While FreeMind has a fairly good collection of icons that make your mind map come to life visually, it does not support embedding of pictures from external files.Some areas where FreeMind could have helped more (I understand some of these are being addressed in future releases) are: FreeMind stores all maps in XML format, making it that much easier in case you decide to port your maps to other software, so long as it supports Visual Basic scripting facility.You can even copy a list of selected files. Excellent copy-paste functions and Drag’nDrop functions, allowing copying of content from external files (even from your Outlook messages I found it very handy).You can store links to files on your own computer, or store hyperlinks to URLs on the Internet, and this feature is fully functional.This also makes the map look more manageable since you don’t need to scroll up and down through cluttered branches. This is very useful when you want to concentrate on one section of your mind map, and do not want to be distracted by other section details. Folding / unfolding of all branches from node - with a single click.Used friendliness and ease of use: The entire process is quite intuitive, and the online help comes in very handy.Other excellent features that have made FreeMind such a popular package are: This itself is in a mind map format, gets you started very easily, and is extremely useful as you start The very first feature that strikes you is the way online Help documentation is laid out. The tree can be expanded through child nodes, sibling nodes and parent nodes. The whole exercise of brainstorming is depicted visually through a central core, a set of nodes and linking lines. I would suggest you try the stable bug fix release FreeMind 0.8.1 first. The subsequent preview release, FreeMind 0.9.0 RC3 has been available on beta since and the new RC4 since May 22, 2009.įreeMind has made it as the finalist for the 2009 Community Choice Award in the category of “ Most likely to change the way you do everything”!! Pros and Cons of FreeMindįreeMind, being an open source free software, you can download it free and start using it for your mind mapping or brainstorming needs immediately. The current stable version is FreeMind 0.8.1 released on Feb 27, 2008. Written in Java for cross-platform portability, FreeMind is licensed under GNU General Public License, and is available under Microsoft Windows, Linux and MacOS with Java Runtime Environment. There are several mind mapping software packages available in the market, such as: Some of the example areas where mind maps can be used are illustrated here.įreeMind is a free open-source application, developed by Jörg Müller, Daniel Polansky, Petr Novak, Christian Foltin, Dimitri Polivaev, et al for meeting the needs of mind mapping on a computer terminal, instead of charting out the mind map on a piece of paper. Application areas for mind maps range from preparing for exams to learning a new language, to student learning characteristics, to conceptualizing articles to be written on blogs to studying the characteristics of aspirin and other salicylates to writing out job descriptions to devising corporate strategies. But examples of areas where mind mapping is used, especially in the past decade, are innumerable. Conventionally, brainstorming exercises are considered ideal candidates for mind maps. Mind mapping can be used in practically any situation where graphical representation of your thoughts can be utilized for improved learning and clearer thinking. With these aids, you are ready to start off on mind mapping!!. Though the concept of mind mapping is not new to mankind, the credit for giving shape to this concept in the late 1960’s goes to Tony Buzan.Įssentially the ingredients you need for creating a mind map manually are - 1) a blank sheet of unruled paper, 2) some color pencils and pens, 3) a brain and 4) imagination. This concept is very closely linked to brainstorming, which again is a process of divergent thinking adopted to lead us to some convergent analysis. The simplest way to define the concept of mind mapping is, it is a technique for arranging ideas and their interconnections visually - as our mind would draw up internally.
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