Features

• Norton Personal Firewall hides your PC from hackers
• Norton Intrusion Detection automatically blocks suspicious connections
• Norton Privacy Control prevents personal data from being unknowingly released
• New Norton AntiSpam keeps unwanted messages out of your inbox
• Norton Productivity Control limits Web site and newsgroup access

Reviews (24)

Simply awful
My husband was so frustrated with MANY problems that he finally uninstalled the whole mess. Even getting it off his machine took 2 days. For the first time in his life, he considered suicide.

It slowed my PC down (and I have a new AMD). I cannot access IE without disabling Internet Security Professional (this started out of the blue a couple months ago). I'm afraid to even try to uninstall it. I'll probably end up taking it in to a shop and having them uninstall it - and paying.

I will never buy from Norton again. I thought Norton was supposed to have a reputable product. It's trash.

Great Product... With One Exception... Caveat Emptor
For the past several years I have used various Symantec/Norton products. Furthermore, as an IT professional I typically recommend their products to family and friends, primarily because of the User Friendly consoles.

However, as my subscription was about to expire for updates, I recently upgraded to Norton Internet Security Professional 2004 (NISP2K4) from 2003 (non-Pro) . I encountered a problem which I have found to be fairly common among folks who use multiple user profiles on their machines. I found users of 2000, XP Home, and XP Pro were all affected.

I am running XP Professional w/ three (3) user profiles (one work related, one for personal use, and one for wife). Each profile has it's own separate e-mail account set up in Outlook.

Before loading NISP2K4, I was not experiencing any problems. Following the installation, whenever I start Outlook after switching profiles, I receive the message listed below:

Microsoft Visual C++ Runtime Library
Runtime Error!
Program C:\ProgramFiles\MicrosoftOffice\Office10\OUTLOOK.EXE
This application has requested the Runtime to terminate it in an unusual way. Please contact the applications support team for more information.

Troubleshooting Steps: I initially performed an Uninstall (including shared files) and then performed a Custom Install, selecting a single configuration for all profiles on the machine. Still receiving error messages.

Conducted the following Google search: (Norton Internet Security 2004 Outlook Runtime Error terminate)

Based upon some of the postings I read, this is a widespread and common problem with users of machines with more than one profile. I found a work around which disables the Norton Anti Spam toolbar, but still am seeking permanent solution which would leave the toolbar intact and not generate the error message.

If this problem is not resolved soon and integrated into future updates of Internet Security Pro 2004, I hope it will be integrated into the 2005 release and since I complained we might receive a free upgrade.

Sitting here thinking about it a little more, I realize that the problem may be specifically with the Anti-Spam portin of the suite. Will update with any responses I get from Symantec/Norton Tech Support.

As they say, Caveat Emptor... Buyer Beware!

Gives meaning to the word 'safe'
This is very good. My pc has never been faster, and more safe. Plus you get Norton Antivirus Professional 2004 for free with this! Very good protection and regularly updated. Firewall gets a Truestealth rating on Gibon Research's ShieldsUp! test (https://grc.com/x/ne.dll?bh0bkyd2).
Only problem with the popup blocker (which works just fine by the way) is that some sites that use popups to navigate don't work. Luckily you can define not only what sites should be allowed to display popups, but also what PART of the site. It is possible to have the main site display popups and another part blocked.
I have seen people having problems with installing it. The problem seems to be that after installing and rebooting the program does not start, only a tray icon with a red cross. Pointing at this icon causes it to dissapear. Also, it is impossible to activate and register the program. I have a solution so more people can enjoy this fine program (cause you shouldn't expect much help from Symantec)
This solution only works for Windows XP. Sorry...
First, uninstall EVERY Symantec program you've got. After you are CLEAN of those programs, do the following:

A. C:\Program Files\Symantec (this could already be removed)
A. C:\Program Files\Common Files. Delete the Symantex Shared map.
C. C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data. (If Application Data isn't visible, enable 'view hidden files in Map options). Delete the Symantec map COMPLETELY.

D. Each account that the programs have been used on also have files (check all of them). See C:\Documents and Settings\(enter user-name here)\Application Data. Delete the Symamtec map.
E. ****These are register deletes. It is advisable to make a backup before you do this****
Open the Regedit (type Regedit in the Execute window(or whatever that is in English, I have a Dutch version). (Or go to Task Manager, New Task, and typ Regedit).
Now go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE. Delete the Symantec map.
Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE and delete the Symantec map here.

I would do a reboot at this point. After that, install Internet Security. This time, the registration window will appear.

Bad Product For Developers..
The "Norton/Symantic" Shepard is much worse than the "Adware" Wolf. If you are a developer or need access to local development tools such as IIS, DON'T INSTALL THIS PRODUCT. I'm sorry I didn't read the Amazon reviews before I installed. It'll kill your machine's speed, IIS localhost and you'll either have to reformat OR IF YOUR LUCKY Restore to an earlier restore point. - (thanks to windows XP restore). I was lucky. Worst part is that there's no way to get a refund. I can't imagine how a large company like Symantec could put out such an ill conceived product - and even worse - a very sick help-and-support department. Talk about internet wolves. Get McAffee for antivirus and ZoneAlarm for Internet Security. Much better.

Norton support has really deteriorated
I am on Amazon tonight to look up alternatives to Norton Anti-Virus because of their poor maintenance. (They have outsourced their maintenance, I think to India, and there is such difficulty and so many emails exchanged to try to get understanding and answers that I eventually just gave up on the anti-spam package and will never buy it again. I have had better results with the corporate version of anti-virus, but even with the business edition I have to wait very lengthy times to get to a customer service representative, but the ones I have gotten have been really great. But they are sitting at a phone right here in the USA. I have been a long time giving up on Norton because of past history. I started with windows back in the days of Windows 3.1 and Norton had wonderful software that filled the gaps in Windows and made the Windows experience better. I was also treated extremely badly when I tried to complain to the corporate/sales people about my dislike of and disapproval of outsourcing. The person ultimately hung up when I asked that my comments be relayed to her superiors. All of that being said, I feel my instincts were right and I am not even going to consider Norton, especially for a combination product. I also feel that the quality of the products are worse. They used to be much easier to configure and get working. These problems started before their firewall product, but that one was a particularly difficult product to deal with compared to many products in Norton's pass. Well, ultimately even a very loyal customer like me has to wonder whether it is time to give up. ... Read more

Features

• For large organizations with multiple storage groups and databases
• Flexible configuration; integrated support for mobile devices
• Network compression; integration with Outlook 2003
• Recover storage groups, databases, or individual mailboxes
• Extensive security and privacy features

Amazon.com Product Description

Dragon NaturallySpeaking Standard 7 is speech-recognition software that offers home users powerful new features to maximize their productivity and have more fun with PCs. After completing about five minutes of training, you can talk to your computer and watch your words instantly appear in virtually all Windows based applications, including popular e-mail, word processor, and web browsing applications. Dragon NaturallySpeaking 7 is the most accurate Dragon NaturallySpeaking ever, and the easiest to use.

This comprehensive program allows you to launch programs, create, edit and format documents, and manage the desktop--all by voice. It is fully integrated with Microsoft Word, Corel WordPerfect, and AOL, and lets you surf the web, write e-mails, chat on-line all by speaking. Dragon NaturallySpeaking represents a significant step forward in the accuracy, speed, and ease-of-use of speech recognition technology. ... Read more

Reviews (10)

Decent recognition, poor compatibility, terrible support
Version 7.0 preferred has excellent voice-recognition. However there are some glaring incompatibilities that make the product almost unusable. For example; I have XP Pro service pack two and the latest upgrades to Internet Explorer 6.0. With NaturallySpeaking running, whether I use voice or mouse to click on favorites and select a link, IE completely locks up. Therefore I have to shut down NaturallySpeaking before I can use Internet Explorer, and then restart it when I'm finished browsing. As mentioned by other reviewers ScanSoft charges USD19.95 for each support call after the first -- even to report a glaring bug such as the one mentioned above. This is unconscionable. Based on their support policies alone I would have to say stay away from their products.

I'm pleased...
I have been using this software about a month. The improvement in accuracy has been nothing short of amazing. Yes, like other reviewers who have had good results, I spent the time and patience it took to train the system. I'm just a little annoyed that ScanSoft has recently dropped the price of its Preferred version, and not offered those of use with the Standard version an opportunity to upgrade at a reasonable price. But, as I build the recognition vocabulary, and since I don't work with Microsoft Office apps (I use Text Pad to review the spelling and spacing of the dictated materials), I'm not sure that the higher-priced version would have been that much more useful, given my work habits.

getting much better, but still plenty of glitches
I've already reviewed this product, about a month ago, but since then the accuracy has improved dramatically, as it has learnt to recognise my speech. I often speak sentence after sentence with hardly a correction. Most of my gripes still apply though. And it seems to have good and bad days -- probably affected by microphone position among other things.

I use it less select half the time, to avoid voice strain. But when I have a lot of typing to do it's a great relief for my hands, and quite good speed.

One annoying thing, which I didn't mention before, is when it repeatedly makes the same mistake when trying to correct a word. For example I said " hi Sandra" which it rendered as "bystander". When I selected this it did not offer the correct option so I spoke again and this time got "high Sandro". I selected Sandro, and said Sandra (as Sandra was not on the list of options), and the program typed Sandro, or centre, again and again until I used the spelling tool. "Hi" also took a few attempts. My point is 1: the list of options often neglects obvious ones, and 2: if I've already rejected Sandro and centre for this occurrence of this word, the program should be able to remember that and not just repeat those mistakes.

(for reference, I'm using the Australian module.)

Disappointing
It often writes absolute nonsense -- a decent grammar check of the kind that Microsoft Word has had for years would eliminate about half of that, and it pathetic that Dragon has not included this already. (Example: with a grammar check, it would have detected that "it pathetic" is not something I likely to say, and would have tried a different option like "it's". See? there it is again, "I likely".)

And if I say "select that" to bring up the correction menu (which often doesn't work, but anyway...) and wanted to choose item number four, I say "choose four"... but instead of putting in the fourth option, it types "choose for" or "choose four" or "shoes for".

These are minor example. Examples. Often the mistakes a much more dramatic. Are much more dramatic.

Love got a lot of effort... try again: although I go to a lot of effort to try and train the program, the accuracy is still very disappointed. (Disappointing!) It's generally much slower than typing because I spent so much time going back to correct mistakes.

And the Dragon Pad editor is not very good - can't do multiple undos (ie go back before the last edit).

Conclusion: Not good enough! Get it together, Dragon!

I'll give it two stars though because it believed it has ["at least it has"...i gave up and typed this] a module for non-US accent. Accent. Accent. Accent. Accent. Accent. Then. Damn. Accents.

I still use the program about half the time that I work catered computer... workout for...workout for... work at the computer, because it does relieve the strain on my hands and wrists. But not all the time because data does give me voice strain. I'm sure the voice strain would be much less if I could just dictate without constantly having to go back and give edit commands (or give the same command 6 times before giving up).

By the way some tips to prevent voice strain are found at: (...)

A Boon for Carpal Tunnel Sufferers
I'm a direct response copywriter, which means that I often have to key in great quantities of text. Unfortunately, I am also a sufferer of carpal tunnel syndrome.

Although I've only had this program for a few days, I find it has taken a lot of the stress out of inputting copy.

As another user suggested, it seems best to dictate the words, and use your mouse or keyboard for formatting.

The program works very well with e-mail and word processing. But as an added bonus, it seems to give you control over most functions of any Windows program!

For example, when your desktop is on the screen, you say "open Microsoft Word," and the program opens. Whoah, beam me up, Scotty! I would imagine that this program could be very useful to people with injuries or disabilities, not to mention "lending a hand" when your hands are full.

The program does make some recognition errors, but then I do suffer a bit from marble-mouth myself. Fortunately, it's easy to correct mistakes by selecting the words in error, and then saying the correct word or selecting one of the choices the program presents you.

Surprisingly, the program invites you to speak at your normal speed. Not to slow down as some earlier dictation programs forced you to do. There are also some passages they give you to read into the supplied headset microphone to improve the accuracy of the recognition.

They say it takes about two weeks to optimize the program for your speaking pattern. I find the other challenge is simply getting used to dictation; as a touch typist and self-employed individual, I'm not accustomed to dictating documents to a secretary!

The only reason I'm not giving this program five stars is because of the developer's stingy user support, as reported by other users here. When are manufacturers going to learn that it is imperative to provide a toll-free number for customers to call with product problems, and that customers should NOT be charged for the privilege either?

Still, until another developer creates a product as good as this, NaturallySpeaking is probably the only game in town. ... Read more

Features

• Filters unwanted email messages in any POP3-compliant email program
• Allowed List ensures that welcomed mail isn¿t flagged as spam
• Trusted Mode tags messages from those not on your Allowed List
• Blocked List classifies specific senders or Internet domains as spammers
• Integrates with Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Outlook Express, and Eudora

Reviews (59)

Much better than McAfee Spam Killer
Running several web sites, I get between 600 and 1,000 spam emails a day. I had been running SpamKiller from McAfee and was having trouble after 6-7 months of usage. Found the Norton AntiSpam 2004 and bought/downloaded it right away from their web site.

Im running my PC on Win XP and use it with Outlook Express 6 and it works great, out of the box it was removing 80-90% of the spam from my email, at very high accuracy. Plus, I have not experianced any crashes. McAfee SpamKiller software would crash on heavy spam days.

After running Norton AntiSpam now for about a month, with a little "training" via the "this is spam" thing, it easily removes +95% of the spam from my email on the first pass, and I am very pleased with AntiSpam 2004.

You should note that I connect to the Internet via Earthlink and use their medium level spam filter that removes "known spam" (about 20-30% of the spam load, but not all) in addition to Norton AntiSpam. This combo seems to work the best for me.

spam not removed
I had 3 cans of spam in my pantry. I installed this software in my dresser & the cans are still there. Enough said.

Works for me
I have been using this product for about six months now and have had great results. It works well with Outlook Express. It doesn't catch everything, but it does catch many spam messages and filter them into a spam folder. My only complaint is that it only works with my pop account, not with my Hotmail account that I read in Outlook Express.

Do bother - More trouble than help from Symantec
This product does not work with MS Outlook 2002. It crashed the email program every time when it was first opened right after having "Fast User Switched" in WinXP Pro. Not worth the pain of dealing with email tech support either!

I won't buy any Symantec products ever again! I am ditching them after this. Their products have gotten worse every year!

Symantec should be ashamed
How far the mighty have fallen.

The Norton name used to be a gold standard--you could buy and run such software with confidence. But it has been losing its luster since Symantec took over and with Norton Anti-Spam, it has hit a new low.

I bought NAS based upon the high reviews it received in PC Magazine--and because it came free in a rebated upgrade for Norton Anti-Virus (which, fortunately, is still worthy of the Norton name).

NAS NEVER worked properly with my routine Eudora 6.x setup. I installed, uninstalled, reinstalled. The NAS folder never appeared. The NAS toolbar was only half-functional; tooltips were missing as were labels for the icons in the Tools menu. NAS couldn't find my Address Book to import.

Symantec's tech support was useless. The advice: Uninstall and reinstall NAS. Uninstall Eudora (!) and reinstall using default settings. Yeah, like I'm going to risk losing all my e-mail data to solve Symantec's QA problem.

Skip this one. It's not ready for prime time--or any time, for that matter. ... Read more

Product Description

Scansoft Dragon Naturally Speaking 8.0 Professional Upgrade from Preferred .Dragon NaturallySpeaking 8 Professional will save you and your organization money because it enables everyone to create documents up to four times faster than typing and protects against repetitive stress injuries like carpal tunnel syndrome that increase insurance premiums and temporary labor costs. It's simple: you and your employees can use Dragon NaturallySpeaking 8 Professional to create documents and e-mails, write reports and fill out forms, without having to type at all. Dragon NaturallySpeaking 8 Professional is fully integrated in the Microsoft Office applications you use: Word, Excel, Outlook and PowerPoint. In fact, it works with just about any Windows application ... Read more

Features

• Install and manage Dragon NaturallySpeaking 8 Professional from a central network location. You can even access your unique Dragon NaturallySpeaking 8 Professional "profile" from any PC on your organization's local area network.
• With a 25% increase in accuracy, Dragon NaturallySpeaking 8 is up to 99% accurate and frequently more accurate than typing.
• That means you can create documents and e-mails about three times faster with Dragon NaturallySpeaking 8 Professional.
• Dragon NaturallySpeaking 8 Professional will help protect people in your organization from repetitive stress injuries like carpal tunnel syndrome - injuries that can cost tens of thousands of dollars in insurance premiums and temporary labor costs.
• Simply install the Dragon NaturallySpeaking CD, and in just a few minutes, you'll be creating documents, e-mails and filling out forms by voice! We even include a free noise-canceling microphone.

Reviews (1)

Great program perfect for the disabled - enjoy handsfree
If you're reading this. You are interested in buying Dragon NaturallySpeaking version eight if you are. I highly recommend it! I had versions of Dragon software, dating back to 1995. Let me tell you the software was clunky back then, being a quadriplegic, I used it to type and move the mouse. But as soon as I got a touchpad mouse. I dropped Dragon altogether. Step forward almost 10 years, I decided that I needed to send longer e-mails than two sentences (because that's all I could type, it gets tiring using only one hand and one knuckle on that hand). So I took the plunge drop the cash on Dragon, and after three days am totally satisfied.

I added up and running and dictating in less than 20 minutes. The accuracy is amazing I'm actually typing this by voice. Since I can use a touchpad, I do not use the Dragon NaturallySpeaking for mouse commands. But for dictating it is perfect and quick!!!

I'm using it with a 2 GHz processor, and it is fine. Getting it set up was a little quirky with my Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS. I'm actually using it with a tabletop condenser microphone, not the heads that they came with it (which I found to be quite uncomfortable). Since I'm unable to get the headset on my head, but a tabletop mike is working perfect.

So I recommend this product anyone who has a disability that makes typing difficult. Anybody who doesn't want to learn to type (though I think he would be lazy, just suck it up and learn). The software is leaps and bounds above previous versions go for it! Enjoy! ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

HotFax Message Center 5.0 provides powerful communications for home or small businesses in one integrated command center. With seamless fax capability integrated with any Windows application, you are always one click away from sending a fax. Optical Character Recognition (OCR) lets you convert received faxes into editable text in just seconds. Other features include a custom cover-page designer, automated fax forwarding, and broadcast fax capability. You can archive or resend received faxes, customize caller ID options, and take advantage of scanner support.

The voice-mail capability provides secure, customizable voice mail, and offers you the ability to create multiple business departments and personal extensions for your home or office. Users can retrieve voice mail from any telephone and transfer messages between mailboxes. The voice-mail system lets you set up and maintain a fax-on-demand service (99 documents per mailbox) to automatically deliver informational faxes to your customers. A new feature allows voice-mail messages to be routed directly to an e-mail account. Retrieve them, listen to them, even forward them to other accounts. If you've got a pager, you can receive automatic notification of new messages. HotFax Message Center even allows you to route calls to different mailboxes based on caller ID information. Set up an unlimited number of voice mailboxes, and identified calls are routed to the appropriate mailbox automatically.

HotFax Message Center empowers e-mail with new fax and voice capabilities. Now you can send and receive faxes and voice-mail messages directly to any e-mail address. When you send a fax to an e-mail account, the recipient can read it on screen, print it, or forward it to another e-mail account, just like an ordinary message. HotFax Message Center will route voice-mail messages to any e-mail account you specify as a compressed attachment. You play it back just like any PC audio file and then save or forward it as you like. ... Read more

Reviews (12)

Hot Fax
I called Smith Micro customer support when my demo version was restored on my computer and my purchased full version vanished. I called their customer service, it is horrible, or should I say "Customer NO Service" since there is none. They me to call another number "didn't work". I called the main number for service and find I need an access number. Bottom line, I paid for a fax software which I downloaded and they didn't send me a disk. They turned on the demo and that now doesn't work. All my files are stored on the demo version where I can't get to them. I'd be glad for Hot fax support to e-mail me a solution. If they don't support this, why do they build and sell such software, and who will buy that?

If you are thinking to buy it and will need support sometime down the road, forget it, give it up and look for something else.

Great Product
This product will SAVE any small business a thousand or more dollars by using a computer and software rather than purchasing an expensive voice mail system. BRAVO to Smith Micro!
BTW, I purchased an early version (2.0) years ago, and it was very good then. I can't wait to start using 5.0!

Appalling experience!
After much research and what I thought was careful planning, I downloaded the software and found it would not work with my computer. To make it work would require a new modem for around $300.00. Tried to contact Smith Micro and they were "on holiday". Unfortunately, the time frame to return product expired while they were "on holiday" and they said it was too bad for me. Terrible customer service and I encourage people to do business with another company entirely.

Hotfax Message Center
We had a hard drive crash, and lost our copy of Quicklink (and I couldn't find the original media anywhere.) I dl'd the demo, then purchased the new HFMC to install over the demo. The disk that Smithmicro sent was physically broken (they ship the CD in a flimsy envelope, no box) and when I asked for help getting my now-expired system up, they wanted me to send the broken one back before replacing (understand they had a credit card record of my original purchase) God forbid that you have any trouble with these guys. Their tech support is non-existant. They have one of the worst voice-mail-hell systems I've ever seen. I was absolutely furious by the time I actually got to speak with a human. And he was just useless.

I'm using this product to support a remote office call-in system and due to the above non-support, I finally had to buy another copy (downloaded this time) to get my remote ops back up. I feel like an extortion victim. I'll never buy from these guys again. Stars: one for product, ZERO for customer support. I am now searching for a replacement.

Works Flawlessly!!!!
This is my 5th voicemail/fax system in the past 10 years,
and the only one that has ever performed as expected. It is simple, reliable, easy to use. Most of the other programs I had went out of business, or dropped support. The name is misleading
because it is more than just a fax utility. Voicemail with options is just as important to me. This software should be marketed as telephony. It just doesn't come up is searches for
voicemail or telephony. Glad I downloaded the demo. It made me want to buy the product at the store. ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

Dragon NaturallySpeaking Preferred speech recognition software enables small office, home office, business, and educational users to create documents, spreadsheets, and e-mail by voice command. Integrated with Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Outlook, and Corel WordPerfect, Dragon NaturallySpeaking works with virtually all Windows-based applications.

Dragon NaturallySpeaking lets you listen to incoming e-mail and documents being read aloud, search the Web, access information, chat with instant messenger programs, or navigate Web pages by speaking URLs and links. Create dictation shortcuts that enable you to insert blocks of texts or bitmaps--such as your name, title, and signature--by voice. You can even dictate directly into a PC or a ScanSoft-approved handheld digital recorder. ... Read more

Reviews (19)

A minimally good product that doesn't meet its claims
I bought this product to help my visually impaired brother get better use from his computer.
One of the things I wanted it to do was read his email for him. Contrary to the implication of its advertising, it doesn't read the very commonly used AOL email.
It also does not allow selection of a default print size on its Dragon Pad to be increased.
Dragon is also very bad about providing on-line support unless paid for. I requested help on these two items agreeing to pay; response was that the software just doesn't do these things; and goodbye.
I don't know how good later versions of ViaVoice are, but an early version was certainly able to read AOL email.

Patience Rewarded
This is a breakthrough product. I had Dragon version 3 on a Pentium 2, and it was so frustrating that I gave up. I think that was most people's response to earlier versions of voice recognition software. Part of the problem was processor speed and memory. Now, with a 1.7 GHz Pentium 4 and 256 MB it is at last a reasonable and workable software.

However the training described in the advertising is optimistic unto misleading. The user files continue to accumulate corrections and understandings of the user's speech. It is after several hours of dictating and making corrections that it becomes reliable. The longer one uses it the fewer edits one needs to make.

By pronouncing clearly and rapidly the user can get very high accuracy. It is counter-intuitive that it should be more accurate for more rapid, more continuous speech, but that is how it works.

The integration of the Preferred version with Word, Excel, Access, and Internet Explorer makes it useful and convenient, and keeps it from being a novelty. For instance, I am dictating this in IExplorer and it has required very few edits. I expect that dictated documents will always require some edits but it will save tremendous amounts of typing and time.

For people who do large amounts of typing this product is invaluable - a real breakthrough. The few hours spent training the software will be rewarded amply by months spent dictating instead of typing.

I strongly recommend using a USB microphone. With an analog microphone the user-trained files are dependent on the sound card. With USB they can be copied to other computers, such as laptops. (And you thought cellphone users were annoying - just wait until people are dictating to laptops on airplanes.)

If one uses Microsoft Outlook for correspondence, be sure to select Word as your editor because Dragon does not work with the default editor. (Tools-->Options-->Mail Format-->Use Word as Editor).

Downsides:
This is billed as protecting one's hands from wearing out from overuse. But bear in mind - voices wear out too.

If one sets Dragon to maximum accuracy it becomes somewhat frustratingly slow. This is not caused by insufficient memory as I thought (I added 512 MB - didn't help). It is a processor speed limitation. Which I take to mean that the glory days of voice recognition lie ahead of us. When Intel's and AMD's marketing wars will have brought us 10 , 20, or 100 GHz processors, we will be able to turn to our "Scotty" computer and say, as we always dreamed of saying, "Beam me up, Scotty" - and it will do it.

Follow these tips and it'll work great!
I just bought Dragon NaturallySpeaking about two weeks ago and I've already had a lot of success with it. If you're considering this product, I'd highly recommend it. Initially, I bought it because I'm a lawyer and do a lot of dictating anyway. But I also like to see the words on the screen, which is why I sometimes prefer to type things myself. I figured that Dragon NaturallySpeaking would be the best of both worlds. So far, it's worked pretty well for me. But keep in mind that the software doesn't work perfectly right out of the box. Based on my brief experience with the product, there are several keys to success.

The first is to put in the time doing the voice-recognition training. Unless you teach the software to recognize your voice, it just won't work correctly. There's simply no getting around this. Although it may seem tedious at first, the training will pay off. (Besides, some of the training exercises on the software are very entertaining. For example, you can read President Kennedy's inspiring inaugural address or an excerpt from Dogbert's hilarious book on how to improve your management skills.) I spent at least an hour or two training the software when it first arrived and, believe me, it was time well spent. After the initial training period, the more you use it the better it gets because it is constantly "learning" from its mistakes. As another reviewer has suggested, it probably takes about two months before you'll be really impressed with the product's potential. (I'm pretty impressed after only two weeks!)

The second is to buy a decent microphone. A lot of reviewers recommend a USB microphone, but an expensive USB model probably isn't necessary. I have an analog microphone (a Plantronics .Audio 90) and it works just fine. This particular model was far less expensive than most USB microphones that I've seen. The key is to find one that will allow you to position the microphone correctly in relation to your mouth. As the instructions tell you, the positioning of the microphone is essential. Frankly, the one that was included with the software just wasn't up to the task. It always seemed to be too close to my mouth and I was getting very poor results. But as soon as I started using the Plantronics, the accuracy of the software improved dramatically. Trust me, you'll be a a lot happier with the software if you spend a few extra bucks on a good microphone.

Third, although it may seem counterintuitive, you should always speak quickly and naturally when dictating, rather than one word at a time. For some reason, the software is far more accurate when you do. Of course, this is a two-edged sword. If you're really "on a roll," and speaking quickly, the software is very accurate. On the other hand, when you just want to insert a word here or there, it isn't always as accurate as it could be. Consequently, I find that you still have to do some mouse movements when editing your documents. So, although Dragon NaturallySpeaking promises virtually hands-free operation of your computer, don't expect miracles, at least not at first.

Finally, until you really start to master the product, you should probably use the text editor that's included with the software. It's called "DragonPad," and I've found that the voice recognition is somewhat more accurate when used with this program than it is with, say, Word or Outlook. Don't ask me why. Besides, it's really not that much of a bother. You can simply cut and paste from DragonPad into whatever application you may be using. When you first start using Dragon NaturallySpeaking, the increased accuracy is worth the extra step. You tend to get less frustrated when it's working the way it's supposed to. Shortly, however, I plan to "wean" myself off of DragonPad and start using Word and Outlook more frequently.

I hope that these tips help. Have fun, and remember that practice makes perfect. (Yes, this review was dictated using Dragon NaturallySpeaking.)

As accurate as my typing
I type fast but not very accurate. Also, my hands get tired quickly. This software is the answer. After training, it recognizes my voice at about the same accuracy of my typing. I have to go back and make corrections, but I have to do that wiht my typing also. Plus, the correction process lets me proof my document to make sure I am happy with it. Now if you are a professional secretary, your typing accuracy and endurance would be better than the speech recognition in this program. But if you aren't, it's a time saver.

The only knock I have against it is that it doesn't work in Outlook Express. I just got a flier for version 7, and it is supposed to work with outlook express, so I'll purchase it for that purpose.

Still not there
Voice recognition is a promise, not a reality and 6.0 demonstrates this fact. It will decades before one can truely dictate to a computer. Pass this one. ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

The vision for Microsoft Exchange 2000 Conferencing Server is to make meetings without walls possible, and provide a platform that supports scalable and reliable data, video, and audio conferencing. NetMeeting users who are connected to Exchange 2000 Conferencing Server will experience single-click access to conferences and full integration of real-time meetings with their Microsoft Outlook calendars. At the same time, administrators will experience the powerful management features of Conferencing Server, which enable protection of bandwidth, load balancing, and failover.

Multipoint data conferencing allows two or more people to communicate and collaborate as a group over the Internet or corporate intranet in real time. Exchange 2000 Conferencing Server provides a scalable and reliable platform for supporting the four key segments of data conferencing: application sharing, text discussion (chat), whiteboard capabilities, and file transfer.

Users can share any application that runs on one computer with other participants in a conference. Participants can review the same data or information and see actions as the person who is sharing the application works on a document (for example, editing content or scrolling through information). The person who is sharing a document can choose to collaborate with other conference participants and even let others take turns editing a document. Only the person who is sharing the program in which the edits are taking place needs to have the shared application installed on his or her computer.

A user also can type text messages to share common ideas or topics with other conference participants, or record meeting notes and action items as part of the collaborative process. In addition, participants in a conference can use text-based discussions to communicate privately with a subset of other participants, without interrupting the audio communication between the larger groups of participants.

The whiteboard is a multipage, multiuser drawing application that allows users to sketch diagrams or organization charts, or display other graphical information with participants in a conference. For example, one user could import a digital photo to the whiteboard, and could use the whiteboard as a focus for discussing the photo, annotating it with questions and comments. In addition, a remote pointer or highlighting tool can be used to point out specific content or sections of shared pages.

Using the file-transfer capability, a conference participant can send a file to one or all of the other participants. The file transfer occurs in the background, as everyone continues to share an application, use the whiteboard, or have a text-based discussion.

Exchange 2000 Conferencing Server offers complete multiparty audio and video conferencing, using technology that is suited ideally to enterprise usage. Exchange 2000 Conferencing Server uses Telephony API (TAPI) 3.0 to access the unique collaboration features of Windows 2000, such as quality of service and IP-based multicast technology, to provide audio and video teleconferencing services. IP-based multicast technology particularly is well suited to enterprise conferencing, because it allows significantly more simultaneous users to participate in videoconferences than today's multiparty video solutions. For clients that do not have Windows 2000 on the desktop, Exchange 2000 Conferencing Server bridges clients (like NetMeeting), with the industry standard H.323, into multicast conferences with Windows 2000-based clients.

At the center of Exchange 2000 Conferencing Server is the Conference Management Service. This component provides for the overall coordination of different conferencing technologies, as well as the administration of limited corporate conferencing resources. Conference Management Service keeps track of scheduled conferences and provides administrators with control of attendee access to conferences. It is also fully extensible as a platform for development of complementary conferencing technologies by independent software vendors.

For end users, the benefits of Conference Management Service are single-click access to conferences and full integration into their calendars. Scheduling takes place either from Outlook or from a browser that views Outlook Web Access on the Exchange server. Schedule requests also can be sent to Conference Management Service from other calendaring clients, such as Outlook 97, Outlook 98, Lotus Notes, and Microsoft Schedule+.

A final benefit to users and administrators is the ability to combine any number of conferencing types and make them all available to conference participants when they join the conference. For example, participants could join a conference that had been enabled to share a desktop application, communicate by telephone, and include others in a videoconference. This multiconferencing capability is not available in any other solution that is on the market today. ... Read more

Features

• You can listen to any email, websites, documents, articles, or your own text as you type it
• Record the synthesized speech and save it as an MP3 or. wav to listen to later
• Increase your productivity by freeing up your hands -- you can listen to email or documents while jogging or taking a walk
• Useful for getting a feel of how any presentation or speech will sound
• Good for teaching English as a second language

Reviews (1)

Even better ..
then version 2!! Especially the ATT voices are a big surplus, does sound like a human beeing now!

Have fun with it ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

This product includes the following features:

• Configuration and installation made easy. Configuring and distributing KEA! 420 5.1 is simple and straightforward. Its administrative installation feature centralizes control of configuration and distribution at the fingertips of network administrators--saving them costly and time-consuming trips to end-user desktops.
• Customizable toolbars and menus. KEA!'s toolbars and menus lend themselves to extensive customization. Create custom toolbar icons, or add a new menu to the menu bar, a command to an existing menu, or a submenu to an existing menu.
• SmartPads. Beyond toolbars and menus, SmartPads offer another one-click way to interact with the host application. Displaying predefined buttons, SmartPads can appear either on the status bar or in an independent window. SmartPad buttons are fully configurable with regard to width, appearance, and location.
• OLE Automation. Full OLE 2.0 compliance means that programmatic control can be exercised over KEA!'s discrete objects from within OLE Automation-enabled development environments, such as Visual Basic. This makes for rapid development of custom applications that incorporate the built-in functionality of KEA! objects.
• Front-ending with APIs. Another way in which KEA! simplifies front-ending is through the support of APIs, such as Attachmate's Enterprise Access Library (which comprises over 60 communications interface function calls).
• KEA! macro language. The KEA! macro language makes it unnecessary for users to memorize and manually enter complex sequences of commands. Instead, those commands can be incorporated into a single macro that is assigned to a key, menu command, toolbar button, or SmartPad button for one-click execution. Schedule KEA! macros to run automatically at off-peak times--whether on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis--with the KEA! Macro Scheduler.

Features

• Give children the safest Internet experience possible - Block online access during specific times, filter profanity, restrict downloads and set surf-time limits
• Customizable parent settings restricts chat room and Web access, while blocking keywords related to nudity, violence or drugs
• Panic Button technology alerts parents when their children are viewing threatening content, with a loud alarm and evidence capturing
• Online tracking monitors your child's online activities when you're away - record Web and user addresses, dates and times

Product Description

Professor Teaches How To Create Web Pages is an incredible software training value. This complete training package includes 11 separate tutorials on 5 individual CDs. Each tutorial covers more than 30 of the most important learning topics and offers hundreds of practical exercises designed to build your skills quickly. Delivering the highest quality of interactive learning for over 20 years, Professor Teaches is the most affordable personal trainer that helps you produce a web site, enhance digital photos, and create Flash presentations with content that is personally developed. From beginner to advanced topics, everything you need is covered.

Features:

• Easy-to-use Navigation
• Accurate Simulations
• Chapters Organized into Learning Objectives
• 4 to 6 hours per course
• Helpful Narration, Colorful Graphics and Clear Instructions
• Exercises and Quizzes
• Browse or Search for Topics
• Professor Answers

• Flash MX 2004
• FrontPage 2002
• FrontPage 2003
• Dreamweaver MX
• Dreamweaver MX 2004
• Photoshop 7
• Photoshop CS
• Publisher
• Web Design Fundamentals
• HTML Fundamentals
• HTML Advanced

Reviews (6)

Shallow Learning Curve & Great Results
I've used Cool 360 for several years now. It's very easy to use, and, once you get the idea of a minimal overlap in each shot, it gives great results. You have to be aware of parallax, so using a tripod is very helpful. However, once the concept is mastered, you will get great wide agnle or 360 degree panoramic photos. For the price, it is the best out there for the purpose. I would like to see it updated to a full-screen mode and menus, but those are minor. Go for it!

With a Little Effort, Excellent Results
I wasn't expecting much after a bad experience with Ulead's "Face Factory", but this product works well. As a test, I "organized" my work room (a bedroom with a bunch of computers and music gear) so everything was at about the same height. Then I set my 1 megapixel digital camera on a tripod on a small table in the middle of the room. I took 12 shots, rotating the camera to roughly match the hours on a clock. Then loaded the shots into the program and said "Go" (or whatever). It came out very good, pretty seamless, so that in Quicktime, you can mouse around the screen and feel like you're turning inside the room. Plus you can zoom in and out and raise and lower the view (a little). And, of course, the view is continuous, i.e. there is no "end" - you just keep turning and see the room again. Plus you can add Photoshop type filters to any or all of the shots for some interesting effects.

You do have to be careful about the clock hours views, if you don't align the shots like that you can get a discontinuity.

It does what it says
I had this software when it was first released. It worked OK But I lost the CD. It appears that in buying and downloading this latest release, they have cleaned up the code to allow a smoother operation in making 360 degree and extreme wide view splices. Did I say I liked it so much, I bought it twice?

The blending has been very good and so easy that my 8 year old has made 360 degree photos for 2nd grade (while I was at work).

It does what it says and does it very well. What more can you ask?!?

BTW, with the download option, I had it in 10 minutes, instead of waiting for a week to get it in the mail. Good choice for me.

Todd

Great for the money
I was taking pictures of property in my area for a relative to view from a long distance. I found this software when I was investigating those virtual tours that some realtors use to showcase their listings. Ulead had a sample on thier site that was pretty good. I downloaded the free trial version and took a about 15 overlapping pictures with my digital camera to create a 360 view of my backyard. I uploaded the pictures into the program and it did everything for me. Using Ulead's viewer I was able to create a 360 virtual tour of my backyard. You can export it to a file with the viewer and email it, put it on a web page or even make a screen saver. This is a pretty cool piece of software for [the price]. ... Just a hint. Your project will turn out a lot better if you use a tripod to take the overlapping pictures. The software will merge things the best it can but if you have a couple of pictures where the camera was at a slightly different angle it will definitely make some rough spots in your project.

Too Frustrating
I bought this product wanting to scan my 12X12 scrapbook pages and then "stitch" them together. Forget it! It's hard to line up the pages, as well as the system kept locking up! ... Read more

Features

• Award-winning AT&T natural voices
• Drag and Speak technology; new text-to-speech voice technology
• Intuitive MP3 exporting capabilities; listening to MP3 files is now easier and more productive
• Listen to your email directly from AOL 7.0, Microsoft Outlook 2000, and Outlook Express 6.
• Automatically reads text copied to the clipboard or directly from Microsoft Word

Reviews (1)

Nobody home at this company
Voice is ok. But control tags to insert pauses in text don't work, even when you follow the documentation's simple recommendations. Nobody at the company is monitoring or responding to their website support email. Not hooked on Fonix here. ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

Businesses today rely on their messaging and collaboration servers more than ever. This reliance means that you do not just need a way to send e-mail or create groupware. Businesses need a comprehensive messaging platform that includes the tools necessary to create rich collaboration applications, and Microsoft Exchange Server fills that need. ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

ViaVoice Personal Edition 9.0 is for beginners in speech recognition. Setup is quick and easy, and dictation accuracy has never been better. The more you use ViaVoice, the better the program will recognize your voice. And it comes with a noise-canceling headset microphone that plugs into the microphone jack on the sound card of your computer.

Begin by creating a Personal Voice Model so ViaVoice can learn how you pronounce the words you use. Fine-tune your voice model for improved dictation accuracy through the Recognition Wizard. By using the microphone headset and SpeakPad, the ViaVoice speech-enabled word processor, you can talk to your computer instead of typing. Or dictate, edit, and format text directly in Microsoft Word 97, 2000, and 2002.

ViaVoice Personal Edition 9.0 can recognize new words as you use them, and adds them to the 160,000-word vocabulary, improving dictation accuracy the more you use the program. With the Text to Speech feature, ViaVoice can read back your typed and dictated text, making editing your documents easier. An improved Analyze My Documents feature allows ViaVoice to recognize your writing style and the words you use frequently, leading to greater accuracy. Also, use basic voice commands to access the Web and its contents in Internet Explorer using ViaVoice. ... Read more

Reviews (8)

IBM ViaVoice for Windows-Release 9
This comes with a noise-canceling headset that includes a microphone. It is not by IBM. It works with Microsoft Word 2002 the best, but will also allow dictation to other software. Your words can be read back to you by an agent which is actually a robot that appears when you summon it. It can also read back aloud words that you didn't type; in other words, any text it "sees" which is rather ingenius. It will make corrections if you speak over it when you see an error. You can also teach ViaVoice new words after it has learned to recognize your voice and inflections in your speech by creating your voice model. IBM gives you a 95-page User's Guide with black and white pictures to illustrate procedures.

Free -Shipping, Fun for the Price, Not really worth anything
I got this product free with a coupon on the site. Aside from shipping which was almost nothing, now I have something cool to show my friends. After all it was free. It comes with a headset microphone which is alright but too short and uncomfortable. The software is ok but still having trouble making out simple things. Not to mention, if you want to dictate places, names, etc FORGET IT. I typed a paper about 4x faster than I can use this to write it. Kind of fun how wrong it is. Don't spend you money, but if it's still free you can order it for a kick.

A very promising piece of software.
I got ViaVoice...I have to say that it is very fun to use. And with every word it seems that it gets more precise. I still have to finish the voice analyzations, but even so the software is getting very good at understanding what I'm saying. I even tried to trick it a few times with some nonsense words that I use to "talk" to my cats. I even taught it to understand some bad words. LOL If you know what I mean. Voice recognition software isn't at the level of StarTrek yet, but it's getting there. There is one problem I have though. At startup it prevents either MSN Messenger or MSNBC News Alert from starting up. And sometimes prevent's Norton AntiVirus Auto Protect from starting up. You can fix this by just starting the features mentioned manually, but it can be a pain in the butt. Though, it's nothing to uninstall ViaVoice over. Not a bad package...

ViaVoice is a great product which is very useful.
I am very pleased with the performance of IBM ViaVoice. The technology upon which this package is based is obviously very sophisticated and powerful. I have been using ViaVoice for just over a month and the recognition rate is very high. Since the software provides for correction of any recognition errors, ViaVoice progressively refines my speech profile, resulting in a higher accuracy rate. Thus the accuracy is now significantly better than when I first started using the package. The vocabulary is amazingly big, including most proper names. Correction of any errors is quick and easy.

I can dictate to Speak Pad (which is the ViaVoice document processing program), or I can dictate directly into Word 2000. It is both easier and faster to use ViaVoice rather than having to key-enter text. I do have to copy and paste text in order to send out an e-mail or post a message on an Internet bulletin board. But that is simple and it certainly beats having to key-enter my message. I definitely believe that voice recognition has come of age and is an excellent application for anyone who composes messages frequently. Considering the very reasonable price of the Personal Edition of ViaVoice, I believe it is an excellent buy.

Installation Problems
This software looks great on paper and I've read plenty of positive reviews, but I'm having major installation problems that IBM's technical support team seems incapable is solving. Halfway through the voice analyzation procedure, the software simply stops recording, thus rendering itself useless. I'm very disappointed with ViaVoice and will return it for a refund. ... Read more

Features

• Offers rigorous access control to the Internet
• Effectively restricts access to certain parts of the PC
• Provides stealth surveillance functions for viewing how the PC is used
• Log keystrokes in chat rooms; create secret screenshots; and more
• Puts complete control back in the hands of parents