Dual booting Windows 10 on a MacBook to run dragon dictation: yay or nay?

[garygibsonsf]

I had an eye operation last month for a detached retina and while my eyesight is now vastly improved, it's got me thinking about finding ways to reduce the amount of time I spend looking at a screen.

One obvious approach is to use dictation software like Dragon Dictation. I haven't tried it out yet because I only have a 2012 MacBook Pro (the company behind the Dragon dictation no longer supports Mac) and would have to dual-boot Windows 10 in order to run the current Version of Dragon at all.

In the meantime, I’ve been getting a little practice and to get a general feel for dictation by using my MacBook’s built-in dictation software. While it's a little dicey, it's better than I expected, although not really good for much more than dictating the occasional blog post or even this post, given the number of errors I need to fix (but then again, I'm carrying out the dictation using a cheap pair of Anker Bluetooth headphones I normally use to listen to audiobooks on my phone. Some maybe that's part of the problem).

A friend uses Dragon Dictation a great deal because he has RSI and heartily recommends the software. First of all, however, I'd have to get Windows 10 and install it on my seven-year-old MacBook (which, according to Google, it is up to the job), before I can even think of installing Dragon.

Given the amount of hassle involved, it would be good to know if anyone else has been down this path before and if they felt it was worth the trouble?

[VanessaC]

I'm using the Home Windows version of Dragon on a Windows system, so can't directly answer your question. I find it's about 90% accurate, even without a huge amount of effort to train it on my part, but I speak reasonably clearly and steadily when I'm using it. And I also swap my made up names for more regular English names when I'm dictating and then do a find and replace.

I dictate into the Dragon pad and then import to Scrivener.

From what I can gather, the Mac version was always awful, and it's no great loss - I've listened to a couple of podcasts with Scott Baker being interviewed and from those it sounds like using the Windows version of Dragon on a Mac works well. He's also mentioned that using a USB (wired) microphone helps a lot with accuracy.

Have you tried the Dragon Riders facebook group?  I suspect people there have already tried your proposed configuration and will have tips to offer.

One final point - as I mention, I have the Home version of Dragon, which does not offer transcription.  If I was buying it again - and I might buy a newer version over the next couple of years - I would upgrade to the professional / premium version to get the transcription offering.

[David VanDyke]

"Yea" or nay.

Not "yay" as in a cheer. "Yea" as in "affirmative."

I see this far too often.

Yes, it matters. We're writers. Words are our business.

[Mark Gardner]

When you're running windows on a mac, it is essentially a windows machine, no different than a dell or whatever. The drivers are more strictly controlled by apple, so you'll likely need bootcamp6 for the windows10 drivers, but since the components are standard, you can find many of them at the manufacturer's website.

a 2012 MBP will run just fine. I ran windows 7 on mine forever. I've never been a fan of w10, but I do run it on my 2010 cMP without issue. If I remember correctly, I had to have BC5 & BC6 for my 2010, but a 2012 MBP should only need BC6. Make sure you have at least 8GB of RAM. I recommend at least 16GB. The 2012 MBP is pretty easy to upgrade the platter hard drive to a decent SSD, and the prices for SSDs are the lowest they've ever been.

[Post-Doctorate D]

I had an eye operation last month for a detached retina and while my eyesight is now vastly improved, it's got me thinking about finding ways to reduce the amount of time I spend looking at a screen.

You might want to try glasses that block blue light when viewing a computer screen.  There's some debate whether the blue light causes temporary or permanent eye damage, but can't hurt to minimize blue light exposure in either case.

When you're running windows on a mac, it is essentially a windows machine, no different than a dell or whatever. The drivers are more strictly controlled by apple, so you'll likely need bootcamp6 for the windows10 drivers, but since the components are standard, you can find many of them at the manufacturer's website.

This is true.  At work, I have a piece of equipment that's run by software that's only available for Windows.  I have a Mac Mini (circa 2012) with a dual boot system that boots by default into Windows.  I think it's Windows 7.  But as far as the software and equipment is concerned, it's a PC running Windows.  I've had no issues at all in seven years of running it that way.

However, for whatever it's worth, it is not connected to the Internet.

[angela]

I did exactly this. I run Windows on my AirMac exclusively (various software needs), and only flip over to the Mac boot to upload to iTunes. Works great! No complaints!

As for Dragon, I never stuck with it long enough to get comfortable writing that way, so it was a wash in the end. (I was looking for increased speed / ease; had no physical limitations motivating me.)  However, if I hand-write something, Dragon is really handy for dictating the written stuff into the computer quickly.

The Mac version of Dragon is hot garbage.

[bookworm]

I'm pretty sure Dragon for Mac is discontinued. I personally had a Windows laptop so I upgraded the RAM and installed it on there. Installing on a Mac ends up pricey and takes up a ton of space. You have to buy Parallels and Windows and have both running.

Maybe consider buying a new mic (you'd need it for Dragon anyway) and using Apple or Google's voice recognition programs. If that's not enough, consider buying a cheap Windows laptop and upgrading the RAM so it can run Dragon well.