Many users have been looking for improved voice recognition.
Good microphones help but this thing has an array of mics built in which enables it to tell where the sound is coming from.
This won't work on XP in fact I believe you need a minimum of Windows 7 for it to work.
Also you can use your Xbox Kinects if you install the Kinects SDK.
You don't need any other special software as once these are installed windows detects them and will set it as the default mic.
I've been Playing with this and
PcCompanion for a few months now on Windows 7, 8 and 8.1
Voice recognition improved dramatically on all with the Kinects
True Microsoft improved voice recognition with each build but the Kinects builds on that.
Using voice recognition is becoming a joy to use now instead of just a novelty.
This will work with other Voice recognition programs as well however if they don't close the windows SR you will experience some issues with command execution.
One other cool thing with these is you can connect multi Kinects and windows will see them all
This aspect I haven't started to play with yet but it does open some cool possibilities for Home Automation