Poll: Who takes advantage of built-in features

Multiple Choices allowed

Besides the Search box being added to the Start Menu in Vista MS also gave us

Windows Speech Recognition to control our PC programs and dictation
(like Dragon Naturally Speaking advertised on TV)

Handwriting Recognition converting our handwriting on a Wacom or similar device to text. Or actually maintaining our handwriting in Windows Journal documents if we like.

Do you know of other built-in features for Vista, 7 or 8 ?

With my stroke infested brain if it isn't out there where it can be seen then I probably don't know it is there. . .

I didn't know about it until I plugged Wacom in on Vista and got popout about handwriting recognition.
My handwriting is faster than my one hand three finger typing. Every day!

I was looking up something about voice recorder in help files and Speech Recognition info was there.
The more I used it, the better it got. Until my voice started getting weaker.

Maybe someone knows a good USB headset cheap. I'm using MS Lifechat LX-3000 for magicjack.

None of them

Sure, I use the built in AV (as my habits are very low risk), built in defrag is fine, I use the iso mounting feature of Windows 8.

Isn't there an option for "none" missing in that poll?

I couldn't vote...

kmint said:

Isn't there an option for "none" missing in that poll?

I couldn't vote...

Click to expand...

+1 - Thats me!

I use as of right now, the disk defragger, cleanup, and the .iso mounting.

I'll be using speech recognition more when I have a touch monitor with a built in mic, or probably a good array of mics if I feel like it. Handwriting recognition is one I'm looking more into, but I wouldn't use it so much as I type faster than writing. On a tablet, if you don't have a keyboard connected on, that would a handy feature to have.

There is also Hyper-V and Windows Defender in Windows 8 that was added. I don't use Hyper-V as it's just not up to par for my purposes/can't even get Windows 8 to install in it/can't get a Windows version to work properly in it. I'm using Kaspersky Internet Security over Windows Defender right now. I used Defender for the entire length of time though the Preview builds to test it out, it's pretty decent. But I use KIS 2013 as I do regular scans of foreign hard drives, so I need top notch security against that. Oh, there's Media Center, but that's kind of moot to me.

Ahh! Narrator! This is a nifty feature if you type up a lot of essays and such. It's always suggested to get another human to read your writing to make sure your brain didn't screw up some grammar or spelling as your brain will fill in the flaws as it knows what it's doing, to an extent.

So the Narrator feature, which was one of the features that was revamped in Windows 8, can read off your writing so you can listen to it and make sure it's correct. It can also read off things from the internet, like news articles, if you want to. There are some touch gestures that were added to it for the ease of access, but I haven't figured them out yet. And there is a new voice, Microsoft Zira, that was added. She's British, and you can make her sound like a BBC news anchor! Pretty awesome!

Coke Robot said:

. Oh, there's Media Center, but that's kind of moot to me.

Click to expand...

speaking of ,i thought i would be smart and get a Media Center key using all the email address i have [5 ] so i could install on other computers ,didn't get that done yet , got an email today that i have to activate them all by jan 31st or they are no good .lol


for the poll i use ,Defrag ,Windows Defender , ISO burning and mounting feature ,very few 3rd party programs running on my computer

pcRat said:

I'm cancelling the poll because as pointed out by msgs #6 & 7, the option to vote "none" is missing.
That was going to be my 4th option but somehow I left it out.

Click to expand...

Option added.