Product Description

Maximize your productivity with Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing Platinum 20. The most comprehensive typing instruction system now includes updated learning tools, an improved user interface and even more features to guarantee typing improvements in just 2 weeks. In addition to Mavis Beacon's personal typing instruction, detailed reports illustrate overall progress and assist in identifying specific strengths and weaknesses. It offers typists of all skill levels and ages a brand new learning experience with greater benefits and increased efficiency. Whether you want to learn essential keyboarding skills or improve overall typing efficiency, Mavis Beacon will guide you step-by step on your road to success. Improve speed and accuracy with detailed assessments, customized lessons and skill-building games. In addition to Mavis Beacon's personal typing instruction, detailed reports illustrate overall progress and assist in identifying specific strengths and weaknesses. Powerful learning tools, along with this detailed reporting will help typists excel at their own pace. Hard work is rewarded with certificates of completion. Cool tools such as import your own MP3 files and fun arcade-style games enrich the learning experience. Choose from music options or import your own MP3 files and type to your own tunes Choose to type from hundreds of interesting articles, stories and emoticons Learn essential keyboarding skills or improve overall typing efficiency Detailed progress reports assist in identifying strengths and weaknesses Works with Microsoft Vista and Mac OS X Universal certified

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #187 in Software
• Brand: Encore
• Model: 15060
• Released on: 2008-02-14
• Platforms: Windows Vista, Windows XP, Windows
• Format: CD-ROM
• Dimensions: 1.40" h x 5.40" w x 7.50" l, .27 pounds

Features

• Learn essential keyboarding skills or improve overall typing efficiency
• 430 Personalized lessons, exercises and tests
• Detailed progress reports assist in identifying strengths and weaknesses
• 16 arcade-style typing games
• Bilingual instruction (English & Spanish)

Amazon.com
Maximize your productivity with Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing Platinum 20! The most comprehensive typing instruction system now includes updated learning tools, an improved user interface and even more features to guarantee typing improvements in just 2 weeks.

In addition to Mavis Beacon's personal typing instruction, detailed reports illustrate overall progress and assist in identifying specific strengths and weaknesses.

16 Arcade-style typing games, including multi-level games.

430 Personalized lessons, exercises and tests.

Offers typists of all skill levels and ages a brand new learning experience with greater benefits and increased efficiency.

Whether you want to learn essential keyboarding skills or improve overall typing efficiency, Mavis Beacon will guide you step-by step on your road to success! Improve speed and accuracy with detailed assessments, customized lessons and skill-building games.

In addition to Mavis Beacon's personal typing instruction, detailed reports illustrate overall progress and assist in identifying specific strengths and weaknesses. Powerful learning tools, along with this detailed reporting will help typists excel at their own pace. Hard work is rewarded with "recess time" and certificates of completion. Cool tools such as "import your own MP3 files" and fun arcade-style games enrich the learning experience.

Redesigned with advanced technology and updated with even more features--Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing Platinum 20 offers typists of all skill levels and ages a brand new learning experience with greater benefits and increased efficiency.

• 430 Personalized lessons, exercises and tests
  
  
• 16 Arcade-style games, including multi-level games
  
  
• Detailed tracking and progress reporting
  
  
• New content--type jokes, riddles, recipes, song lyrics and more
  
  
• Type in English, Spanish & French
  
  
• Choose from new music options or import your own MP3 files and type to your own tunes
  
  
• New Certificates of Completion
  
  
• Hybrid--Works with Microsoft Vista & Mac OSX Universal certified
  
  

Platinum Exclusives

• Unique Custom Lesson Designer
  
  
• Learn to type in English, Spanish & French
  
  
• New multi-level arcade-style games
  
  
• Import your own text as Word.doc formats--be productive while practicing your typing skills
  
  
• Choose to type from hundreds of interesting articles, stories and emoticons
  
  

Learn with Mavis Beacon and achieve noticeable results quicker than any other typing program--guaranteed.

Customer Reviews

Good buy
I knew this would teach me to type, but at 32 years old I thought it would take me a long time to learn to type without looking. I went from 0-40 in a week and a half. I think that's fast.

Excellent but for the dated grapics
I have been typing for many years, and have know the basics of touch typing, although I have not been able to apply them; so I have been unable to type without looking at the keyboard. One obvious problem with this being that I would not notice mistakes until long after they were made. So I finally decided to do something about it; Mavis Beacon to the rescue!

Once loaded the programmes is very easy to use; and it starts with some quite basic lessons using just a few keys. As the lessons progress so more keys are introduced. Every so often the routine of exercises is broken with a typing "game" of one form or another. There are also tests which assess whether or not you are ready to pass on the next level.

The lessons are tailored to the user's ability based on an initial typing test. The programme also allows the user to dictate to a certain extent, with the choice of taking a lesson, going to the practice area, playing a game, or customising the lessons. There are also various charts which show, for example, ones progress, or which keys one knows well and which ones need more practice. While one is typing an on-screen keyboard shows the correct finger to use for the key required.

How does it work in practice? With spending only about 15 minutes a day and without too much effort, after a week I noticed a marked improvement in my typing. After two weeks I had more that doubled my speed and considerably improved my accuracy. Obviously giving more time daily would mean even faster progress, but one of the attractions of such a programme is that one can dictate for oneself how much time is devoted to it.

While the lessons are not exactly all fun, they are not tedious either and offer plenty of variety. My biggest criticism is the graphics; they are very dated and rather basic, and it's not a familiar Windows format. The on screen font used could have been better chosen; I had difficulty distinguishing between a capital and lower-case "L". So on these points as far as I am concerned it looses one star; but otherwise it is an excellent way to improve ones typing skills.

touch type made enjoyable
This version of Ms. Beacon's software makes typing even more enjoyable to learn. It is really adaptive to how well you can type - it picked up that I was an intermediate typist after a few lessons - you can't con Ms. Beacon it seems.
A few points are
1)It would be preferable if you could customize this software to eliminate some types of lessons - for example I want to touch type letters and numbers but not the minor punctuation keys like brackets -
2)The import facility is great up to a point but when you add the text from internet sources it tends to add weird hypertext characters which are annoying as you want just to type text.
3)The games are basic and not very challenging - I enjoyed a game called typing of the dead which pushes my touch typing to the limit - I wish Ms. Beacon would incorporate something like this or typer shark deluxe.

Overall however apart from these few minor points the software does what it says on the box teach you to type which is what it is intended to do. There are not many typing programs of this quality on the market and she is still the standard bearer.