Dragon Naturally Speaking, not Vista 64-bit compatible
Nuance’s Dragon Naturally Speaking is the most popular voice recognition software but it is not compatible with Vista, despite the package label. “Works with Windows Vista” means only the 32 bit version of Vista. Microsoft reports that 64 bit Vista grew from 3% of installs to 20% of installs as of July 2008. “Based on current trends, this growth will accelerate as the retail channel shifts to supplying a rapidly increasing assortment of 64-bit desktops and laptops.” Windows Vista 64-bit Today. As of September, Nuance as brushing off demands for a 64-bit version. Vista 64 expands the available memory beyond the 3.4 GB restrictions of XP and Vista 32 bit. For a resource hog like Dragon Naturally Speaking, that’s important. Vista 64 is being installed on Vista Home Premium by Dell and other manufacturers with no fanfare, so you may have it even if you didn’t ask. My new Dell has it – what do I know?
talk2urpcdotcom
You are absolutely correct. Dragon 10 does not support vista. Infact, the box of DNS clearly says “Vista 32-bit”.
neuron13
They said in September that a 64-bit version would be available by end-of year (2008), then first quasrter of 2009, now nothing. No prediction anywhwere I can find about when the upgrade will be released or even developed.
Their lack of communication and support is the worst I have ever seen. As much as I’m invested in Dragon (using it since 1.0), I hope another company takes the initiative and blows them out of the water for this lame, insensitive response to a growing problem. They’re violating the basic rule that it’s a lot easier to ruin a reputation than to build one.
Even failing to keep loyal users apprised of how the 64-bit product is developing or what snags it’s hitting would be a lot better than leaving us in the dark. For every day I’m left uninformed, I feel happier to see them lose another slice of market share. Adversity is the seed of most progress, so maybe something positive will come of this.
Peter Mahoney
Hi,
I know there has been a lot of frustration about the lack of Vista 64 support for Dragon. We have been working to try to improve the communication with our customer base about the status of 64-bit support on Vista.
You can track the latest information on our blog that can be found here:
http://community.nuance.com/blogs/dragon/archive/2009/03/16/update-on-dragon-for-windows-vista-64-frequently-asked-questions.aspx
Thank you for the posting your comments — I know that our users are extremely passionate about Dragon.
Peter
Peter S. Mahoney
senior vice president and general manager, Dragon
Nuance Communications Inc.