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Everything You Always Wanted to Know about the Difference between PlainTalk Versions

 

Differences between PlainTalk 1.5 and PlainTalk 1.4.1

PlainTalk 1.5 is a relatively minor update to PlainTalk 1.4.1. It contains a couple new features and a few bug fixes:

Differences between PlainTalk 1.5 and PlainTalk 1.4

PlainTalk 1.4.1 was a minor update to PlainTalk 1.4. It included a few bug fixes, including the following:

  • Version 1.4.1 and later of the Speech control panel (which is installed by version 1.4.1 and later of English Text-to-Speech, Mexican Spanish Text-to-Speech, and English Speech Recognition) contains a fix to incompatibilities that version 1.4 of the Speech control panel had with HyperCard 2.3's popup menus when running on Power Macintosh computers.
  • Version 1.4 of the Speech control panel failed to run on some 68000 Macintosh computers (including Macintosh SE computers). Version 1.4.1 and later of the Speech control panel runs on all Macintosh computers with system software version 7.1 or later.

Differences between PlainTalk 1.5 and PlainTalk 1.3

Version 1.3 and earlier versions of the PlainTalk software had a single installer program that installed both text-to-speech and speech recognition. PlainTalk 1.4 and later contain three separate installers to make it easier to install just the parts that are appropriate for your needs: English Text-to-Speech, Mexican Spanish Text-to-Speech, and English Speech Recognition. You don't have to install them all.

However, if you are going to install version 1.5 of English Speech Recognition or Mexican Spanish Text-to-Speech then you should first install version 1.5 of English Text-to-Speech, even if you already have an older version of English Text-to-Speech installed. English Speech Recognition version 1.5 is a relatively minor update from versions 1.4 and 1.4.1, as described above. But English Speech Recognition version 1.5 (like versions 1.4 and 1.4.1) has some significant differences from the speech recognition software in version 1.3 and earlier versions of PlainTalk. Some features were eliminated to simplify speech recognition and make it more robust and usable. Other options have been added to increase accuracy and eliminate misfires.

 

  • Version 1.4 and later offers a new listening option in the Speech control panel, 3Listen only while key(s) are pressed,2 that lets you leave Speakable Items on all the time without worrying about misfires. It also improves the accuracy of recognition.
  • Version 1.4 and later works in a wider range of environments thanks to its improved adaptation to room acoustics.
  • Version 1.4 and later does not include or support Speech Macros, the Speech Macro Editor, or Speech Rules. It still supports speaking dialog buttons and the Speakable Items folder. Any item you place inside the folder becomes speakablesaying the name of the item launches or opens the item. You can use the AppleScript ScriptEditor to create scripts that are launched by speaking a command: just save the scripts inside the Speakable Items folder. To see examples, look inside the Speakable Items folder.
  • Version 1.4 and later runs on Power Macintosh computers only, and does not support Macintosh AV computers with 68040 processors. You can continue to use PlainTalk 1.3 on 68040 Macintosh AV computers.
  • Version 1.4 and later does not include automatic support for recognizing the spoken names of menu commands. You can still manipulate scriptable programs, such as the Finder, using AppleScript commands. To see examples, look inside the Speakable Items folder.

Deciding whether to upgrade to version 1.5 (if you are currently running version 1.3 or earlier)

In general, version 1.5 offers a more robust and flexible set of features than version 1.3 or earlier versions. However, some people in special circumstances may do better with version 1.3.

  • If you have a Macintosh AV computer that has a 68040 processor and you use PlainTalk 1.3's speech recognition capabilities, Apple recommends that you continue using version 1.3 of the PlainTalk software. Though the new text-to-speech software works with these non-PowerPC-based computers, the new speech recognition software does not (because it runs on Power Macintosh computers only). It is not recommended that you mix versions, using the old recognition software with the new text-to-speech software.
  • If you make extensive use of PlainTalk 1.3's Speech Macros, the Speech Macro Editor, or the ability to speak menu commands, then you might want to continue using version 1.3. As part of the effort to make the software more robust, version 1.4 and later of English Speech Recognition supports Apple's standard AppleScript ScriptEditor instead of the Speech Macro Editor, and it does not support the ability to speak menu items.