14 DAY TRIAL // I never got the days when all you needed in order to be a respectable writer were talent and a typewriter to carry with you all over the place. I've seen movies though where the typewriter would give away the murderer just because it would be used in writing threatening notes and a certain letter had a flaw of some kind. I guess some users miss these old things and the way they used to cling at the end of the line and you had to manually adjust it for a new paragraph.
One may say that the original typewriter was at the basis of creating the modern text processor like MS Word. Once digital era began developers eliminated all the downsides of typewriting and improved the process to the way it is now. No more ink all over the place, a spell-checker to detect orthographic mistakes, the possibility of navigating inside the text in a split second just by pressing a few keys, these and much more are the advantages of a modern word processor.
And yet I feel there are some nostalgics out there who miss all the clanking of pressing the letters and the cute ring when reaching the end of the line. Luckily programming has reached such levels that you can actually have some of the features of a vintage typewriter on your computer and combine it with modern technology for readying the pages for publishing.
Visual Typewriter does not come as a regular text processor as it does not have half the functionality of such application but its target is formed by those nostalgics who miss the old Underwood, Royal, Remington, Corona, Hermes or Olympia and would like to feel the taste of typing to the plain old mechanical typewriter once more.
As I said before, the application is not as functional as a modern text processor but it manages to transpose vintage to modern days and mimic the pleasure of using a mechanical typewriter by using your computer's keyboard. I think this is the cheapest typewriter you can get nowadays as its price tag reads $19.95. The limitations of the trial version do not allow using it for more than 15 days, you won't be able to save your work and the number of stationeries is skimpy.
The main screen of the application displays the typewriter (do not bother to click on it because nothing will happen) and on the flanks there are the general options of the software. The background is covered by a landscape of your choice. There are only four default alternatives but you can choose as source any directory on your computer or better yet, add the desired wallpapers to Visual Typewriter's background folder.
Starting a new project requires choosing an appropriate stationery. In the unregistered there are just five alternatives available but the full version comes with over 100 choices that come in different shapes and sizes, imitating old paper, with various logos and ornaments.
After you've made up your mind regarding the stationery to be used, simply start typing (for a full experience I suggest you turn on the speakers). Scrolling from your mouse will scroll the stationery and using the keyboard arrows will move you inside the text. The sight in the middle is the current location of the writer. "Home" and "End" keys function just like in a regular text processor, as well as "Tab".
Some of the modern features added to the old typewriter include text-to-speech capabilities which depend on the text-to-speech software installed; on Vista there is MS-Ana-1033-20DSK while on XP MSSam will read your writing. If you have other voices, do install them for a better reading of the text.
Export functions of the application allow the user to transform the text created with Visual Typewriter into modern file formats like PDF, HTML, TXT or JPG. The output result is exactly as you have typed it, preserving the variations of the stationery, mistypes and everything.
Besides the visual impact of the application it also incorporates modern technology to make your work easier. Page feeding can be turned on/off automatically, users can enable auto-repeat keys, word wrapping (this way you no longer have to hit "Enter" key to start a new line), the cursor can be set to semi-transparent, opaque or a simple one.
An interesting feature I did not expect to find in Visual Typewriter is the spell-checker. It can give you alternatives for the typos you commit in American or British English. The moment it detects a misspell it can either mark it with a red underline or suggest a variant.
Mail options should allow the sending of a document to an e-mail address of your choice. However, during our testing this feature did not work, neither on Vista, nor on XP. The settings for making the connection and sending the message are all there, but Visual Typewriter repeatedly failed to send the file.
Printing the typed material is another modern feature added to the vintage typewriter. Users have the chance to a preview before actually sending the file to the printer and stationery graphics can be placed as text background thus making the result more visually exciting.
All the sounds of the application can be eliminated from Configuration panel of the software but turning off the ratcheting effect of the carriage diminishes the pleasure of working with Visual Typewriter. You can enable the program to play a sound effect when there is a certain number of characters 'till the end of the line, when a new page is fed or extracted from the feeder.
After all the configuration has been made and adjusted to your needs you can enjoy a perfectly functional, almost unbreakable vintage typewriter. It does not compare to the original but it is the closest thing to a real one. There are multiple aspects that can be improved, like allowing more flexibility with the sounds, permitting the user the creation of customized stationeries or adding more of the modern text processor's features but it makes for a good anchor of the old days when all you needed was paper and ink to start typing a new novel.
The Good
The position of the typewriter on the screen can be adjusted vertically permitting more view of the background scenery (which may be a great source of inspiration).
The design of the typewriter is great and the incorporation of exporting function to various file formats (HTML, JPG, PDF and TXT) as well as some of the modern features (wordwrap, setting of the page margins, spellcheck, printing, etc.) allow for easy use of the typed documents.
The Bad
There isn't much functionality injected and its purpose is solely to remember the old days of typewriting.
Users cannot create personalized stationeries and are limited to the ones already provided by the application. Also, the user cannot change the sounds.
I really wish you could click on the letters of the typewriter and make all other components, the carriage is one of them, move just by using your mouse.
The backgrounds are poorly designed and it does not take a keen eye to realize this.
The Truth
It is a virtual typewriter reminding of the old days, incorporating a bundle of modern features. Visual Typewriter can create beautiful documents with logos and designs injected with long forgotten elegance and style.
But, if you need something that allows fast typing and easy manipulation of the text you should skip this as it will not offer performance and the full functionality of a text processing software.
Here are some snapshots of the application in action:
