HAL

This speech-recognition program performs certain tasks through voice commands, but you'll endure a confusing setup. HAL, which uses Microsoft Speech Recognition Engine, plays hide-and-seek upon installation and forces you to open the executable from its folder in your Program Files. It displays a plainly designed interface that sent us scrambling to the limited menu options. The program is a big help at that point, with its audio instructions on usage. Speak one of nearly 50 preset voice commands into your microphone, and HAL leaps into action if the app can understand what you've said. (If it can't, you can type in the command into the sole box on the interface.) Some of the available commands are more helpful than others. On the useful side, HAL runs one of several applications, starts an e-mail or reads text, among other options, when you say the phrase. On the frivolous side, HAL will tell you about "himself" and respond to your greetings. We wish we could have created some commands, but this application covers the basic operations. Despite its inauspicious beginning, this freeware works fairly well and will suit most users in the market for such a program.