Hi, "How many terrists are in on it?" "I don't know! I'll never tell you!" "Well then...let's just see how you fair under the torture of...SAPI voices!" Two minutes Later... "I'll tell you! Don't play anymore!" <Grin> Best Regards, Hayden
-----Original Message----- From: gamers-boun...@audyssey.org [mailto:gamers-boun...@audyssey.org] On Behalf Of dark Sent: Wednesday, May 12, 2010 6:32 PM To: Lori Duncan; Gamers Discussion list Subject: Re: [Audyssey] Scansoft voices I think that would count as cruel and unusual punishment ;D. Beware the Grue! dark. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Lori Duncan" <lori_dunca...@hotmail.com> To: "Gamers Discussion list" <gamers@audyssey.org> Sent: Wednesday, May 12, 2010 9:48 PM Subject: Re: [Audyssey] Scansoft voices Lol would love to hear that one! They should play it in prisons to make people confess to wrong doings, have Sam read a long political document lasting 10 hours and see the result. <Smile> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Bryan Peterson" <bpeterson2...@cableone.net> To: "Gamers Discussion list" <gamers@audyssey.org> Sent: Wednesday, May 12, 2010 9:18 PM Subject: Re: [Audyssey] Scansoft voices I'll say this much. At least Anna doesn't sound terminally depressed the way Sam does. Makes me wish I still had the parody file I created a few years ago where Sam committed suicide. Maybe I'll ask my friend Marissa if she's still got a copy... He who is valiant and pure of spirit may find the holy grail in the castle of aaaaggh. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Thomas Ward" <thomasward1...@gmail.com> To: "Lori Duncan" <lori_dunca...@hotmail.com>; "Gamers Discussion list" <gamers@audyssey.org> Sent: Wednesday, May 12, 2010 1:35 PM Subject: Re: [Audyssey] Scansoft voices Hi Lori, Yes, you are right that Windows 7 does have a better Sapi voice called Anna. It is better than Mike, Mary, and Sam. However, it still isn't as good as the Scansoft Real Speak voices or the AT&T Natural voices in my opinion. So even though I own Windows 7 I don't really use Anna much myself because I own better quality voices, but for a free voice it is pretty good. As for the Windows 7 interface it builds a lot upon changes introduced in Windows Vista, and is quite a bit different from Windows XP. If you haven't used Windows Vista prier to upgrading to Windows 7 then many of the changes will come as a surprise to you as things are somewhat different now. For example, when you bring up the start menu instead of a single menu or list the screen is split into columns with your frequently used programs, search field, all programs menu, etc on one side of the screen and your user directory, documents, control panel, etc on the other. It isn't difficult to navigate, but you will have to explore the new start menu some to figure out where things are. You may have to go into the start menu properties to turn some things on/off such as the run command if you want it. Another change is the old menu bars seen in older versions of Windows such as XP are pretty much a thing of the past. Now, the old menu bars have been replaced by the menu ribbins like those in Microsoft Office 2007 and Microsoft 2010. A lot of Microsoft's products are going that way, and that is the new look and feel you might say for all future software so you might as well get use to menu ribbins sooner or later. Another important change you'll have to get use to is a lot of the Windows 7 windows are integrated into Explorer, and have a web view look and feel to them. For example, if you click on control panel by default it will show up as a web page with links to click on to change security settings, user accounts, preferences, programs and features, etc. Way different from the control panel you know and love from XP that's for sure. I believe in some cases you can change it back to the XP look and feel, but in many of the cases you are stuck with the new look and feel. So bottom line if you come at Windows 7 expecting a newer version of XP forget it. Windows 7 is a whole new ball game, and needs to be treated as the new operating system that it is. Even Vista doesn't quite compare to Windows 7 because Microsoft majorly over halled the operating system removing several things that were in Vista to make it faster, more stable, support a wider range of hardware, etc while living up to being the first solid Windows operating system since XP. I'm quite happy with it, and don't mind leaving Xp behind. Finally, as for your audio games there are a few issues you need to be aware of, but in most cases they are easily fixed. One major issue is that most of the audio games out there from Draconis, L-Works, GMA, Kitchens Inc, etc were all written in Visual Basic 6 which is no longer officially supported on Windows 7. There is, however, an easy solution to the problem. If you download and install Jim Kitchens Winkit setup you will get the complete Visual Basic 6 runtime library and DirectX libraries which restores support on Windows 7 for Visual Basic applications. This means if you do that you should be able to run most of your pre-Windows 7 games without too much problem. Another issue is that Windows 7's security polacies have changed. Unfortunately, most game developers have not yet gotten around to rewriting or updating their software to properly support Windows 7's User Account Control security system. It is often responcibile for effecting the operation of several old games. One way to resolve this problem in the mean time is to disable UAC support on Windows 7. It will increase the risk of viruses and other malware, but on the other hand does resolve many compatibility issues with games and other older applications designed for Windows XP and earlier. Personally, I think that having UAC on provides a better layer of protection, but if you want to disable it to support older applications then it can be done. HTH On 5/12/10, Lori Duncan <lori_dunca...@hotmail.com> wrote: > You're right Thomas, thanks for that I was outraged before about the > prices! > I wasn't going to pay 32£ odds for a voice which I can easilly access > through Jaws. As I see it companies take advantage of their customers, if > we buy a product we pay the money therefore it should be up to us what we > do > with it. On the other hand Microsoft should be giving out better Sappi > voices, because even Microsoft Mary is starting to get on my nerves! I > know > they have a new Anna voice with windows 7, but I don't know if upgrading > would do me any good, for example will it mess up my windows xp interface, > start menus etc. For another will my audio games be harmed in any way? --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gam...@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org. --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gam...@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org. --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gam...@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org. --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gam...@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org. --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. All messages are archived and can be searched and read at http://www.mail-archive.com/gam...@audyssey.org. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the list, please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org.