Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Free softwares for MindMapping

I tried FreeMind and XMind software. Both are free.
Though XMind could take a lot of time to load, I found it is easier to handle than FreeMind (TAB produces sub-topic in XMind, while INSERT produces siblings in FreeMind).
One big advantage of FreeMind over XMind is the ability to export it as JavaApplet and Flash. I hope XMind developers consider this.
I have been importing XMind to JPG file and loading on to my blogspot (http://mind-mapped.blogspot.com/).
Further, both fail in online collaboration, though other online tools are available.
Anyway, the Mind Map is a cool tool - for taking notes, for remembering stuffs and for brainstorming new ideas.

2 comments:

  1. In terms of size, FreeMind is a bit more lightweight. Both of these programs (not softwareS ;-) ) are cross-platform, which is nice, and the learning curve is pretty quick.

    By the way, your comparison about shortcut keys for FreeMind and XMind isn't quite accurate. Creating siblings in both programs is the same--just press "enter" twice. For entering "children" or subtopics, the keys are different. However, the shortcut keys for FreeMind are easily customized under Tools>Preferences if you are really unhappy with the "insert" option for a subtopic.

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  2. hi ananda, thanks for the comments.. i didn't know that you can customize the keys in FreeMind.
    thanks again!

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