Operating system Type Project management | Platform Java | |
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Developer(s) Jörg Müller, Daniel Polansky, Petr Novak, Christian Foltin, Dimitri Polivaev, et al. Stable release FreeMind 1.0.1 / September 12, 2014; 2 years ago (2014-09-12) Repository git.code.sf.net/p/freemind/code | ||
FreeMind is a free mind mapping application written in Java. FreeMind is licensed under the GNU General Public License Version 2. It provides extensive export capabilities. It runs on Microsoft Windows, Linux and macOS via the Java Runtime Environment.
Contents
As with other mind mapping software packages, FreeMind allows the user to edit a hierarchical set of ideas around a central concept. The non-linear approach assists in brainstorming new outlines and projects as ideas are added around the mind map. As a Java application, FreeMind is portable across multiple platforms and retains the same user interface, causing some amount of variation from the common interface on each platform. Mac users may notice the most difference from their traditional user interface, but a MacWorld reviewer says the software's features should still appeal to the segment of users who accept function over form.
FreeMind was a finalist for Best Project in SourceForge.net's Community Choice Awards for 2008, which featured Open Source software projects.
Features
FreeMind's documentation is itself available as a FreeMind mindmap, demonstrating many of the features of the application. This is accessed from the application menu: Help > Documentation. A flash based export of this documentation is available online and can be viewed from flash-enabled web browsers. The link can be found in the external links section.
FreeMind's most significant features are as follows:
FreeMind uses the Swing GUI toolkit for Java.
FreeMind developers or developers of other projects have made plugins for various wiki and content management system software so that Freemind files can be viewed and in some cases created via the web interface.
Forks
There are (at least) two active forks of the FreeMind project. Freeplane is mainly developed by FreeMind's former developer Dimitri Polivaev and focuses on enhanced usability. SciPlore MindMapping, now Docear, focuses on enhanced PDF support (bookmark import) and integration of reference management including BibTeX support.