When I heard that Tony Buzan, the inventor of Mind Maps,  was endorsing a new Mind Map Software product, I immediately responded by purchasing the ‘early bird’ special. For this impulsive behaviour I managed to get the ‘Ultimate Version’ at the price of a basic version.

I actually purchased two versions, a Mac version and a PC Version, as I work in both environments.

As I mentioned before, I’ve been using MindManager for years and that, as time progressed, it seemed to move further away from Tony Buzan’s Mind Map principles.

I was initially a bit disappointed with the software. It looked great and produced beautiful ‘Buzan approved’ Mind Maps, but the interface was a bit clunky and the creation of Mind Maps were a bit different to what I was used to.

As I was an early adopter, I qualified for a ‘free’ upgrade to the latest version when it was released.

The interface is still a bit clunky, but it is much better.

The software has two main modes of operating, Mind Map Mode and Speed Mode.

In Mind Map Mode you are able to ‘draw’ your Mind Map. You use your mouse to draw your Mind Map by pointing your mouse to the center image and draw your branch by dragging it outwards. This is very similar to a hand drawn Mind Map, where you draw branches radiating out from the centre. The branch is naturally organic and a new colour is added for each branch.

Brilliant!

You then type your text on this branch. I often have to resize the branch as it does not adjust accurately enough to the text.

Even though this method of drawing your Mind Map is very similar to drawing a Mind Map by hand, it takes a while to get used to if you are used to using other tools that by default automatically draw your Mind Maps as you type.

You can let iMindMap draw your Map automatically in Speed Mode, but the Mind Map then loses its lovely organic appearance. The resultant Mind Map looks a bit mechanical. I tried to ‘fix’ it by switching back to Mind Map Mode and drag the branches into new positions. This just frustrated me, as I simply could not get the Mind Map to look like I wanted it to look quickly enough. I may as well have ‘drawn’ it from the beginning.

I use iMindMap for most of my personal Mind Maps since I acquired it. I still use MindManager for brainstorming and in the work environment, as it is much faster to create balanced Mind Maps than iMindMap.

If you are looking for a cheaper tool that satisfies all the Mind Map priniples, then iMindMap is the tool. You will be able to create beautiful, organic Mind Maps much easier than by hand. You can also reorganise your Mind Map much easier than a hand drawn one.

I hope that some of the clunkiness is removed in future versions, but you won’t be disappointed if speed is not your main critera.

I’d like to end with a rant, by stating that I’m disappointed that Tony Buzan put his name to a product, as it naturally excludes a lot of good products; thus defeating his purpose of global literacy. If his goal was to take Mind Mapping to as many people as possible, then a free open source tool would have been the best choice to achieve this. iMindMap could also have done what XMind did. They provide a free basic version for and a professional version with advanced features.