Developer: Syndicomm

OK-Writer is a word processor for children. The main window has buttons on the right and left sides for controlling fonts and type styles and buttons along the top for commands. Children can select one of six different font styles, Bigger or Smaller text sizes, Regular, Bold, Italic, or Underline text effects, and one of eight different colors for their font.

Text alignment can be easily changed by clicking the appropriate button at the top of the window - Align Left, Center or Align Right. When the Save button is clicked for the first time with a new story, a small dialog box opens and the child only has to type a name for the file and it will be saved in a special "My OK-Writer Stories" folder (in the users Documents folder). Opening a file is just as easy - the OK-Writer folder will be displayed in a Finder pane and the child can select any previously saved story.

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One special feature of OK-Writer is the "Read Aloud" setting. OK- Writer can read each letter a child types, a word after it has been typed or a sentence after an end punctuation has been typed. Parents can set their choices in the OK-Writer preferences pane.

Another special feature is a built-in spell checker that is always turned on. As a child types, misspelled words are underlined in red, and, when a child is old enough to use the Mac OS X spell checker, it can be accessed from the Edit menu.

OK-Writer is the only word processor developed specifically for children and it costs only $10. If you have young children and you want them to begin using a word processor, the $10 Shareware fee is worthwhile for a program that will provide your child with all the tools a beginning writer needs.

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