I have to thank Charles C. Hocker from Dog River Business Solutions for tipping me off that Vista SP1 fixes the issues of not recognizing all 4gb of ram in the operating system. I was about to wipe my laptop and install Server 2003.
SP1 defiantly makes Vista more stable and faster.
First off, how do you find it? Most people don't even know that Vista has dictation. In windows speak, dictation is known as Windows Speech Recognition. To find it: Click on Start and in the search area type in the word "speech". At the top you will see Windows Speech Recognition. Click on it.
Windows will now want to setup your listening device.
It is very import to have a good USB headset. I highly recommend the Plantronics 400 DSP. It costs 79.95.
Take the Speech Tutorial and Train your computer to better understand you. It will take less then an hour of your time and is well worth it.
1. In the Start Menu, choose All Programs, Accessories, Accessibility. Select the Speech Recognition option
2. Proceed through the initial set up screens to configure your microphone. The Speech tutorial will then be launched
3. Complete the Speech tutorial
1. Say "Start Listening."
2. Say "Open WordPad."
3. Say "This is a test of speech recognition period."
4. To correct mistakes, say "correct" and the word that the computer typed by mistake, and then pick the correct word from the list offered by Speech Recognition, repeat the correct word again. For example, if the computer mis-recognized "speech" as "peach," say "correct peach," and then choose the right word from the list, or say the word "speech" again.
5. To save the document, say "File", then say "Save As."
6. Say "Test document."
7. Say "Save."
Compatible and Incompatible Programs
• Speech Recognition dictation will work in a limited set of applications that support a technology called the Text Services Framework. This set of applications includes:
• Microsoft Word and Outlook
• Virtually all applications that are part of Windows Vista
• Dictation will not work in many applications. These include, but are not limited to:
• Microsoft PowerPoint
• Excel
• WordPerfect
• Eudora
• Lotus Notes
I know you have been bombarded with article after article on how Vista sucks. I have been running Vista since July and love it. One of the nice new features is the Side Bar. I have customized my Side Bar to show my Outlook Tasks that are due Today, My Appointments, a Clock, and how much of my processor and ram I am using. The Side Bar sits on the right hand side of my screen. When I hook up to multiple monitors, it has no problem moving to the right side of the screen.
There are many different applications (Microsoft calls them gadgets) you can setup with your Vista Side Bar, including Ebay Auction Reminders, Calculators, and links to Gmail. Check out a list here: http://vista.gallery.microsoft.com/vista/SideBar.aspx?mkt=en-us
I walked into a law firm last week to install Amicus Attorney on a new Vista Machine. As I entered the attorney's office, I noticed that he was on the phone with Microsoft Tech Support. He told me that he installed Adobe Professional 8 earlier that morning on his machine and when he tried to register it, Vista gave a fit and it crashed Adobe. He was on the phone with Adobe Tech Support for an hour and a half before they transferred him to Microsoft Tech Support which he had wasted another hour.
As we were waiting for tech support the attorney asked if I knew how to fix the problem. My response was, shut off User Account Control in Vista, register Adobe and turn it back on. He tried this and it worked. It took about 5 minutes. I am shocked that neither Adobe or Microsoft thought of this solution as in my experience it is the first thing to try when you have a vista issue. Warning, when you shut off User Account Control you must restart your workstation. I have posted directions on how to do this below.
Start --> Control Panel --> User Accounts --> Turn User Account Control on or off
Uncheck Use User Account Control (UAC) to help protect your computer
Restart the workstation
My perfect record of not having a virus affect a client's office has been broken. I have maintained this record for so long for two reasons:
1. Always made sure all computers were always patched with the latest windows updates.
2. Have up to date Antivirus software running on all machines.
I have 10 seat law firm using Trend Micro Client Server Messaging Security, which I believe is better then Norton Antivirus. One workstation stopped downloading and installing Windows Updates and got a virus. Trend Micro did not recognize this virus and did not delete or quarantine it. The virus began spamming and the result is my client is now blacklisted on several sites and their email productivity is shot. The virus was extremely hard to remove and we ended up having to unplug the machine and wiping it.
Windows Vista and Small Business Server R2 will make it more easier to manage updates and this will be a big help. As of now, I have to manually check to make sure that each machine is up-to-date, which I do, about once a month. It will be much better when I can log into a server and see what machines did not update.
Life Hacker has a great article on Vista.
