Speech-recognition programs have traditionally been far more advanced on Windows than on the Macintosh. Windows programs like Dragon NaturallySpeaking transcribe your dictated text with almost Star Trek–like accuracy, and even let you make corrections and manipulate the computer itself using all voice commands.

Fortunately, the Mac program called Dragon Dictate for Mac (www.macspeech.com) uses precisely the same “recognition engine” as NaturallySpeaking. If you just can’t use the keyboard, or don’t want to, you’ll be amazed at its speed and accuracy, although it’s much younger (and therefore less fully featured) than NaturallySpeaking.

Finally, of course, there’s the Mac’s built-in Dictation feature (Dictation). It’s a bare-bones, down-and-dirty transcription feature that doesn’t give you the same accuracy as Dragon Dictate. But it’s built-in and free, which is worth quite a bit.