When I upgraded my system at home and purchased a 64-bit operating system, I wasn’t really sure of the problems that I was going to incur, but I was really surprised that a lot of the high-end games that I had worked perfectly on Vista 64 and one of my most productive packages Dragon NaturallySpeaking 9 wasn’t. Immediately this was an impairment to my daily routines.

The 64-bit systems are beginning to become more commonplace when purchasing a new PC.  It’s the logical choice in the evolution of technology going from 8-bit, 16 bit, 32 bit and then to 64-bit [and so on]. the 64-bit systems offer more processing speed and the ability to utilize more than 3 GB of physical memory, as compared to 32-bit system.  While the market is being flooded with 64-bit systems a lot of manufacturers and software makers are not coding for 64-bit operating systems and this makes things a little bit tricky.  Because basically you’re putting yourself out there as a guinea pig in a new arena of technology.

Being a certified techie, I wasn’t complacent with the answer from Nuance.  There had to be a way to install their software on 64-bit system; and there was.  Happy with my accomplishments, I provided instructions on how to install Dragon NaturallySpeaking 9 on Vista 64 [where modification of the MSI is required]. I was honored and very surprised to get a response from Peter Mahoney, VP and Gen. manager of Nuance communications, on the post of how to install the software.  And while his response was diplomatically correct, my purpose was to help those customers be productive and provide a service that Nuance otherwise wouldn’t offer. I understand the position of the company, but I felt I was representing the customers.

I’ve also posted information about the inability to install Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10 on Vista 64 because of the new Visual Basic file that Nuance has included with the installation. this was believed to be done to prevent the installation of Dragon 10.  The software was not compatible with 64-bit operating systems and it’s believed that nuance didn’t want to address tech support issues pertaining to Dragon 10 and Vista 64, but that is speculation.

Ultimately I believe the perseverance of the many has effected change within Nuance. I posed the question to Nuance customer service yesterday and received a positive response to reinforce the company’s position on supporting Dragon 10 on Vista 64. I asked them if Nuance was going to provide a free upgrade to those customers who have pre-existing versions of Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10 to be able to install the software on Vista 64.

Nuances response:

Thank you for contacting Nuance Customer Service.

Regarding your inquiry, yes more likely it will be an update for customers who already have Naturally Speaking 10. It will either be a download or a disc but still we are not sure yet and we do not have exact information on when will it be available. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Please let us know if we can be of any further assistance.
Kind regards,

Lanz
Nuance Customer Service

This is very good news.  And although with version 10 it does say, on the packaging, ‘not Vista 64 compatible’, a lot of customers simply pick up the package, purchase it and take it home only to find out that it won’t install.  Typically, stores will not allow returns on software packages and Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10 is anywhere from $99 - $1300, depending on the package that you purchase. [Don't forget Dragon Naturally Speaking 10 essentials $40 from Target]

While the company hasn’t disclosed when this release will be available, the positive news is that the company recognizes this issue needs to be addressed and they are planning on helping those customers with 64-bit versions of Vista.

Although I seem it’s highly unlikely that Nuance would ship out a new installation disc to every registered customer, I think it’s a more logical choice that Nuance would to provide an ISO or a compacted file that a customer could simply burn to a CD or copy to their local hard drive and install from there.

This article was dictated on Vista 64 with Dragon NaturallySpeaking 9 and I look forward to receiving and testing a 64-bit version of Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10.

Thanks everyone for your emails, comments and inquiries.

Regards,
NapoleonAG
Email/IM: NapoleonAG.TSS@Gmail.com
Website: www.TechSideStories.com

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