The Company Behind Dragon Just Disappeared Into Microsoft

I tried to find Nuance's website last week to download Dragon software updates. The URL redirected to Microsoft. Nuance's support forums? Migrated to Microsoft's infrastructure. Nuance's product pages? Now part of Microsoft's healthcare and AI offerings.

Nuance Communications, the company that dominated dictation software for 25 years, no longer exists as an independent entity. Microsoft bought them in 2022 for 20 billion dollars and absorbed them completely.

This matters if you're using Nuance dictation products or considering buying them. You're not dealing with Nuance anymore. You're dealing with Microsoft, and Microsoft's priorities are very different from what Nuance's were.

What "Dictation Nuance" Actually Means

When people search "dictation Nuance," they usually mean one of several Nuance products:

Dragon NaturallySpeaking. Consumer and professional dictation software for Windows. This is what most people think of when they think Nuance dictation.

Dragon Medical. Healthcare-specific dictation with medical vocabulary and clinical workflow integration.

Dragon Legal. Attorney-specific dictation with legal terminology.

PowerScribe. Radiology-specific dictation and reporting system used in hospitals.

DAX (Dragon Ambient eXperience). AI that captures patient-physician conversations and generates clinical notes automatically.

All of these are now Microsoft products. Nuance's name is still on them for branding, but they're managed by Microsoft's Cloud + AI division.

Why Nuance Dominated Dictation for 25 Years

Nuance didn't invent speech recognition, but they perfected it for commercial use. Dragon NaturallySpeaking launched in 1997 and was revolutionary.

Previous speech recognition required pausing between words. Dragon handled continuous natural speech. The accuracy after training was far better than anything else available. The price (200-700 dollars) was high but accessible to professionals who needed it.

For about 15 years (1997-2012), Nuance had no serious competition in consumer and professional dictation. If you needed accurate speech recognition, you bought Dragon. There weren't alternatives.

Nuance's dominance came from being first, being accurate, and continuously improving the technology for decades. They had a 20-year head start on everyone else.

The Microsoft Acquisition Changed Everything

Microsoft announced the Nuance acquisition in April 2021 and closed it in March 2022. The purchase price was 19.7 billion dollars.

Microsoft didn't buy Nuance for Dragon. They bought Nuance for healthcare AI, enterprise conversational AI, and contracts with major hospital systems.

Dragon was a legacy product that came along with the deal. It generates revenue and has loyal users, so Microsoft keeps it alive. But it's not why they bought the company.

You can tell because Dragon development essentially stopped after the acquisition. Dragon NaturallySpeaking 16 came out around the acquisition. Version 17 exists but is basically 16 with bug fixes. No major new features. No AI improvements despite Microsoft being all-in on AI. No integration with Microsoft 365.

Dragon is in maintenance mode. It works, it's not going away immediately, but it's not the future.

Modern AI Dictation vs. Legacy Nuance Technology

Nuance built Dragon on acoustic models and language models trained on recorded speech. It's sophisticated technology, but fundamentally rule-based.

Modern AI dictation (OpenAI Whisper, Google speech recognition, services like Dictation Daddy) uses neural networks trained on millions of hours of speech. Fundamentally different approach.

Practical differences:

Nuance Dragon requires 20-30 minutes of training reading text aloud so it learns your voice. AI services require zero training.

Nuance Dragon achieves 95-97 percent accuracy after weeks of training and corrections. AI services achieve 96-98 percent accuracy immediately. Higher accuracy, zero training time.

Nuance Dragon makes you say punctuation out loud ("period comma new paragraph"). AI services add punctuation automatically.

Nuance Dragon runs locally on your computer without internet. AI services require internet connectivity.

Nuance Dragon costs 200-700 dollars one-time purchase. AI services typically cost 8-15 dollars per month.

For local processing and offline use, Dragon still has value. For accuracy and convenience, modern AI is better.

What Happened to Dragon After Microsoft

Dragon NaturallySpeaking used to get major updates every 12-18 months. New features, accuracy improvements, Windows compatibility updates.

Since the Microsoft acquisition, updates are infrequent and minor. Dragon 17 exists but is barely different from Dragon 16. There's no Dragon 18 on the horizon.

Microsoft hasn't announced Dragon is discontinued. They also haven't announced any development roadmap or future plans. It's in this weird limbo where it exists and is technically supported, but clearly isn't a priority.

If you buy Nuance Dragon today, you're buying it for what it does now, not what it might do in the future. Expect bug fixes for Windows compatibility, don't expect major feature additions.

PowerScribe: The Medical Exception

One Nuance product Microsoft is actively developing is PowerScribe, the radiology dictation and reporting system.

PowerScribe is used in thousands of hospitals for radiologists to dictate interpretations of medical imaging. It's deeply integrated with PACS (medical imaging systems) and hospital IT infrastructure.

This is exactly the kind of enterprise healthcare technology Microsoft wanted when they bought Nuance. PowerScribe generates recurring revenue from large organizations and fits their healthcare AI strategy.

If you're a radiologist using PowerScribe, you're probably fine. Microsoft sees value there. If you're a consumer using Dragon NaturallySpeaking, you're using legacy software Microsoft tolerates but doesn't prioritize.

What I Use Instead of Nuance Dictation

I used Dragon NaturallySpeaking from 2015 to 2024. I trained it extensively, built custom vocabularies, created macros. I defended Nuance Dragon as the best dictation software available.

I switched to Dictation Daddy in late 2024. I have obvious bias (I built it), but the switch was driven by frustration with training requirements and lack of Mac support.

Dictation Daddy is AI-powered transcription available on Mac, Windows, iPhone, Android, and Chrome extension. The apps don't sync between devices, but I have dictation available wherever I'm working. Under 100 dollars per year for all platforms.

The AI auto-corrects punctuation, handles false starts, doesn't require training for new words. Accuracy is 96-98 percent without any setup. That's higher than Dragon's maximum accuracy after months of training, and I don't spend weeks training.

For enterprises needing SOC2 or HIPAA compliance, there's a dedicated plan with enhanced security features.

When Nuance Dragon Still Makes Sense

Despite Microsoft's apparent lack of interest in consumer Dragon, it's still the right choice for specific situations:

If you need offline dictation. Nuance Dragon runs locally without internet. Essential for secure facilities, rural areas, or anywhere with unreliable connectivity.

If you handle highly confidential information. Medical records, legal documents, classified business information. Local processing means your audio never leaves your computer.

If you're already deep in the Dragon ecosystem. Years of training, thousands of custom vocabulary entries, macros you've built. Switching cost is high.

Those are increasingly niche use cases. For most users, AI dictation is easier, more accurate, and more practical.

The Uncomfortable Truth

Nuance dictation products built the entire industry. Dragon was the gold standard for 25 years. Nuance pioneered speech recognition for professional use.

But Nuance as an independent company is gone. Microsoft owns the technology and the brand. Microsoft's priorities are enterprise healthcare AI, not consumer dictation software.

Dragon works today. It will probably work for years. Microsoft won't kill it because that would anger loyal users and generate bad press. But expecting significant improvements or new features is wishful thinking.

The Nuance you knew is gone. What remains is Microsoft managing legacy software while they focus on AI and enterprise healthcare.

Last updated: January 13, 2026, verified with current Microsoft/Nuance product lineup and support status