Even when importing and exporting complex documents, XMind never threw up a pinwheel. I encountered no freezes or unexpected quits in daily use on a MacBook Pro. Interface design aside, the overall user experience with XMind is satisfying. XMind goes beyond mind maps with templates for org charts, flow charts, and the aptly named fishbone chart. None of these design choices are inherently wrong, but they don’t deliver the Mac experience. Font management also bypasses Apple’s tools in favor of a toolbar-like configuration that doesn’t offer previews. Color palettes are straight out of Excel, including the Automatic option thankfully, clicking Custom opens the standard Mac color picker. One window, three or four panes, tabs in each pane-this is a classic (and wanting) Microsoft design pattern.
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Placed side by side, XMind for Mac and Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio Express for Windows were clearly separated at birth.
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Like many multi-platform products, XMind runs on Mac OS X, but doesn’t feel as comfortable as software that uses Mac design patterns. XMind comes up short on interface design. Trying to remember an arcane keyboard combination or, heaven forbid, reaching for the mouse can really harsh your mind-mapping buzz. While pressing return may seem too simple to bother mentioning, the fact is that most mind mapping programs make populating the map harder than it needs to be. Adding child and grandchild branches is a simple matter of pressing return or command-return. When you create a new document, XMind enters Brainstorm Mode, creating and selecting the central topic. XMind is a model of simplicity for populating a new map. Child branches radiate out from there, using text, colors, and graphic embellishments to articulate the ideas.
XMind 2008 Pro (version 2.3) stays true to the mind mapping ideals, though Macintosh standards are the occasional victim.Īll mind maps start with a central topic. Mind mapping aims to prevent those cranial logjams through a process that gets the ideas out quickly, without needless organizational burdens. All of us have created a new, blank document only to stare at the vast empty space wondering what to do next. Getting thoughts out of your head and into your Mac isn’t always easy.
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