Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10 Standard review

There was once a time when speech-recognition software was all the rage. Packages from the likes of Lernout & Hauspie and Dragon were thought to be the next big thing. "Talk to your computer," they all said. "It's a revolution."

Unfortunately it didn't catch on. For some strange reason, people felt a little of place talking to their computer screens. The software didn't always work well, either, and you often spent as much time correcting errors as you saved by not having type. It also required an inordinate amount of training. And now Vista has perfectly good voice recognition built in, the new version of Dragon NaturallySpeaking needs to impress.

And right from the off, it does. You certainly don't need to spend a long time training it. After installation we were able to dictate text of this review almost straight away. All you need to do is select a regional accent (there are variations for different US regions but only one subset for the UK) and you're good to go. It got the odd word wrong, but by and large it was accurate straight off the bat, and after an afternoon's use, the first draft of this very review had been written using the software.

But there's a lot more to speech-recognition software days than simple text dictation. Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10 also gives you voice control over many Windows functions and application-specific features. Using the software's command mode you can access toolbars, menus, select and manipulate text, and even launch and control programs not specifically programmed into Dragon's list of supported applications by using a combination of mouse control tools and voiced key presses.

Navigating around pages is surprisingly easy, too. Once you've learned a few basic commands you can click on links by simply speaking them, scroll up and down pages using the Page up and Page down functions and even enter web addresses. The software not only supports Internet Explorer, but also Mozilla Firefox.

If you choose, you can also have a selection of important commands displayed in a pop-up window on the right of the screen; this gets around the problem of forgetting important keywords. A nice touch here is that the list of commands changes as you switch from application to application. In Microsoft Word, for example, it displays tips on how to open and save and print documents, and how to cut, paste, insert and undo, plus a list of hints on how to move the cursor, format text and so on.

The application's three modes - command, dictation and "normal" - allow you to adjust the way you work with it to suit the task at hand. Use the command mode to browse websites, edit documents, and control windows; use dictation mode for entering plain text at speed; normal mode, meanwhile, combines both modes for more convenient operation.

There is an impressive amount of customisability here as well. If it persistently gets a word wrong you can train it to recognise the way you say it. If you want to add a command that's easy enough to do. Spelling awkward words is as simple as saying "spell" and then, literally, spelling the word out, letter by letter. The software learns from its mistakes: as you dictate more and continue to correct words it builds a more accurate picture of the way you speak, giving it a better chance of getting it right first time in the future.

The question is, would you use it in your everyday work? The answer to that question very much depends on you and your needs. There may be those who are forced to use dictation software - those who cannot physically manipulate a keyboard and mouse, for instance - and for these people it may prove a lifesaver. If you get bad RSI, it could mean the difference between giving up work and being able to continue. But for the average office worker looking for a quicker way to enter text, it's not as effective a tool as you might think.