Verbose Text to Speech 2.01

Verbose is a text-to-speech application. It is what is often referred to as a system text reader. It uses Microsoft Sam, a built-in speech system in Windows, for reading out loud. The program reads text from different sources. First, there is a text field where you can write or paste text from other applications. If you write anything there and click on "Read aloud", a playback window will come up and you will hear Sam reading your text, along with a visual representation of the sound levels. Additionally, Verbose can read text from text files, such as .txt or even .doc files. What really surprised me is that the application can read any text you have copied to the clipboard.

Any text can also be saved as an audio file, which makes this program good for dictation (if it wasn't for how annoying Sam sounds like). You can't really save texts to .mp3 files from within the main window, though: you have to go to the settings to change the format. A simple pop-up field to choose from would be nice.

Graphically, the app is simple, with all the actions available on the left and a text field on the right. You can also download other voices for your system, but those have nothing to do with Verbose.