Microsoft text-to-speech voices

The Microsoft text-to-speech voices are speech synthesizers provided for use with applications that use the Microsoft Speech API (SAPI) or the Microsoft Speech Server Platform. There are client, server, and mobile versions of Microsoft text-to-speech voices. Client voices are shipped with Windows operating systems; server voices are available for download for use with server applications such as Speech Server, Lync etc. for both Windows client and server platforms, and mobile voices are often shipped with more recent versions.

Voices

Windows 2000 and Windows XP

A speech sample of Microsoft Sam, using the SAPI 5 version of the voice.
The first part uses a variation of "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" panagram. The second part demonstrates the "soy/soi" glitch associated with Sam.

Microsoft Sam 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. Michael and Michelle are also optional male and female voices licensed by Microsoft from Lernout & Hauspie, and are available through Microsoft Office XP and Microsoft Office 2003 or Microsoft Reader.

There are both SAPI 4 and SAPI 5 versions of these text-to-speech voices. The speech patterns of the SAPI 4 and SAPI 5 versions of the text-to-speech voices are different from each other. SAPI 4 voices are only available on Windows 2000 and later Windows NT-based operating systems. Redistributable versions of the SAPI 4 voices were available for download on Windows 9x operating systems, however they are no longer offered from the Microsoft website. While the SAPI 5 versions of Microsoft Mike and Microsoft Mary are only downloadable as a Merge Module,^[1] the installable versions may be installed on end users' systems by speech applications such as Microsoft Reader.

The SAPI 4 versions of Microsoft Sam, Microsoft Mike and Microsoft Mary can be used on Windows XP, Windows Vista, and later with a third-party program (like Speakonia and TTSReader) installed on the machine that supports these operating systems. In addition, the Michael and Michelle voices from Lernout & Hauspie will also work on Windows Vista and later if the SAPI 4 versions of the voices in British English is downloaded and used with a third-party program like Speakonia (Conversely, said voices are also compatible with XP and prior as well). The SAPI 5 versions of Microsoft Sam, Microsoft Mike and Microsoft Mary can also be used on Windows Vista and later by installing the SAPI 5.1 SDK, which can also be installed in versions of Windows prior to XP beginning with Windows NT 4.0 SP6a and Windows 98.^[1]

Windows Vista and Windows 7

Beginning with Windows Vista and Windows 7, Microsoft Anna is the default English voice. It is a SAPI 5-only female 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. There are no male voices shipping with Windows Vista and Windows 7, and neither Microsoft Mike or Mary will work on Windows 7.

A female voice called Microsoft Lili that replaces the earlier male SAPI 5 voice "Microsoft Simplified Chinese" is available in Chinese versions of Windows Vista and Windows 7. It can also be obtained in non-Chinese versions of Windows 7 or Vista by installing the Chinese language pack.

In 2010, Microsoft released the newer Speech Platform compatible voices for Speech Recognition and Text-to-Speech for use with client and server applications. These voices are available in 26 languages^[3] and can be installed on Windows client and server operating systems. Speech Platform voices, unlike SAPI 5 voices, are female-only; no male voices were ever released.

Windows 8 and Windows 8.1

In Windows 8, there are three new client (desktop) voices - Microsoft David (US male), Hazel (UK female) and Zira (US female) which are intended to sound more natural than Microsoft Anna. The server versions of these voices are available via the above-mentioned Speech Platform for operating systems earlier than Windows 8. Other voices are available for specific language versions of either Windows 8 or Windows 8.1.^[4]

Unlike Windows 7 or Vista, one cannot use any third-party program for Microsoft Anna because there is no official Anna Voice API for download (especially because Microsoft Anna was only available in SAPI 5 with no SAPI 4 version of the voice available).

Windows 10

In Windows 10, Microsoft Hazel was removed from the US English Language Pack and the Microsoft voices for Mobile (Phone/tablet) are available (Microsoft Mark and Microsoft Zira). These are the same voices found on Windows Phone 8, Windows Phone 8.1 and Windows 10 Mobile.

Also with these voices language packs are also available for a variety of voices similar to that of Windows 8 and 8.1. None of these voices match the Cortana text-to-speech voice which can be found on Windows Phone 8.1, Windows 10, and Windows 10 Mobile.

In an attempt to unify its software with Windows 10, all of Microsoft's current platforms use the same text-to-speech voices except for Microsoft David and a few others.

Mobile

Every mobile voice package has the combination of male/female, while most of the desktop voice packages have only female voices. All mobile voices have been made universal and any user who downloads the language pack of that choice will have one extra male and female voice per that package.

A hidden text-to-speech voice in Windows 10 called Microsoft Eva Mobile is present within the system. Users can download a pre-packaged registry file from the windowsreport.com website. Microsoft Eva is believed to be the early voice for Cortana until Microsoft replaced her with the voice of Jen Taylor in most areas.

These voices are updated with Windows to sound more natural than in the original version as seen in updated retail builds of Windows 10.

Windows 11

Windows 11 introduced three new "natural voices" borrowed from Microsoft's Azure cloud computing platform starting with version 22H2: Microsoft Aria, Jenny, and Guy.^[5] These natural voices are intended to sound more natural than previous text-to-speech voices. It is exclusively available in Narrator and cannot be used in any other applications outside of it, including all first-party and third-party applications as of 2024^[update].

The voices from Windows 10 are now reclassified as "legacy voices", however David was still used as the default for the desktop client.

References

^ ^a ^b Speech SDK 5.1
^ Chambers, Rob (August 29, 2006). "Microsoft Anna - The new TTS voice in Vista". MSDN Blogs. Microsoft. Retrieved June 26, 2015.
^ "Microsoft Speech Platform". 20 January 2015.
^ Free text-to-speech (TTS) or speech synthesizers in Microsoft Windows
^ "Windows 11's Narrator Is Getting Better Voices". How-To Geek. 27 January 2022.

External links

Vista Watch: New Chinese features in Windows Vista

[sapi5.1sdk-1] Speech SDK 5.1

[Anna-2] Chambers, Rob (August 29, 2006). "Microsoft Anna - The new TTS voice in Vista". MSDN Blogs. Microsoft. Retrieved June 26, 2015.

[3] "Microsoft Speech Platform". 20 January 2015.

[4] Free text-to-speech (TTS) or speech synthesizers in Microsoft Windows

[5] "Windows 11's Narrator Is Getting Better Voices". How-To Geek. 27 January 2022.

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