We once had a discussion about whether mindmapping software was overpriced. Some price differences may support that conclusion. MindGenius Business costs almost $300, compared to almost $60 for MindGenius Home. As to functionality (contrasted to aesthetic aspects, a _contrast_ for me, but not for everyone), Home essentially lacks only the filtering features, interesting but not to my mind a core outlining/mind mapping feature.

What allows such a differential? I wonder if the business edition is mainly purchased by corporations for their employees. Are corporations generous these days with such amenities? If so, it may be the only scrap of generolity left in today's business climate.

By my standards, MindGenius Business is the best mind mapper today and MindGenius Home represents the best current value. A good middle point is MindMapper 5. MindMapper sells previous versions as current alternative versions. You can buy versions 3.5, 4, or 5, on an upward price gradient.

(Why all the agony over what is ultimately a fairly small amount of money, in the context of business or professional use? I sometimes wonder about that, in such discussions, that is when I don't initiate them. Perhaps it is like the decision to "have just one drink.")

There is a very cheap way apparently to obtain mindmapping software. I doubt its legality. Does anyone know anything about the OEM versions of such software that is sold online. At such Internet outposts you can get MindGenius Business 2.4 OEM (but an earlier build than currently sold, without the right to upgrade) for $15; MindManager and MindMapper each for $20 (OEM versions; I don't know how these relate to the current commercial offering.) Does anyone know anything about these offerings? Are they legal? If not, is the consumer or only the distributor breaking the law? What does the quality tend to be? Or do they take your credit card number and not return a product or use it fraudulently otherwise? Any information or experience appreciated.

OEM software is mostly scam.
They will either steal the billing data, or they will at best send you a trial version with a crack or keygen.
I would only buy OEM software from a reputable online store.

The legality of OEM software depends on the country you live in, but OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) software can never be bought seperately from hardware without breaking the software licence agreement. There are, therefore, no reputable sources of OEM software - it comes on hardware or not at all. I can't imagine mind mapping software being provided pre-installed on any hardware, so OEM versions are unlikely.

People selling OEM software are therefore either software pirates, credit card number thieves or the software will arrive laden with trojans and other nasties. You might as well just put your cash on the table and burn it - it would be easier and quicker. :-)

Graham

Out of curiosity, I did a search yesterday on mindmanager oem, and the two stores I visited looked as a scam right on first sight. Moreover, the whois search revealed they were owned by someone in Russia.

Actually I have met one exception to OEM being sold with hardware, and it was one of the Microsoft's OEM packages of Windows XP - it is possible to buy it without any hardware here, for the purposes of operation system cross-upgrade, or operation system legalization.

Thomas wrote:

Actually I have met one exception to OEM being
sold with hardware, and it was one of the Microsoft's OEM packages of Windows XP - it is
possible to buy it without any hardware here, for the purposes of operation system
cross-upgrade, or operation system legalization.

For What It's Worth
I purchased an OEM copy of Win XP from a well known computer supply computer at a substanial discount, it was sold with hardware - an audio cable.

Apparently, you can satisfy the legal requirements by including _any_ hardware. (This isn't my area of law, and I don't know if the law is at all clear on whether this way of satisfying its requirements is contested.) This means legal OEM software cannot be downloaded.

One observation about the download site for the mind mapping software. It includes no Microsoft software. MS has taken piracy seriously and has the means to enforce its rights).

This may answer my question about the price differential for MindGenius. If mainly corporations buy the business version license, Gael can enforce its rights against piracy and get paid $300 because the scrutiny for corporate compliance with copyright is stiffer. There might be little point in setting a high price for the home edition, as high prices may cause home users to buy pirated versions of the software.

Ken Ashworth wrote:

Thomas wrote:
>Actually I have met one exception to OEM being
>sold with
hardware, and it was one of the Microsoft's OEM packages of Windows XP - it is

>possible to buy it without any hardware here, for the purposes of operation system

>cross-upgrade, or operation system legalization.

For What It's Worth
I
purchased an OEM copy of Win XP from a well known computer supply computer at a
substanial discount, it was sold with hardware - an audio cable.

Apparently, you can satisfy the legal requirements by including _any_ hardware.

Yes; I thought this was something that only happened in Greece (which is notorious for its legal loopholes) but obviously it's common practice in many countries.

The biggest computer vendor herr, with about 40% of the market, sells Operating Systems upgrades this way, though not much else. If they didn't offer it at such competitive pricing, most people would probably use pirate copies (as for most software aimed at private use in the country).

alx