MUSUBANA  The free version is nice, but it is rather limited when comes to usefullness, as you can only see three "generations" at a time. This makes it very hard to supervise anything but the most minuscule charts.

Sure, you can click your way through’em, but you miss the "bird’s perspective" which is really needed if you want to find unexpected connections between ideas.

I must admit the price of the paid version is a ... no-brainer.

I can’t think of any other app where the leap from "free" to "share" is that steep.  (Version 4.1.3.4)

JBACHELOR  I started working with the free version of PersonalBrain a couple of months ago, and it is absolutely phenomenal. There is, simply stated, nothing else like it. To the reviewer who was upset that the next version up from the free version was $150, and then the pro version is $250, I must respectfully disagree with your negative impression. I think it is absolutely unbelievable that there is ANY free version of this software at all, and I think it is a serious gift that there is. Even the free version is tremendously useful. About two weeks ago, I upgraded to the pro version. Visit their website... they offer video tutorials to get you going, and they have frequent, live, free webinars where you can get a great demo and get your own specific questions answered.

This product is fast, stable, and unbelievably useful. Spend an hour with it... get to know how to use it... there's just no turning back!  (Version 4.1.2.7)

ZO219  Perhaps it should be mentioned, amongst all these raves, that, yes, the Free edition is free ...

and the next upgrade is $149.95 ...

and the Pro version, $249.00.

I hate it when developers do that.   (Version 4.0.9)

STANHOFFMAN  This program has completely captivated me in a way that very few others have. For years I have tried every personal information manager, and mind mapping, and file management tool I could find. At first I found it a bit awkward, but as I used it it quickly grew on me--so much so that I upgraded to the Pro edition (at first I thought I'd just stay with the free edition...). Here's why:

- The learning curve was surprisingly fast. I didn't expect this because the app is still relatively new to the Mac and there are some very un-Mac things about it. However, after a few initial puzzles, I quickly found myself breezing through reorganizations of large clusters of thoughts, establishing relationships with things far separated in the network (hierarchy doesn't really apply), moving files into and out of my Brain, gathering quantities of data (links, files, images) from the internet and keeping it all manageable, viewable, and most importantly, findable with very little effort.

- It actually allows me to organize thoughts and files the way I think rather than the way the operating system thinks. Establishing and changing relationships among thoughts is easy and fast. Though it's possible to mimic conventional, two-dimensional mind maps, this is not what PersonalBrain is designed for. In cases where full control of the visual presentation of information is key, I use other apps to create documents which are then stored inside my Brain.

- At first I didn't like having 100% control over how the information was displayed on the screen. Now I am continually delighted and relieved not to have to deal with this sort of thing. Whenever you activate a thought, the entire display shifts around so you can see as much of the structure as you want in relationship to that thought. In the fully expanded view you can move things around a bit in case an area is extremely dense with thoughts, but I am finding that the more I use PersonalBrain and refine how I establish relationships, the less I need to do this. The beauty of not controlling the layout is that you don't have to maintain the layout--PersonalBrain takes care of it elegantly.

- The biggest drawback to PB lies in some of the un-Mac-like aspects of the interface. It's a very small price to pay for functionality which, for me, has replaced several other apps. The developers are putting a lot of attention to the needs and concerns of Mac users, so this area will only get better.

- The learning curve would have been even faster if there were a really good manual for version 4 (there's a manual for version 3 and a "transition guide" for version 4). Hopefully they will finish the version 4 manual soon. (8/31/2007, Version: 4.0.8.9)   (Version 4.0.9)