SH> I called up Microsoft, as someone said to do, to find some sort of 
SH> software development kit, SDK, for speech recognition which was 
SH> supposed to be free, but I couldn't find it.  Is there anyone at your 
SH> work who might know whether such a thing really exists?
SH> Thanks,
Well, there is a catch to all of this. I think you can download DLLs and 
such, but if you want documenation for all of this stuff, you will likely 
have to buy it. Or, if you want the full blown kit with files, doc files, 
etc. you probably need purchase at least one Development CD (I don't know the 
cost). I am not sure what the SDK you need is called, or what files you need, 
I just know it exists. And, MS does make the DLLs for most of these kits part 
of the OS or available via different methods, usually as part of a package or 
free.   
Also, from what I have seen of their APIs, I wouldn't expect something real 
simple. Many of their APIs or SDKs are quite complex and not for the faint of 
heart when it comes to programming. I'd recommend that you browse some books 
at the local book store to see what info is available for speech programming 
and a peek of what you are in for. Also, look around at some third party 
vendors to see what is avilable in terms of components, DLLs that may 
greately simplify this type of programming, I have seen some stuff out there 
for speech recognition in some magazines a while back. 
Steve
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