A Startling Fact About Mind Map Software Uncovered

: Image via Wikipedia

One can hardly talk about mind map software without referring to the “iMindMap” program from Tony Buzan. It’s not necessarily the best program around, but Buzan is the most prominent of the modern promoters of mind map techniques, and this is the mind mapping application developed and sold by his organization, so it needs to be included in any list of such software. However, Buzan’s offering is certainly not alone, as these programs now proliferate in both web applications and stand-alone software packages.

For example, there is a lot of mind map freeware available for download, ranging from programs that create mind maps solely to those that have that capacity as one of their features. “Compendium” is a program that works with “issue maps” that make pictorial illustrations of the connection between issues and the questions that surround them. “FreeMind” is java-based mind map software that works across all the main platforms and has plugins that can connect it to common wiki programs. “WikkaWiki,” or “Wikka,” is not purely a program that maps ideas, yet it does have a component that allows people to edit mind maps through wiki pages. These three are just a drop in the bucket of freeware programs.

When you get into software that you purchase, there are many programs that offer this sort of visual mapping along with other ways of organizing information. The program called “3D Topicscape” is described as being “loosely based” on mind map techniques. What it does is create “topic nodes” that are represented in the system as small pyramids that relate to each other in ways that are visual on the screen. This program only operates on Windows. “Mindmeister,” on the other hand, works on all platforms and appears to integrate with everything: Skype, Twitter, Google Gears, and so on. This mind map software is web-based and collaborative, and has both a limited free version and a purchased version with more features.

The list of software for creating mind maps goes on apparently forever, as all software lists do. There are enough programs, either free or proprietary, to satisfy anyone’s needs. Whether a person hopes to add mind maps as a function in their daily business and task management, wants to use such software in an educational capacity, or wants a program that creates mind maps but has a collaborative wiki aspect, there is some type of specialized mind map software available to do just what is needed.