Review: MindView 5 makes notice maps first-class people inside the Office ecosystem

Some alternate realities are exciting to imagine: What might have Apple looked like had Steve Jobs not produced it back? And what kind of planet might you reside inside had the Internet stayed purely for academia as well as the military? Others are less so: What when Microsoft built a mind-mapping tool into Office? However, that’s 1 I think I could answer: It might look really like Matchware’s MindView 5 ($ 279, 30-day free trial).

Just like latest versions of Office, MindView 5 has a Ribbon rather of the conventional menu. The Ribbon is styled only like the 1 inside Office 2013, however, clicking File nonetheless pops open a menu instead of taking we to the clunky fresh Backstage view. Other than the Ribbon, MindView feels like an average mind-mapping utility, with a core that’s not much different from free ones like Blumind. We create nodes plus sub-nodes, drag them about to rearrange plus nest them, plus will add notes or linked info to every node.

One interesting MindView feature is the fact that you are able to have multiple root node inside the notice map. That’s something even sophisticated tools like TheBrain don’t allow you to do: Every node generally has to function as the child of another node. Using several root nodes effectively does take a bit of getting employed to.

Just like SimpleMind, MindView lets we conveniently theme the notice chart with many ready-made designs. I didn’t discover the prepackaged styles to be visually impressive, because the background stays white by standard. But changing hues isn’t truly the only method to restyle the mind map: MindView lets we instantly change between 3 different layout designs plus present the info because a conventional mind chart, a top-down hierarchy, or perhaps a left-right structure.

For hierarchical info, MindView’s top-down view functions perfectly.

Once you’re completed crafting a notice chart, it’s frequently time to present it to others. MindView has a Presentation Mode which removes the Ribbon, exiting a notice chart inside center-stage. It comes with big, easy-to-click buttons for moving by the nodes, generating it convenient to jump from node to node inside a logical sequence.

Creating a notice chart will moreover be a advantageous method to brainstorm a composing outline, plus MindView lets we export a notice chart straight into Microsoft Word. The resulting file is well-structured, with an automatically produced table of contents based about the notice map. The hierarchy of the notice chart is preserved, plus we receive sections plus subsections based on the structure of the chart. MindView also offers an import feature, yet it failed to understand the easy outline I tried importing.

One location inside that MindView is notably lacking is collaboration. Where online tools like MindMeister shine with concurrent modifying plus sophisticated History attributes, MindView feels more like a single-user tool–a bit like the difference between Microsoft Word plus Google Docs.

MindView comes with many easy themes, all based about a white background.

In general, I wouldn’t state MindView 5 is a pretty exciting tool, because of the cost tag. Before you invest $ 279 about a desktop mind-mapping utility, you’d do effectively to test out the free choices available, as well as the subscription-based online goods, too.

Note: The Download switch found on the Product Information page takes we to the vendor’s website, where you are able to download the newest variation of the program.