Leave the Typing to Vista
Have you ever thought it would be nice to be able to talk to your computer and have it do the typing? If you have Windows Vista and a headset microphone, you can.
Speech recognition has been around for quite some time, but Windows Vista is the first time it is included as part of the operation system. The system is not perfect, but for dictating a paper or e-mail, it works quite well. The trick is to not use speech recognition exclusively, which is a temptation. I recommend using speech recognition for the main typing, but using the mouse to access menus and select text. This combination uses the best of text recognition and the mouse.
To start talking to your Windows Vista computer, from the Start menu type speech in the “Search programs and files” dialogue box and select “Windows Speech Recognition.” This will start the setup process which will take about an hour to complete. The process will explain some of the features of speech recognition at the same time the computer learns your individual speaking style.
Have fun talking to your computer!