Many voice-recognition software systems always sound good in theory but actually when it comes to using them makes the good old trusty keyboard still a personal favourite. With more people using computers and less with actual keyboard skills, voice-recognition software may sound appealing.

Lernout & Hauspie's Voice Xpress Professional 5.0 has received quite a few strong reviews and I certainly have not read many about voice-recognition software that is in a position to have the potential for replacing the keyboard and mouse, whereas this system has.

It appears much easier to set up and has improved accuracy as well as additional tools to search the internet, perform calculations and schedule appointments. This system only needs five minutes of voice training and it has it's own built in accuracy builder, whereby it will analyse your documents and e-mails to help it gain a better understanding of the way you write (frightening)! The more documents this system analyses, the more accurate a profile it will build.

Included within this application is the L&H Cafe which is an animated interactive tutorial, to help you learn how to use the programmes features. Voice Xpress operates with a toolbar at the top of the screen that allows you to turn the microphone on or off, get help, train words and switch between dictation and command modes.

Whatever application you are using at the time, their commands will also appear in the command panel, but you can also create your own commands, scripts and dictation shortcuts. When using Microsoft Office, Voice Xpress will allow users to insert tables, change the number of columns, add headers and footers with very little training.

The first few hours with this application appear to be slow going, however the same can be said for any new software you are learning, but once the training period is over, Voice Xpress goes a long way towards giving you hands-free PC operation that you may have been looking for many years.