Does Dragon work on Mac? The short answer is yes, but before you take another step we suggest you read this article.
Dragon software is split between Dragon NaturallySpeaking for PC and Dragon Dictate for Mac. Traditionally a PC product, Apple’s rising popularity necessitated a compatible version of Dragon for Mac some years ago. Dragon NaturallySpeaking is on its 15th iteration of the software, whilst Dragon for Mac only made it up to version 6.
Many medical and legal practitioners opt for Apple in favour of notebooks, buying Dragon for Mac software in order to incorporate speech recognition software. While Apple serves as a status symbol and is a high quality product, medical practice management software and assistive technology is often originally designed for computers supporting a Windows environment.
While Dragon for Mac is usable and workable within simple parameters, the product is inferior to Dragon NaturallySpeaking. While many users have been able to make it work for them successfully, they essentially use it for the basic transcription to speed up their input and don’t maximise the full time-saving potential of Dragon for PC. The six releases of Dragon for Mac were full of glitches, making them a burden and ultimately damaging the software’s solid reputation. You can imagine the disappointment for someone used to using Dragon for PC, being limited to the basic functionality of Dragon for Mac.
To remedy this many Apple Mac users have actually switched to PC in order to make it easier for them to run a host of designed-for-PC software programs. We recommend that die-hard Apple Mac users, who are invested in the brand and used to the intuitive operating system and software packages opt to install Windows Parallels in order to make it possible to get optimal use out of Dragon’s time-saving and work flow potential.
This is the way we recommend medical practitioners and people that are using Dragon on a Mac go. The PC software can be very effective on an Apple Mac within a Windows environment. They can be some issues relating to the need to cross-over between operating systems and double up on software licenses. Furthermore, the system resource allocation needs to be high in order to facilitate optimal usage.
If you’re reading this and wondering if you should get a Mac or a PC for use with Dragon, the short answer is go for a PC. Nuance no longer sells or supports Dragon for Mac products, which means that if you are intending to use Dragon you will have to do so within a Windows environment at present, which entails extra licensing for Windows Parallels and Microsoft Office.
Medical assistive software and technology companies will probably have a way of making their products compatible with Apple but from our experience the default is usually PC. The workaround is to enable users to access software on another PC remote server or website through a portal or framing application, but it’s generally not as good as having it installed locally on your hard drive. While Apple is a solid choice for computing it’s developed a stigma around its exclusivity and incompatibility with traditionally PC-based programs and technologies.
Since Dragon for Mac has been discontinued, our recommendation is to stick with a Windows environment and run Dragon Professional, Legal or Medical. Get in touch with us to find out which version is right for you.