Talking to Macs
There's no other major item most of us own that is as confusing, unpredictable and unreliable as our personal computers. Everybody has questions about them, and we aim to help.
Here are a few questions about computers I've received recently from people like you, and my answers. I have edited and restated the questions a bit, for readability. This week my mailbox contained questions about voice recognition software for Macs, the Thunderbird e-mail program, and the difference between wireless routers and base stations.
If you have a question, send it to me at
mossberg@wsj.com, and I may select it to be answered here in Mossberg's Mailbox.
Because of the volume of e-mail I receive, I can't routinely answer individual questions by e-mail, or consult on individual problems or purchasing decisions. I read all questions I receive and select three each week to answer in the column.
Q: I have been a longtime user of voice-recognition software on my Windows PC and would like to use this type of program if I switch to a Mac. Does anyone make a worthwhile speech-recognition product for Mac?
A: Every Mac comes with built-in speech-recognition features that allow users to issue certain commands to the computer verbally. In addition, there are speech-recognition programs for the Mac that allow users to dictate text to the computer as well as issue verbal commands. For instance, there is a Mac version of the IBM ViaVoice speech-recognition program, familiar to Windows users. More information is at scansoft.com/viavoice/mac/. And a small software company, MacSpeech, makes a speech-recognition program called iListen. More information is at
www.macspeech.com. There may be others as well. However, I haven't tested any of these, so I can't say how well they work or which is best.
Q: You have recommended that people use Mozilla Firefox instead of Microsoft Internet Explorer as their Web browser. Do you also recommend that people drop Microsoft's Outlook Express e-mail program in favor of the new Thunderbird e-mail program?
A: Outlook Express is a very nice, free e-mail program that comes on every Windows PC. But it hasn't had any major updates in years, and lacks things like a built-in spam filter. Thunderbird is a new, free e-mail program from Mozilla, the same open-source-software development group that produced the popular Firefox browser. I have spent a little time testing Thunderbird , and it seems OK. It does have built-in spam filtering and good security. But I am not yet prepared to suggest that everybody use it instead of Outlook Express. For one thing, using Outlook Express isn't as great a security risk as using the Internet Explorer browser. For another, unlike Firefox, Thunderbird is poorly documented and lacks some important features of the program it seeks to replace. For instance, unlike Outlook Express, Thunderbird doesn't allow users to create multiple signatures and select different ones for different e-mail messages. It also appears to lack another important Outlook Express feature, the ability to create multiple identities for different users on a shared computer. And, as far as I can tell, Thunderbird doesn't allow you to create a single inbox for all your e-mail accounts, if you like, so you are forced to navigate through multiple inboxes.
Q: What is the difference between a wireless router and a wireless base station or access point? Does a wireless router need to have at least one computer connected to it by a wire in order for the system to function?
A: A wireless Wi-Fi router is just a wireless base station or access point with plugs in it for hard-wiring several computers or other devices. So you can use it with both wireless and wired connections to your PCs. I can't speak about every brand, but in general, a wireless router doesn't have to be connected by wire to a PC in order to function as a wireless base station. You can use all by itself, with all your PCs connected wirelessly. However, you might need to temporarily connect the router by wire to a PC in order to set it up and configure it initially.
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Because of the volume of e-mail I receive, I can't routinely answer individual questions by e-mail, or consult on individual problems or purchasing decisions. I read all questions I receive and select three each week to answer in the column.
用于Mac的语音识别软件
在我们大多数人拥有的大件电器中，再没有什么比个人电脑更令人费解、更变幻莫测的了。每个人或许都有些关于电脑的问题，而《莫博士信箱》将为您提供帮助。
本周我将回答有关Mac语音识别软件、Thunderbird电子邮件软件以及无线路由器等问题。
问：我在我的Windows电脑上使用语音识别软件已经有很长时间了，如果我将操作系统换成Mac，我还是想继续使用这类软件。有没有比较好的用在Mac上的语音识别软件呢？
答：每个Mac都有内置的语音识别功能，用户可以藉此向电脑发出一些语音指令。另外，还有一些用在Mac上的语音识别软件，让用户既能通过口述将文章输入到电脑中，同时也能向电脑发出语音指令。比如，Windows用户所熟知的国际商业机器公司(International Business Machines (IBM))语音识别软件ViaVoice就有Mac版本，你可以在scansoft.com/viavoice/mac/上获得它的更多详情。还有一家小软件公司MacSpeech也开发了一个名为iListen的语音识别软件，具体详情参见
www.macspeech.com。可能还有一些其他的此类软件。不过，这些软件我都没有测试过，因此无法对它们做出评价。
问：你曾经推荐大家将网络浏览器从微软(Microsoft)的Internet Explorer换成Mozilla的Firefox。你是否也建议大家弃用微软的Outlook Express电子邮件程序，转而使用新的Thunderbird电子邮件程序？
答：Outlook Express是非常好的免费电子邮件程序，每台Windows电脑上都会附带。不过它若干年都没有进行大的升级，缺少像内置垃圾邮件过滤器之类的功能。Thunderbird是Mozilla新推出的免费电子邮件程序。我花了一点时间来测试Thunderbird，感觉还不错。它有内置的垃圾邮件过滤功能，安全性也不错。但我并不建议大家都用它来取代Outlook Express。其中一个原因是，Outlook Express的安全隐患没有Internet Explorer那么严重。另外，和Firefox不同，Thunderbird这个电子邮件程序还很不完善，并且缺乏Outlook Express拥有的一些重要功能。比如，Thunderbird不能让用户创建不同样式的签名，以用在不同邮件上，而Outlook Express就可以。另外，Outlook Express还有一项重要的功能，就是能对同一台电脑的不同使用者建立多重的身份，而Thunderbird却没有这项功能。就我目前所知，Thunderbird不能在同一个收件箱中设立多个电子邮件帐户，因此要想浏览不同电子邮件帐户中的信件，你就得到不同的收件箱中。
问：无线路由器和无线基站或接入点的区别是什么？无线路由器必须至少与一台电脑用连接线相连才能工作吗？
答：无线保真(Wi-Fi)路由器就是无线基站或接入点，同时上面附带一些接口，可以用连接线接入电脑或其他设备。因此，它与电脑之间既可以有线相连，也可以无线相连。我无法逐一介绍每个品牌，但通常而言，无线路由器作为一个无线基站，无须通过连接线与电脑相连。通过与电脑无线连接，它能完成其所有功能。不过，在安装路由器并对其进行初始化设置时，你可能需要临时将路由器与电脑进行有线连接。
