Kiran's Typing Tutor 1.0

Overview

Kiran’s Typing Tutor is an application that is released by an independent developer that aims to teach typing through a scientific methodology. There’s a lot of competition out there from established development studios, so does Kiran’s Typing Tutor hold its ground? Let’s find out in this review.

Installation

Installation is painless and easy, with no real options that you need to set. It’s also really quick, and once you’re done with the small download, you can have the application up and running in no time. All versions of Windows, Windows 98 onwards are supported. There isn’t any malware or adware that’s been bundled, nor are there any toolbars that get installed.

Interface

The interface is certainly not too impressive. To start with, even if you just hover your mouse over window elements, there are typing-related sounds played. These quickly get annoying, but thankfully can be turned off. The interface itself is quite tacky, and lacks polish. You get six options, apart from the settings menu, to play around with. The options themselves lack any kind of explanation, and there aren’t any statistics or a guide of any sort displayed anywhere. The interface is essentially very basic, and seems to be hastily put together. It often affects how useful the application is, and makes simple tasks convoluted and difficult. Not a strong point for this software.

Pros

Kiran’s Typing Tutor is freeware. This is quite rare for typing tutor applications, which generally cost a good amount of money. This one characteristic in itself makes it an application that will end up being useful to a lot of users. The application splits the tasks it performs into six categories. Typing lessons, typing practice, and typing tests form the basis of your learning. The three other categories are more specific, and include some basic typing games, numeric keyboard typing and typing for kids. The options are pretty comprehensive, but their quality isn’t up to notch.

Cons

Generally typing tutors are completely guided, ranging from creation of a profile right to testing and statistics. Kiran’s Typing Tutor offers no such features. You’re on your own from the moment you run the application. The quality of the lessons or the overall method of teaching is way below the standard of most typing tutor suites out there. Everything from the interface, to the methodology followed, to the quality of the games is sub-par. The software runs through a series of short lessons instead of alternating between practice and lessons. The statistics system is really poor as well, and this is something that’s really important when it comes to learning how to type. The software doesn’t seem too well tested either, and random crashes or hangs were common.

Alternatives

Consider TypingMaster Pro and Ten Thumbs Typing Tutor. Both are typing tutors that out-do Kiran’s Typing Tutor on almost every front, except price.

Conclusion

Kiran’s Typing Tutor is overall a poorly written application, with several alternatives out there that offer much more. It’s worth looking at only if you absolutely need your typing tutor to be free of cost.