On Vista Frustration:

Finding myself with a Vista programmed computer I felt that some of the extras should, could, might be there to help me. Vista is equipped with Windows Speech Recognition software. This means I can get a mic and dictate to my computer and it will type for me. Whoo hoo! (Just think of the knitting a person could get done?)

Thinking that ‘nothing is perfect’ and that I would have to go back and correct some things, it would still be faster then retyping my crummy hand written notes, complete with food stains, while I was working. I went out and bought a microphone for my computer, thinking that I could dictate my stories to the computer as I cut up vegetables for the canner. That ’Is’ what it is supposed to do.

Silly Me!

After no less then seven (7) hours. I can now get it to spell out each word.

This is not straight forward s p e l l i n g. No!

I have to say, “Press ‘s’ press ‘p’ press ‘e‘ press ‘l’ press ‘l’ press ‘i’ press ‘n’ as in Nancy, press ‘g’” just to type the word ‘spelling.’ Then I get to say “space” before starting the next word. There is also adding capital letters and other punctuation.

This does not include the time it takes to undo all the places it thinks I want spread sheets and art work added or a new documents started in the middle of a word.

Yes, I ran through the tutorial ‘Three Times’ and the extra voice recognition programming too. And forget about the website. It just wants to sell you things that don’t work any better. No help at all.

In hopes that after it had heard my voice long enough it would then start typing for me I pressed on. (Pun intended.)

It took me one and a half hours to get a few lines typed the way I wanted it with tabs, capitals and punctuation in place. I am exhausted and frustrated and my voice is horse from all the repeating myself I‘m having to do. And if I have to read the words “What did you say?” one more time I will scream. At this rate I might have one blog written each month.

I want to see the guy who is laughing at the rest of us struggling along with this half baked program he felt was good enough. May he be struck with laryngitis and arthritic knuckles. Type that Microsoft!