Another failure. NovaMind announced it is shuttering its doors and "transferring" its IP "to a company managed by a former employee of NovaMind, who plans in due course to take the software forward in new directions". Which means probably nothing. (The "former employee" wrote on the NM blog "I also have no illusions about the reality of the current situation".)

https://www.novamind.com

Current licensees will get a perpetual license to use the desktop product as it is today, with no future updates or support; and the possibility that the new company will offer a $60 annual support agreement. NovaMind was a great mind mapper, but it over promised and under delivered.

Independent software -- it's great, until one day it isn't.

Whenever I am offered a "lifetime" subscription for a higher price, I should know that the place is in trouble. I bought it, didn't get any further updates, and now need to switch to MindManager.

Sad to read, but I believe that MindNode and iThoughts are pretty much just as good feature-wise, with more contemporary designs and much lower prices.

I have MindManager but don't really like the look of the maps (I use them in teaching, projected on a screen). I also have ConceptDraw Mind Mapping software, which is awful looking. I hadn't heard of iThoughts, but it looks like customers love it. I'll give it a shot.


Hugh wrote:

Sad to read, but I believe that MindNode and iThoughts are pretty much
just as good feature-wise, with more contemporary designs and much lower
prices.

iThoughts is definitely worth a look. It is easy to control look & feel, and then save as a custom style. It's also pretty easy to share custom styles between people or computers.

I need mindmap task integration with Outlook, OneNote, attachments, and other features, and unfortunately MindJet has the best offer for that. It is a horribly designed product, sold at an jaw dropping price, with the worst online customer service. But at least it is still supported and developed. (Although MindJet has finally given up the ruse that they will produce upgrades to the Mac version, which has fallen far behind the Windows version and really isn't very useful anymore.)

iThoughts is a great product on iOS -- the macOS interface is less robust, but still good -- and it imports/exports a great range of file formats.

ConceptDraw hasn't upgraded its products for quite a while -- it is still supported but seems to have plateaued.

Mindmapping is a distinct and often frustrating sub-category of CRIMP.

Is anyone using SimpleMind (a terrible name, I must say)? It offers client versions for iOS, Mac, Windows and Android and continues to be upgraded. I don't know how the features stack up against other mind mapping apps, but you can see the feature list here:

http://www.simpleapps.eu/simplemind/desktop/windows/features

Just wondering if anyone has used the app and has an opinion about it.

Steve Z.

I bought SimpleMind for iOS, and loved it, mostly to plan and give talks. What really works is the default drag-it-around-the-screen feel to it. That is, it doesn't snap to a grid or follow usually strict Mindmap node placement rules. That could get annoying for linear thinking, but for noodling a topic, for playing with order and learning, it feels very organic. I also played with it on Android (both tablet and phone), but the average ipad (not the mini seems like the minimum screen size for a mindmap. For me, anyhow. But very touch friendly.

More recent versions of SimpleMind offer themes and more traditional layouts too.

I just downloaded the App Store version of SimpleMind. The format is relatively easy on the eyes for projection on a screen. I'm still trying to get used to not having a "file" menu.

SimpleMind is nice -- the file storage is a bit quirky to learn, but makes sense. I wouldn't recommend having the iOS version open at the same time as the desktop version. One or both of the instances always seems to get confused about when to update a document display and sometimes I get conflicted copies or duplicates.

Here's a cool feature of SimpleMind:

https://youtu.be/HsN0szdMLgE

It's how you can map the contents of a PDF. I do not know if other mind maps do this or not, but it's the first time I've encountered it.

Steve Z.

Note that linking to files (including the link to PDF that Steve and the video describe) is not available on the Mac App Store version due to sandboxing.

http://www.simpleapps.eu/simplemind/desktop/osx

Thanks Steve, I had not noticed that - it is a bit hidden in the Windows version (under the Mindmap menu item, then >Add Mindmap >New Mindmap from pdf.
SimpleMind also has a nifty outlining feature. It displays the mindmap as an outline in the right-hand panel, and you can move things around there and the map reflects those changes. I have only seen this before in Inspiration9 - but this is smoother and generally more pleasing to operate.
Cheers
Jeff

Stephen Zeoli wrote:

Here's a cool feature of SimpleMind:

https://youtu.be/HsN0szdMLgE

It's how you can map the contents of a PDF. I do not know if other mind
maps do this or not, but it's the first time I've encountered it.

Steve Z.

Novamind "Perpetual" subscribers were treated this week with an update to NovaMind. No new features, but it has been renamed "NovaMind Legacy". Sort of an ironic name. According to Wikipedia:

"In computing, a legacy system is an old method, technology, computer system, or application program, "of, relating to, or being a previous or outdated computer system." Often a pejorative term, referencing a system as "legacy" often implies that the system is out of date or in need of replacement."

Perfect us the folks who paid hundreds for perpetual updates.

The "new owner" of NovaMind published their subscription scheme: $72/year (or $84 or $71 or something else -- it's not clear how the math actually works). Since the "new owner" says this about the future "To start with, we are continuing to offer the latest Desktop versions and in the longer term I hope that we can refocus any future development efforts on NovaMind’s strengths with a pragmatic approach while continuing the tradition of innovation that NovaMind is known for."

Paying something greater than zero for the "longer term" hope of new development seems like a loser. Especially, since, as Jeffrey reports, we existing owners just received a perpetual license in lieu of the promises we bought into 2 years ago. How is it the saying goes -- "fool me once" / "fool me twice"?

Jeffery wrote:

Novamind "Perpetual" subscribers were treated this week with an update
to NovaMind. No new features, but it has been renamed "NovaMind Legacy".
Sort of an ironic name. According to Wikipedia:

"In computing, a legacy system is an old method, technology, computer
system, or application program, "of, relating to, or being a previous or
outdated computer system." Often a pejorative term, referencing a system
as "legacy" often implies that the system is out of date or in need of
replacement."

Perfect us the folks who paid hundreds for perpetual updates.

I bought SimpleMind for my iPad. It works really well, and can import and export Freemind format (which I use for mindmapping on the desktop).

Paul Korm wrote:

Paying something greater than zero for the "longer term" hope of new
development seems like a loser. Especially, since, as Jeffrey reports,
we existing owners just received a perpetual license in lieu of the
promises we bought into 2 years ago. How is it the saying goes -- "fool
me once" / "fool me twice"?

I couldn't agree more.