow you to dictate into an electronic medical record. Instead they want you to by the medical version for $1000.00. I would bet money it uses the same engine. I can afford to by the medical version but as a matter of principle, this is bogus. I have a very mature user profile and Version 10 did not seem to "learn" all of my previous vocabulary. For docs using Preferred for medical transcription into and EMR, do not upgrade, the improvements are probably not worth it. You will have to dictate into Dragonpad and cut and paste into the EMR.//flj
  
  
• A great piece of software
  By A286M0CMJLLG6A on 2008-09-08
  I've been a (very happy) user of Dragon 10 Preferred in the last 10 days.
  I have an average PC (Dell with 1MB RAM, 2.8GHZ Pentium) with XP Pro and I did not have any problem installing as others reported.
  Since the beginning, when I created my user voice profile, I did 4/5 minutes of training right away. I don't know if that's the main reason but already at the end of the training I had great results. Not sure I'd get the same without the training. Anyway, next money I'll spend it will be for a better microphone...
  I also tried some of the search commands (new in version 10) just to have some fun.
  For example you can say "search Amazon for italian wine" and few seconds later Dragon shows you the results.
  But it's dictation where Dragon shows the muscles...
  It's fast, accurate, smart... sometimes it really surprises you when at the first attempt he manages to get correctly words that you would think difficult.
  
  My roommate is a Harvard student and he comes back from his lessons with a lot of notes that, eventually, he needs to put in a "better shape".
  When he saw me using Dragon he wanted to try it. Now is basically hooked.
  He says that to transcribe his notes, even if he consider himself a decent typewriter, he can save at least 50-60% of his time dictating with Dragon. He says that just because of that, he would pay the software 2 or 3 times more and it would be still a bargain.
  
  
  
• Poor installation process
  By A35VAYOZ5Q9RTF on 2008-09-19
  This product works amazingly well, ONCE YOU GET IT INSTALLED.
  Apparently this happens quite often. After several email and phone call attempts I finally received Nuance technical assistance. The technician was quick, accurate and efficient and offered no explanation, but seemed to have been through the problem many times before. Nuance needs to fix this installation routine and make it much easier to get free technical assistance for new customers. I hope I don't have another problem, as they warn that a second call will cost $$$$.
  
  I purchased this through Amazon.com and received it within two days at a 10%/$20 discount. Nuance themselves had to place me on back-order, so I canceled my order with them. Nuance also had trouble understanding the term CANCEL.
  
  
• Great program if you can install it or get technical support
  By A37CQ0Q7RR2Z11 on 2008-09-19
  I have been successfully using Dragon Naturally Speaking since about version 4. It has always been a great program. Until now. Version 10 simply doesn't install and Nuance doesn't supply adequate technical support. I purchased the program twice just in case I got a bad copy (unusual, but always possible). Both failed to install. I contacted customer service, no help there. To email tech support costs $10. The only tech support phone number I found on their web site was not toll free. Having to pay for the call I wasn't going to wait more than 30 minutes on my dime.
  
  The on-line FAQ didn't address my problem and were not help. To put it simply, if you can get it to work, great. If you can't get it to install, send it back.
  
  
• Vista 64 not even supported - unbelieveable
  By A37O4KN7UQRKZ7 on 2008-09-06
  Well, I'll change my rating when(if?) it works in a 64 bit windows environment. How can a major software product not work in Vista 64 which has been around for quite a while now? And why did they release this when a significant minority of Windows users couldn't use it, especially since the upgrade will allegedly be available by the end of the year?
  
  I'm truly dumbfounded, and I feel like I just got ripped off.
  
  
• Easy Install Fix
  By A2QAL3PTBGBBGV on 2008-09-06
  I had the same problems most people seem to when trying to install this product on a Windows Vista machine. However, a single visit to the Nuance site and their knowledge database article #6016 solved my problem. After the program was installed it has worked beautifully. Many people seem to forget just how miraculous this sort of voice-recognition technology really is. In fact, I am using NaturallySpeaking Preferred to write this review. (There have been no errors.)
  
  
• I love this product!
  By A2RKYGC83GO7C3 on 2008-09-13
  I actually had IBM Via Voice once upon a time and hated it. It was difficult to learn, impossible to train and just didn't learn new words. But Dragon Naturally Speaking 10 is the exact opposite. I trained it to my voice in about 10 minutes, then learned how to use it in another 10. Once you get the basics down, you can start immediately, no matter what text program you use. I love to sit back, knit or crochet and write. I just talk, and off it goes. You have to keep an eye on it sometimes, because like all translators, it doesn't know all words, but editing is a breeze. I can't recommend this enough for people who write a lot of text but hate typing like I do. I did have a little trouble finding a headset I like, but I'm just particular. The headset it comes with works perfectly, I just didn't like the style, and went for a USB binaural headset from Logitech, but that's just me. I highly recommend this amazing product and hope that your experiences are as good as mine.
  
  9/15 ETA: Let me clarify this: I have a Windows XP Pro machine, not Vista. I don't trust Vista yet, so I didn't get it when I got my new machine. That may be the problem. Hopefully, Nuance will notice the issues most Vista clients are having and send out a bugfix for them.
  
  

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