Microsoft text-to-speech voices
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The Microsoft text-to-speech voices are speech sythesizers provided for use with applications that use the Microsoft Speech API.
Microsoft Sam (short for Speech Articulation Module) is the default text-to-speech male voice in Microsoft Windows 2000 and Windows XP. It is used by Narrator, the screen reader program built into the operating system.
Microsoft Mike and Microsoft Mary are optional male and female voices respectively, available for download from the Microsoft website. Lernout & Hauspie Michael and Lernout & Hauspie Michelle are also optional male and female voices licensed by Microsoft from Lernout & Hauspie, and available through Microsoft Office XP and later or Microsoft Reader.
There are both, SAPI 4 and SAPI 5 versions of these text to speech voices. SAPI 5 voices are only available on Windows 2000 and later Windows NT-based operating systems. While SAPI 5 versions of Microsoft Mike and Microsoft Mary are downloadable only as a Merge Module [1], the installable versions may be installed on end users' systems by third party speech applications. SAPI 4 redistributable versions are downloadable for Windows 9x, although no longer from the Microsoft website.
Beginning with Windows Vista, Microsoft Anna is the default and only English voice. It is a SAPI 5-only voice and is designed to sound more natural than Microsoft Sam. [2] Microsoft Streets & Trips 2006 and later install the Microsoft Anna voice on Windows XP systems for the voice-prompt direction feature. A Chinese voice called Microsoft Lili is available in Chinese versions of Windows Vista and later. Microsoft Sam, Microsoft Mike and Microsoft Mary do not work on Windows Vista and later.
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