(Differences for Release 6 users are documented elsewhere)
See the L&H/Dragon press release that describes features added for Release 6. All these are in Release 7, with significant improvements to some of these features. Following are more detailed observations of the Release 5 to 7 transition, aimed at existing users. The comments apply for the most part to anyone moving from Releases 3 or 4 to Release 7.
ACCURACY: I've used Release 7 enough to say it seems better than Releases 1-6. Others have reported the same. There are still small word errors, as are to be expected so long as I do not pronounce words clearly. Clear pronunciation is slightly more important for me on Release 7 than on Release 5. That is, when I get lazy on Release 7, the results seem worse than on Release 5. When I am precise with my pronunciation, results are more accurate on Release 7 than on Release 5. No detailed comparisons yet, just anecdotal evidence. Those who were using Release 5 are moving to Release 7.
SUBTLE NEW FEATURES
1. For long-time users used to saying “Correct xyz” or “Correct That”, then typing or dictating immediately into the correction box, you may find the new correction mechanism foreign. To get back to the “old” behavior, in Tools/Options/Correction, check the “Correct commands bring up Spell dialog” option. Great for making it easier on yourself while learning other aspects of the new release.
2. On earlier releases, there was a fairly hard-and-fast rule that if you said “Correct xxx” then Dragon was supposed to “learn” from your correction, but if you said “Select xxx” and then corrected by redictating or typing, then Dragon would not “learn.” With Release 7 the rules on this are fuzzy. DNS tries to figure out itself whether you are editing or there was a misrecognition. Most of the time it gets it right.
3. The built-in command names may overlap your custom commands if you have extended NaturallySpeaking. For example, there is now a “Print Document” command which does a “Ctrl+p”, and I know that many of us have implemented commands with that name. You can't easily get rid of the built-in commands, so you need to have new names for the custom commands.
4. Importing/Exporting users between Release 7 systems is MUCH improved over DNS 1-5! If you have multiple systems, Release 7 lets you maintain a single speech file if you wish. The features would be particularly good for those who work at multiple offices. High-speed network connections are beneficial to use this import/export of users. Custom commands are handled along with vocabulary.
5. I’ve not found much documentation on the "go back" command, but it handles a lot of cases of moving the cursor back to where you wish to continue dictating. Try it, see if you like it.
6. For those who like to dictate long passages, then correct them, I suggest reading the section in the User Guide on Workflow. There are significant changes in capability that require changes in habit.
7. Most of the new commands are available ONLY if the option for NLP (Natural Language Processing) commands is checked. This appears to be the default. To check this, go to Tools, Options, the Startup/Shutdown tab, and verify the option “Enable Natural Language Commands”.
8. Number formatting is slightly different, but more consistent.
DOCUMENTATION/HELP
Gone is the Quick Start Guide. There is a Quick Reference card. Gone is a more-or-less complete listing of commands in the manual, as the Natural Language Commands would make a complete listing difficult.
The Natural Language command sets are huge, but there is only token documentation regarding them. The Command Browser, drastically improved in Release 7 over Release 6, is the only place to look at these commands. You can do a look-up by key word (filter) if you only have a rough idea of the command name. Or, you can scroll through the alphabetic list of commands.
The tutorial, dropped in Release 6, is back. If you are a Release 5 user, take the time to go through the Release 7 tutorial.
SCRIPTING FEATURES (Pro, Medical, Legal)
There is a huge increase in built-in commands over Release 5 and even Release 6. In particular, they make editing documents and using Excel spreadsheets much more friendly. I’ve no clue how many were added, but it appears there are easily thousands of new commands regardless of how one counts. These commands seem to be "cleaned up" in Release 7. I've only tried a few hundred commands.
PROBLEMS
Many problems that occurred in prior releases have been resolved. ScanSoft has posted descriptions of several known problems with Release 7 on their web site, a welcome change from the days when problems were well-known but not publically acknowledged under prior ownership. Problem Summary
UPGRADING
BACK UP YOUR USER FILES BEFORE UPGRADING. (YOU SHOULD HAVE A BACKUP ANYWAY!)
SUMMARY
Plan on taking time to learn Release 7. DO NOT PLAN TO INSTALL IT AND THEN DO YOUR DAILY WORK WITHOUT ANY TIME ALLOCATED TO LEARNING AND TESTING! Many users will require several hours to re-learn how to do things with Release 7, even if you have been using speech recognition since the 1960’s. Users who do their own macros/commands will have more re-learning than some others. Those who only dictate into DragonPad or Word with standard Release 5 options won’t require as much time for this – an hour or two may suffice.
Updated March, 2003
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