21st Century Typing Reviewer's Comments

Our third pick and the "TopTenREVIEWS Bronze Award Winner" is 21st Century Typing from 21st Software Corp. Although this typing program lacks many of the features offered by our #1 and #2 picks, 21st Century Typing is a high–quality typing program that's simple, easy to use and effective.

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Ease of Use:  

21st Century Typing is extremely user–friendly; just follow the instructions presented in both brief tutorials and you'll be on your way to mastering the program.

Feature Set:  

With 40 separate skill–building lessons, 21st Century Typing gives you the tools you need to improve both your typing speed and accuracy. The program offers a pretest that determines which program level best matches your typing skills.

Some lessons allow you to focus on a specific hand, individual fingers, 10–key or even the characters and symbols on the keyboard. There are two games available that add fun and variety to your typing practice, but these games aren't adjustable to match your skill level.

You can test your speed skills with 21st Century Typing a few different ways—you can focus on either words per minute, accuracy or adjusted words per minute. The program presents your speed and accuracy results on the screen, which you can print if you wish.

21st Century Typing also provides several customizable options, including statistical presentations, sounds effects, test/lesson lengths and passing requirements. This typing program also includes a large typing practice library, but you cannot add your own selections, as you can in higher–ranked typing software.

Ease of Installation:  

We had no problems installing 21st Century Typing.

Help/Support:  

21st Century Typing offers adequate support, mostly in its two brief tutorials-one explains how to use the lessons and the other teaches you how to play the games. The typing program also includes a built-in index search that offers information on specific subjects.

You can also receive help directly from 21st Software Corp. through FAQs on their homepage or by email. We were disappointed 21st Software Corp. didn't offer a telephone support number.

Summary:  

21st Century Typing from 21st Software Corp. is a solid product that's easy to use and has plenty to offer. If you're looking for a basic typing program that will get the job done without all the bells and whistles, then this product is for you.

If you want typing software that offers everything you need for a richer, more entertaining learning experience, checkout our #1 pick, Mavis Beacon.