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First look: Visual Mind 9 opens new ground for collaboration with mind maps
By Chuck Frey
Visual Mind 9 from Mind Technologies AS is a full-featured Windows application that has been designed to be easy for first-time users, yet offers an impressive array of advanced features that will appeal to experienced mind mappers, too. The big news in this latest version of Visual Mind, however, is the new client-server version of this product - the first of its kind in the world of desktop-based mind mapping software.
In this "first look" product review, we'll take a look at some of the most notable new features of Visual Mind 9 and why you should include it on your short list of must-evaluate mind mapping tools.
New: Collaboration capabilities via client/server
The biggest and most important new capability in Visual Mind 9 is real-time map sharing, via a new Visual Mind Server that manages collaboration between users – a first for any mind mapping software. Any changes made to a shared map in Visual Mind will immediately be made available to other users who are working on it. When a map is shared, all files that are included in the map are automatically also shared. This means that all users can view and edit the attached files directly from the map. This is an important breakthrough for users of mind mapping software, who (according to my surveys) say this is one of their biggest needs.
Other new features in Visual Mind include:
Create Microsoft Office documents from within the program: Visual Mind 9 enables you to launch Word, Excel and PowerPoint from within Visual Mind, and store the files you create in the same directory as your map. This makes it easier to share your maps with others, and to utilize them as your “control center” for creating other documents.
Live links to Excel spreadsheet ranges: When you utilize this new feature, you select the Excel spreadsheet from which you want to link a range of cells. Excel opens automatically, and displays the file you selected. You then select the range, hit enter and Visual Mind 9 copies them as a live piece of data into your mind map. Any changes in the cells within your map will be reflected in the Excel spreadsheet, and vice versa. I tried this capability, and it worked very smoothly. This enables you to utilize a Visual Mind 9 map as a dynamic “dashboard” for different types of numeric data stored in Excel. Very cool!
Calculation values: You can calculate totals for sub-trees and maps. For example, let’s say you create a topic, then create 3 subtopics with numeric values. Why you apply the calculation value command to the parent topic, it sums the values of the 3 subtopics. I’m not sure where this would come in useful, however.
Web snapshots: Instead of displaying a link icon on a branch, Visual Mind 9 gives you the option to display a thumbnail image of the web page to which you're linking. You invoke this from the hyperlink dialog box, which contains a “show thumbnail image” checkbox. If you check it, Visual Mind will go out on the Web, capture a screen shot of the site to which you’re linking, and add a thumbnail image of it to your map. Neat!
Structures: This capability was apparently introduced in Visual Mind 8, but I haven’t reviewed this program since version 7, so it’s new to me. Structures are predefined branches and sub-branches that can be inserted into a map at any time. Visual Mind comes with a number of predefined structures, and you can compose your own structures for the type of information you use a lot. Visual Mind 9 contains the following structures: weeks, months, contact details, tasks, pros/cons and SWOT (strengths/weaknesses/opportunities/threats – a strategic planning methodology). In addition, you can easily create your own structures, which you can then re-use at any time. This feature could be a real time-saver if you create the same types of maps over and over. You simply tell Visual Mind to make the selected branch (and its sub-branches) into a structure, and it will be stored in the program’s list.
Conclusion
Visual Mind 9 continues to be a solid mind mapping application that is well-suited to business users. Mind Technologies has taken a big leap ahead of its many competitors by being the first to introduce a client/server version of its program, enabling real-time collaboration on maps. I give the developer a lot of credit for taking the lead in this area.
Aside from the new client/server technology, there is much to like about Visual Mind 9’s new features, especially structures – which helps users of the program to get more done in less time, and to automate repetitive processes.
Visual Mind 9 Business Edition can be ordered online for US $249; the Visual Mind Server costs $800 and requires a PC running Windows 2000, 2003, XP or Vista, with at least 256 MB of RAM and 100 MB of free hard disk space.
Published on 3/27/2008
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Summary
Visual Mind 9 breaks new ground with a client/server version, plus a number of other new and well-designed enhancements.
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