TheBrain helps keep your thoughts straight

What if you were able to put your entire brain into one computer program? Every thought, work-related or personal, with links to Web pages or files on your computer, and any additional notes you'd care to make. And what if you could then link those thoughts together, weaving them into free and complex associative patterns, much like an actual train of thought going through your head? That's what TheBrain tries to let you do.


At its core, TheBrain 7.0 is a powerful and flexible mind-mapping program. If you're looking to create a simple mind map for just one project, you could always go with a minimalistic free app like Blumind, or even with mind-mapper favorite Freemind. But if you'd like to create a vast mind map which covers a lot of ground, TheBrain might just be what you need (and its free version retains lots of functionality).


The first thing you see when creating a new brain is just a single "thought" against a background called "the Plex." In TheBrain, a thought is just a name for a node in your mind map--much like an "idea" in online mind-mapper MindMeister. Each thought can have multiple siblings, multiple children (sub-thoughts), and even multiple parents. That last one is not an obvious feature, and allows for creating very complex layouts. For example, in a film-related mind map, you could have actor Keanu Reeves both under "male heroes" and under "Matrix cast."


The Plex itself hasn't changed much since I first used TheBrain (when it was still called PersonalBrain), about five years ago. It is still visually impressive and fun to use. As you click a thought you'd like to focus on, it smoothly floats over to the center of the Plex, and the other thoughts get rearranged (or shown or hide), all with slick, futuristic animations.


One major visual change for TheBrain 7 is that links between thoughts are now curved, rather than simple straight lines. That sounds minor, but when you're working on a huge mind map, it does make a visual impact.


Official WebSite: TheBrain.com

Source: PCWorld.com