mind managers

Today we will be looking into mind maps and mind managers - software to manage your mind.

A mind map is a diagram used to represent words, ideas, tasks or other items linked to and arranged radially around a central key word or idea. It is used to generate, visualize, structure and classify ideas, and as an aid in study, organization, problem solving, and decision making.

Wikipedia

There are lots of people making mind manager software, and I have not the resources to look into every one of them. I have chosen to look into a few products, as you can see below. As I look into it for personal use price is the (almost) most important element for me. That the software works for me, is easy to use and that I feel I have control over it is also important.

How do I use a mind map?

Take a look at this mind map, created with an evaluation version of Visual Mind 8. You can see from the map what I looked into during this article. There are of course many other ways to make use of a mind map. You need to figure out for your self what works for you.

Disclaimer: The map above is a copy from the process. It does not necessarily reflect my final opinion on a product. Please read my product review instead.

What are the two prices above?

I have listed two prices; Price home and Price Pro. Some vendors sell a crippled version for personal use. You will have to read the product homepage your self to find the differences. Usually you loose these features;

• Task management.
• Export to MS Office and some other formats. (Even images.)
• Support for multiple maps in a project.

Product review

This is a short review of the different tools. Read the full article for more information about each product.

Product	Score
Visual Mind
MindMAP
FreeMind
MindJet Mind Manager
NovaMind

For me - I have to choose between FreeMind, Visual Mind and MindMAP. Both are good products that I felt comfortable with.

You can see a video here.