I tried Dragon too, I forget the edition. I thought that it was very good. I speak quite quickly and found that it coped quite well. There were two things that I found particularly interesting - one was that it could "read" some documents that you regularly use and add the words that it found to its custom dictionary. This had the advantage that it was making a much better guess at the word that you intended to use, even when the word was complex or unusual. I found the "training" stage a little dull where you have to read paragraphs of standard text but I would have put up with it much more if I had a genuine reason for using the software, rather than just interest.
My partner does a lot of dictating in his work and we had hoped that we could just hook up the tape to the machine to get a workable first draft. This wasn't an option but with the increased use of things like memory sticks and personal hand held devices, I could see this becoming a useful tool.
On the downside, I do part of my work in a busy international organisation. One thing that I have noticed in recent years is that the working environment is so much more pleasant. When I first worked there, I would leave with a headache, the phones were constantly ringing and calls were constantly being re-direct around the office. It was like the Tower of Babel at times. Now it is so much more quiet. E-mail means that people can communicate in their own time zone, no more desperate calls asking us not to send urgent faxes at 3am, people can answer mail in when it suits them and can insert standard text, where necessary, rather than constant repetition. I'd hate to go back to a time where everyone (who didn't have to) sat talking to machines. Anyway - good luck Bing - hope you find something that works.
