Black Cat Systems has announced that version 4.0.0 of Morse Mania (http://www.blackcatsystems.com/software/morsemania.html) has been released and is now available for immediate download. This version is a complete re-write in Cocoa, and adds Universal Binary support.

Morse Mania is a morse code tutor for the Macintosh. The software package helps you learn morse code at speeds ranging from five to 50 words per minute. Morse Mania is designed for amateur (ham) radio operators who want to learn or improve their morse code proficiency, especially in order to upgrade their license class. The generated morse code is played using the computer's speaker.

In addition to drills to help learn the various characters, Morse Mania also allows complete text files to be sent, so that "real life" messages can be used for practice. Simulated morse code conversations (called a QSO in ham lingo) can also be sent. In addition, the user can type characters at the keyboard, which are then translated into morse code, and played.

Morse Mania also supports the Farnsworth mode, which increases the speed of the dots and dashes, and lengthens the pause between letters sent, allowing the student to learn morse code at higher speeds more easily. Finally, it allows the use of the Koch method of learning the code, considered by many to be the easiest way to learn high speed morse code.

Morse Mania is available for Mac OS X 10.5 and later. It costs US$19.99. A copy of Morse Mania may be downloaded from the Morse Mania web site.