FreeMind 0.9.0_RC_5

FreeMind 0.9.0_RC_5  is a useful tood created for users to edit Mind maps, XML/HTML documents, and directory trees.

In future, even network-structures will be supported such as Topic Maps (ISO). All this data is represented to the user as a Mind map. This is achived with a modular design, which makes it possible to easily write modules, only designing the model of the problem (the data structure), without caring for the visual representation at all. Currently a Mind Mapping and a File Mode are implemented.

 Major Features:

1. Fully functional following of HTML links stored in the nodes, be it www links or links to local files.
2. From very early versions, Freemind supports folding which is its essential property.
3. Fast one-click navigation, including folding / unfolding on one click and following links on one click at the same time (you don't have to make choice between fast following of links and fast fold/unfold). You can move the map by dragging the map's background as well as using mouse wheel.
4. Undo
5. Smart Drag'n Drop, including the possibility to copy nodes or copy style of nodes; dragging and dropping of multiple selected nodes; dropping of texts or list of files from outside
6. Smart copying and pasting into, including pasting of links from HTML or structuring the pasted content on the basis of the number of leading spaces in a line; pasting of lists of selected files
7. Smart copying and pasting from, including plain text and RTF (MS Wordpad, MS Word, MS Outlook messages).
8. Export of map to HTML, with folding
9. Find facility, where found items are shown one by one as you do "find next", and the map is unfolded only for the current item.
10. Possibility to use and edit long multiline nodes; even with newlines
11. Possibility to decorate nodes with built-in icons, colors and different fonts.
12. Low costs of risk of switching away to another mind mapping tool, because FreeMind stores maps in XML format. If you have a lot of maps created by FreeMind and you want to switch to another program, writing a conversion program should be easy, especially if that program features Visual Basic scripting facility.
    
13. File mode enables you to browse the files on your computer, seeing the folder structure as mind map.
14. See more details in Freemind development tree
    
15. Weak spots include:
    • The support of pictures in nodes is in preliminary stage. When you want to carry a map around with you, you have to take care that you take the image files with you.
    • FreeMind is basically one user application. Although users can in principle work on the same map, there is only preliminary locking mechanism to prevent conflicts, at the time, switched off by default.
    • In rare cases, following of HTML links in the web browser does not work on some computers; the same holds for opening local files.
    • Limited support for fancy graphics.

Enhancements:

• A great release is to come. There are many exciting new features: WYSIWYG-Editing for nodes and notes, scripting, filter, attributes and many more.
  

Requirements:

• In Windows, double click Freemind.exe,
  
• On any operating system, double click freemind.jar in the lib/ folder of the folder in which FreeMind has been installed.