Identifying Your Version of Dragon

We run into it all the time. You have Dragon® speech recognition software installed, but you can’t figure out which version and/or edition. Not a problem.

First of all, let’s talk about the difference between a version and an edition.

Version – This is (usually) the number next to the name of the software. If you know what the latest version is, you can compare the two to determine how close (or far) you are from the leading edge. Generally speaking, newer versions are going to work on newer operating systems and be compatible with newer software.

Edition – This indicates that the application’s features are designed for a specific user group.

• Dragon Professional
• Dragon Medical Practice Edition

Together, these terms help you understand your speech recognition environment, and can be invaluable for determining compatibility, configuring your workflow, and troubleshooting issues.

Speaking of environments, we’re going to be exploring Dragon for Windows. If you’re a Mac user, please click here.

 

Dragon In Action

Now, let’s review some of the many permutations of Dragon that are still in use today:

It’s highly probable that your Dragon is on this chart. There are certainly some omissions, including defunct legacy and large enterprise editions.

UPDATE

Nuance® has also released Dragon Professional/Legal Individual v15, Dragon Professional/Legal Group v15, and Dragon Law Enforcement.

 

Three Ways to Identify Your Dragon

Now, let’s show you three of the easiest ways to determine which version/edition of Dragon you are currently using.

The Splash Screen

When you first open the program, there’s a splash screen that displays the version and edition of Dragon you are using. Pretty straightforward.

The DragonBar

If Dragon is open, you can look at the DragonBar for hints—but not a definitive answer. For instance, this DragonBar indicates version 11 or 12 of Dragon Medical Practice Edition:

This is the “classic” DragonBar (below), indicating either Dragon 11 or 12—but the edition is not clear. They could also be version 13 or 14 in disguise:

Expanded

Collapsed

This is the “new” DragonBar (below), which means that you must be using either v13 or v14, but the edition is not clear here, either:

Expanded

Collapsed

In these newer versions, you do still have the option to revert to the “classic” DragonBar, which makes it difficult to pinpoint a version

As stated earlier, the DragonBar can only really give you clues as to what you are using. The same goes for your license number. If you have it handy, click here to see what it can tell you about your Dragon.

The Definitive Method

If you have Dragon open already, click “Help” on the DragonBar.

Then select “About Dragon.”

You should see the splash screen again, with full information about your Dragon edition and version. In this example, we have:

Edition – Professional Group

Version – 14

Build – 14.00.000.243

The build takes the version to another level of granularity. Technically speaking, a build is a development term that refers to a very specific version of released code. Sometimes, there are updates included between versions. These are builds, but are sometimes truncated and then referred to as “patches.”

It’s enough to know how to find this information, in most cases.

And there it is. You now know how to find the edition, version, and build of your Dragon software.