Yes, there is speech recognition software that comes with XP but it only works with applications that can really detect it. It's not too bad if you just wnat to try out speech to text... You will have to go through a 'training process' and read about 10 stories containing a few paragraphs so the system can profile your voice and learn how you speak. One thing to take not of, is to speak or read in a normal cadence and don't try to 'second guess'... All that being said, you will find the applet to turn on the speech recognition in the XP Control Panel under the Speech icon.
Get a decent headset...
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