Filed under: Software, Productivity
XMind goes open source
XMind -- a powerful, Java-based mind mapping and charting application -- has been open-sourced (it's free!) with version 3.0. While it's not my absolute top pick for mind mapping, it ranks up there. I did have a license for the paid version, and I can tell you that it packs plenty of punch. It has all of the extra features I like: boundaries, relationships, summaries, notes, markers, outline view, floating topics and more, as well as intuitive keyboard navigation for rapid-fire brainstorming.
One of my favorite features was the drilldown; pressing F6 focuses in on the current topic, displaying only it and its descendants. Shift-F6 takes you back up. It's similar to MindManager's "Focus" feature, but faster (and more limited in scope). And for those who want (or need) to, just set all of the shapes to underline, turn on multiple branch colors and tapered lines and presto, you've got an honest-to-goodness Tony Buzan-style mind map ... or as close as you'll get without buying Buzan's software (which, despite it being relatively expensive and lacking in system integration, I am regularly tempted to do) or breaking out the colored pencils.
You can also create Org and Fishbone Charts with XMind. It imports FreeMind and MindManager maps as well as Marker Packages, and can export to HTML, image, Marker Package or Text. The HTML export is ... okay. FreeMind actually creates more useful HTML pages, but it works. Overall, it's great stuff, and it's exciting to see it open sourced.
So, how did software that once cost $299 end up being free? It appears to be a change in the business plan, with a subscription model for "XMind Pro" replacing retail sales. I'm a little sketchy on the details, but the Pro version seems to include online collaboration for XMind users, Gantt charts and a Presentation mode (among other features), with a range of subscription prices: $6USD for 1 user/1 month, $400USD for 10 users/1 year, and everything in the middle. It's not necessary to have a subscription, however, to use XMind. Just download a copy (or even the source code) and let the brainstorming begin. Oh, and tell your PC friends, too; like many Java apps, XMind also comes in Windows and Linux flavors.
![TUAW [Cafepress]](http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tuaw.com/media/tuaw-cafepress-promo.png)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Ryan S. said 9:22AM on 11-15-2008
Wow. Just Wow. I got this as part of a bundle. Glad I didn't pay full price for it, because I'd be VERY mad right about now... Wow.
Reply
mentalsticks said 10:01AM on 11-17-2008
bla bla bla were happy to pay full price bla bla bla why would you mind now it's free bla bla still use it bla bla
Nico S said 10:50AM on 11-15-2008
Is it better than the free version of Mindmap Pro (V5)?
Reply
homagetogorto said 10:35AM on 11-15-2008
Too bad, I liked Xmind. But they moved most of the features I rely on to the Pro version, so it's time to move on. Pro subscriptions are time-limited, and the software stops working after the expiration date.
I'm not willing to bet my data that Xmind will still be around in a year or two in this crowded market.
Reply
ShuManFu said 10:38AM on 11-15-2008
I dont fully understand these "mind mapping" applications. Maybe i'm oldschool and find trying to use anything more a pen an a peice of paper a hinderance in allowing me to scribble my thoughts.
Maybe I just need enlightnment. Can someone show me how this stuff makes my life so much better?
Reply
Trevor George said 2:08PM on 11-15-2008
For me the advantage of GOOD mind mapping tools is that I don't have to worry about getting the structure or the mind map right. I can capture ideas as quickly as I can type (which is faster than I can scribble neatly). On paper I would worry and hesitate about where a new node goes in my mindmap because Once I commit something to paper I can't easily move a node and all of it's children to another area.
I'm also sure that tools like these will only seem useful if you are trying to capture project or concept that gets complex.
I use a mindmapping tool almost every day at work and people are always impressed at how quickly I can capture random ideas on the fly and arrange them in a way that makes sense. At this point I'm only scratching the surface of the features of most of these tools. My next attempts will be dumping a mindmap into a project management tool
Fritz Laurel said 2:27PM on 11-15-2008
So, Trevor -- which apps have you found to be the most useful?
Walt Ribeiro said 6:12PM on 11-15-2008
Open source is where its at. Smart move. Nice article
Reply
Simon said 7:52PM on 11-15-2008
ShuManFu you probably haven't had much of a need for this type of app before but they are almost essential for any kind of system design, model design, project design etc etc. They also help you to visualise organisation and help you to think about the way things are related to one another, which are often not rigid hierarchical structures like an organisational chart for instance (nature doesn't work that way!). Hope this helps.
Microsoft has Visio on the PC so I've been looking for a decent alternative on the Mac.
Reply
Jeff said 8:49PM on 11-15-2008
Have you looked at OmniGraffle?
http://www.omnigroup.com/applications/OmniGraffle/
John said 10:21PM on 11-15-2008
I use mind mapping frequently enough that it's been worth spending the money for a good app. I'm using mindjet's mindmanager, and so far it's my favorite.
Reply
unclemac said 1:07PM on 11-16-2008
@ShuManFu
I know where you're coming from but if you want more info and demos there's a link on their website to a group of youtube videos here:
http://www.xmind.net/demos/
I got a free copy of Concept Draw's MindMap Pro 5.5 with a magazine subscription to MacFormat out of the UK, killer Mac Mag BTW and so is iCreate. The catch is that it's not the current version but that's cool since the only out of pocket for me was the mag subscription which is expensive but worth it. They do offer a paid upgrade path from the free one if I was to take advantage of it.
Off topic if you want some pretty good free iPhone ringtones iCreate has quite a few good ones online!
http://www.icreatemagazine.com/iphone_ringtones.html
Reply
Question said 10:22AM on 11-18-2008
I've downloaded both PC and Mac versions - but can't get the app to run under 10.4. It searches for fonts and then completely freezes up. Any ideas to solve this problem?
Reply
TC said 3:19PM on 11-18-2008
You've downloaded it? Lucky! All I get is a page saying I need to sign up, and a signup page that just spins "wait" cursors at me and never DOES anything.
Presumably the free release is an attempt to get people to like Xmind so much they upgrade to Pro. I'd suggest the first step is to make it EASY to get the damned thing: perhaps when you click the Download button, it should actually DOWNLOAD, rather than making me mess about with registration.
But... it's open source now, right. So: anybody got a mirror?
Reply
Alexey Tigarev said 1:21PM on 12-28-2008
XMind is the first good open-source mind mapping solution. It is good that we had FreeMind but it was lacking too much features. Open-source XMind have about 80% of most useful features of MindManager which I consider the best mind mapping software. And several things in XMind are done in more smart way that in MindManager.
But XMind is OPEN SOURCE! That's cool. It means that lacking features can be easily added there by the community. And being open-source, XMind will conquer the world. It has much more perspective than MindManager.
But I don't understand, how you are licensing XMind Pro? It is a derivative work from an open-source XMind so it must be open-source also. How you can keep some of features proprientary?
Reply