UK | Windows 7

Finally Australia gets Windows 7 Family Pack!

Jan 122010

Guess I got it all wrong! In my post on November 1, 2009 entitled “So much for product loyalty” I reported that Microsoft wasn’t releasing the Family Pack version in Australia and I complained about their short-sighted view.

As you all know Microsoft released it in the United States, Canada and in Europe leaving us here in Australia “out on a limb” so to speak. Well the Family Pack version sold out pretty quick in the United States and Canada with many complaints from thwarted customers who missed out.

Here in Australia, several weeks ago, the Family Pack became available and all the regular retail stores stocked it. It is freely available at $247 give or take where you go to buy it. A curious thing is that the Australian packaging is different. It is green instead of the orange colour of the American version. (See Picture)

United States Version – Orange Australian Version – Green

I like to think my earlier complaint was helpful in us out here getting access to the Family Pack but more likely Microsoft’s strategy was to blitz the bigger markets first and then move on to the smaller ones, namely Australia.

I was keen to get a copy and thinking we’d never see it here bought a copy from Amazon and had it sent to a friend in the United States. The cost converted from United States dollars was significantly below the current price in Australia.

I had to use this method to get it as Amazon are really difficult about computer software and refuse to send this to you if you live outside of United States and Canada. They’re happy sell everything else but computer software is a big NO, NO!

So I am happy with my imported copy and I installed it on my three computers – a desktop, a laptop and now a new Netbook which initially had XP on it. The installation for the Netbook was trouble-free. All three computers are sweetly talking to each other using Windows HomeGroup. This feature makes communication across two or more computers a real breeze. Perhaps HomeGroup is one on the best features of Windows 7 given the hassles you used to have setting up a network with Windows XP.

Looking at Speech Recognition Part 2

Windows 7 No Responses »

Dec 182009

If you’ve never seen speech recognition demonstrated by a trained user, you’re in for a shock. A person speaks into a microphone headset and, as they speak, the words pop up on the screen. It is amazing to watch and even more amazing to use it.

With recent speech products you can speak at a normal speaking speed (about 120 words per minute).

How does Speech Recognition work?

Speech Recognition programs use probability and mathematical functions to determine the most likely word or phrase. To identify what is spoken, the computer goes through these five steps:

Speech input (User)
Prefiltering
Feature extraction
Comparison and matching
Text output

After you install the program, the user should undergo training but if you use Dragon NaturallySpeaking you can still achieve a reasonable result without it. Having said that, it is certainly better to go through the training process. This involves reading aloud from a prepared text for a minimum of five minutes. The computer listens to this dictation and the software analyzes how the user pronounces each word. It then stores the data and prepares a unique user profile for the user.

Further improvement in speech recognition occurs as you continue to use the software and correct recognition errors. The Speech Recogniton software becomes more accurate as it learns your particular speaking style. Dragon NaturallySpeaking offers to analyse your email and documents to assess and register the vocabulary you use. This is an additional bonus not found in Windows 7 Speech Recognition program.

Who uses Speech Recognition?

Users of speech recognition products are mostly professional people who use words extensively as part of their job. Most of them are already comfortable speaking their thoughts. So you will find lawyers, doctors, and teachers are the early adopters.

People with disabilities limiting their use of the computer keyboard or mouse can find speech recognition programs a boon as they can perform many computer tasks ranging from writing documents to sending email. This can be liberating for them.

What are the advantages in using Speech Recognition?

You can “command and control” the computer simply by using your voice. This means you can command and control:

Menus and dialog boxes
Edit and format text
Launch applications
Open and save files
Cut and paste

Other Benefits:

You can also speak faster than you can type.
While your fingers may develop muscle fatigue, your voice will not.
The computer knows how to spell many of the words you speak probably better than you do.

For Speech Recognition to be effective you need a fast and powerful personal computer, up-to-date software compatable with Windows 7 and to enrol in its training program so that it can recognize your voice.

Hardware Requirements for Speech Recognition

Here is a list of essential hardware requirements to run speech recognition software efficiently.

CPU: Minimum 2.4 GHz Pentium® III/IV Processor IBM-compatible PC – the more powerful Dual Core and Quad Core CPUs are better.
Operating System: For versions higher than Version 9.5 Dragon NaturallySpeaking you will need Vista or Windows 7.
Sound Card: Industry standard 16 bit sound card or built-in audio systems on desktops and portables, including the Creative Labs SoundBlaster® 16 or higher
Hard Disk Requirements: 40 GIG or higher – you need 1 GIG for program storage and 40-60+ Mbytes for user voice file.
Memory Requirements: Minimum 1 GIG RAM – the more the better! I have 3 GIG on the laptop and 4 GIG on the Desktop.
Microphone Headset: A good quality USB from these sources:
- Andrea Electronics
- Plantronics
- Sennheiser
- Logitech

Speech Recognition Software

The Main Players

There have been many take-overs in the Speech Recognition industry. ScanSoft, once a big player, was taken over by Nuance. Similarly, IBM’s speech recognition software was sold off to ScanSoft in 2003. MacSpeech is powered by Dragon NaturallySpeaking engine. This makes Nuance the lead player in Speech Recognition.

Dragon NaturallySpeaking (Version: Standard. Preferred, Professional, Medcial and Legal)
Microsoft Windows Speech Recognition (Windows Vista and Windows 7)
MacSpeech (Versions MacSpeech Dictate, MacSpeech Medical and MacSpeech Legal . All powered by Dragon NaturallySpeaking engine.

Catering for Different Languages and Different English Accents

Microsoft Speech Recognition is available in English (U.S.), English (U.K.), German (Germany), French (France), Spanish (Spain), Japanese, Chinese (Traditional), and Chinese (Simplified).
Dragon NaturallySpeaking is available in English, French, German, Spanish, Italian and Dutch language versions. The English versions cater for the following accents, US, UK, Australian, Indian, and SE Asian.
MacSpeech caters for 13 English language variations, nine with U.S. spelling and four with U.K. spelling.

In the next post on Speech Recognition we’ll look at these aspects:

In this post we’ll be looking at Windows 7 Speech Recognition program and considering these aspects:

Accessing Windows 7 Speech Recognition
Training the Software
Reviewing Speech Recognition Commands
Taking the Speech Tutorial

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No More Windows 7 Family Pack Deal In The US, But Available In The UK

Windows 7 No Responses »

Dec 072009

The Windows 7 Family Pack offer from Microsoft represented great value for users who needed more than one copy of Windows 7 - for $149.99 you got 3 copies of Windows 7 Home Premium. After noticing over the weekend that Windows 7 Family Pack copies were becoming hard to find, Microsoft have formally pulled the offer and visitors to the US Microsoft Family Pack website are presented with the message “The Windows 7 Family Pack Offer has ended”.

The situation seems to be different in the UK, where sites are still advertising the Windows 7 Family Pack. It’s still being promoted on the UK Microsoft site:

and is still available for sale at Amazon UK:

That’s not to say that the Windows 7 Family Pack offer won’t be pulled in the UK soon, if you are planning on buying Windows 7 I’d do so now to save money.

Microsoft’s decision to pull the offer could be because Windows 7 sales are naturally strong and further incentives are not needed. Although pulling the offer before Christmas could be seen as Grinchism, the Christmas peak buying season has already been and gone in November, so if that were Microsoft’s intention they would have pulled the offer last month.

What this does indicate is that Microsoft won’t be doing any Windows 7 promotions anytime soon.

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Windows 7 Family Pack Supplies Running Low

Windows 7 No Responses »

Dec 052009

Copies of the Windows 7 Family Pack, which includes three upgrade licenses for Windows 7 Home Premium, are becoming harder to find in the United States, both in retail stores and online. The offer, announced by Microsoft in July and offered for $150, was said to be “while supplies last,” but I don’t think anyone was expecting supplies to run so low so soon.

Microsoft issued a brief statement about the shortage of copies:

“The Windows 7 Family Pack was introduced as a limited time offer while supplies last in select geographies… Response has been very positive and in some cases, the offer has sold out. “

This is bad for consumers, especially as the holiday season approaches in the midst of the recession – late shoppers may find themselves out of luck if they attempt to purchase the Family Pack as a gift.

It’s also bad in a general sense, as it eliminates the most reasonably-priced Windows 7 upgrade from Microsoft’s product lineup. I know that business is business and you have to do what’s best for the bottom line, but this leaves the cheapest Windows 7 upgrade option sitting at $119 for an upgrade pack of Windows 7 Home Premium. OEM copies of the OS are slightly cheaper, sitting around $100, but that’s still twice as expensive as a Family Pack license and not technically legal for individuals, besides. All of a sudden, Windows 7 is a slightly harder sell – not something Microsoft needs.

Microsoft has said in the past that it might make the Family Pack a more permanent offering depending on consumer response, but they’ve said nothing to indicate that they plan on replenishing supplies. Tell us how you feel about this situation in the comments section!

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How The Windows 7 Boot Animation Came To Be

Windows 7 No Responses »

Dec 022009

Those of you familiar with Windows 7 will have noticed the glowing Windows logo that pulsates when Windows 7 starts up. Well Microsoft hosted a questions and answer session with its designer Rolf Ebeling so we could find out a bit more about it.

Rolf Ebeling, a senior user experience lead for the User Experience Design and Research Team for Windows, Windows Live, and Internet Explorer, is the man who designed the 105-frame Windows 7 boot animation that millions of Windows users see every day. Have a look at some of the early sketches of it below.

Ebeling said he looked for inspiration every where for the new boot logo, including street lights in the rain, light reflecting off water, and fireflies. He wanted to reflect what the new feeling of operating system — light color and energy. He also claims to have an incurable addiction to indie rock—especially flavor-of-the-moment UK bands which helps him do his best work.

We never lost sight that we wanted the boot-up to be faster, but thought, ‘Well, if people are going to be there we should make it attractive and something that inspires confidence

The start up logo was first revealed in December 2008 in Windows 7 6950 + builds. He’s a self-taught designer with a degree in English literature, Ebeling was a creative director for Newsweek.com in New York before joining Microsoft in April 2008, his first software job. When asked what his biggest challenge facing the animation he said

Biggest challenge? Having only been with the company for four months and suddenly finding myself working on the first thing millions of people would see when they started up Windows 7. That was a peculiar realization to wake up to each morning

He also confirmed that he is working on the next Windows operating system, Windows 8

In February 2009, Microsoft confirmed that they would not confirm support for changing the Windows 7 boot animation for those who wanted to customize their systems further then themes. Why not have a look at our large collection of themes or wallpapers