Today I found a link to XMind and realized that we now have an Open Source alternative to FreeMind. For short, it rocks.
I’m a fan of Mind Mapping for over a decade now. I used Mind Manager for years and bought updates until Mind Manager X5. But, I stopped buying the following updates, because it was too expensive for what I could do with the new features. Meanwhile I had a look at FreeMind and used it at the office for some little projects. But, in the end I went back to Mind Manager X5.
FreeMind doesn’t really rock from the user experience and it isn’t appealing. You have a lot more work to get a similar result that you even get with the old Mind Manger X5.
But, with XMind Standard, the free variant of XMind, this may change soon. It is comparable to Mind Manager X5 from the drawing point-of-view, what is the most important feature to me. The re-structuring feature is also a plus. And it has a publishing feature that allows to share your work with the world.
If you have a look at the “File – New” menu you’ll find templates for:
- Brainstorming Chart
- Meeting
- Org Chart
- Project Management
- Reading Journals
- Personal Management
Study these. All are appealing and worth to give them a try. Although, the offer is limited from the number of templates in comparison to Mind Manger X5, you get more types to choose from. I have to test all these new types a little longer to say that those are useful. But, a first look at these was promising.
If you choose XMind Pro, a $49.00/year subscription, you get more project management presentation features, e.g. a Gantt view or MS Office support, to impress your Stakeholders.
Hint: After the XMind Standard install you may get an JVM error. Try this solution:
Move the “-XX:MaxPermSize=256m” above the “-vmargs” in the “xmind_install_folder\xmind.ini”.
I'm Rainer Eschen, an IT-Business Architect, who looks back on more than 20 years of programming experience. Since 1994 I'm an IT professional with a focus on consulting and architecture. I have also been part of "the source" for three years, working as Sun Sales Support Engineer and Sun Java Center Architect at Sun Microsystems, Germany.