No setup needed, besides JavaĪs long as you have Java installed on your PC, you don't need to set up anything else. It can be used for brainstorming sessions at work or common activities at home whenever you intend to come up with a plan, regardless of its type. Verdict:Ī somewhat steep learning curve, but worth the effort.Made as the portable counterpart of FreeMind, X-FreeMind is an approachable and powerful application which lets you create and explore mind maps in a user-friendly workspace.

You could even keep the program and data files on a USB stick for a completely portable project. This is a Java program so is portable across many platforms. For one smaller task, you may spend longer learning it that using it, but with a big project, or if you need its features regularly, it is worth the investment of your time. The map can be exported in other formats, such as HTML, for sharing and viewing outside of the program.įreeMind is a powerful but complex program, making it more suitable to larger tasks or frequent use. It can be a better choice than a database when you don't know the structure you will need before you start, or it could be used as an intermediate step in designing a database, it's uses are endless. Items can link to external resources, such as images or web pages, so you can also use FreeMind to build a knowledge base. Items can be coloured, to show importance or mark those that are completed, in progress or yet to be started. Ideas can then be linked to give the project some structure. After ideas are added they can be fleshed out, either with sub tasks, more details or even the text to be used in that section of an article. The task is irrelevant, FreeMind lets you manipulate and organise your thoughts. This can be topics to be covered in an essay, features of a program you want to write or stages of building a house. FreeMind is mind-mapping software, it starts of an an onscreen whiteboard on which you can jot ideas and concepts.

If you are planning any project more complex than going to the corner shop for some milk, you will want to break it down into steps, and those steps aren't always thought about in their final order. Computers are supposed to make life easier for us, but they work in logical steps and we do not.

Download freemind 1.0