The current triplet available from MindJet - Standard, Business and Enterprise versions of Mind Manager - all share a user interface and diagramming style that's almost identical the the Mind Manager Smart I've been using for a couple of years.

The MindJet products allow you to select icons for the nodes of the MindMap, link them and annotate them. It is very close in its realisation to the Buzan technique for creating MindMaps.

The newer versions, upwards from the Business edition, have good integration with Microsoft Office, including Outlook should you be a MindMap-based scheduler.

If I was spending my own money on software just to create MindMaps, I think I would choose Mind Manager Business Edition.

I have used Visio for business diagramming for . . . well, years! I've got a Version 4 manual dated 1995 on my bookshelf and I think that was from an upgrade. So I am familiar with the product! I currently use Visio 2000.

Because Visio is now part of the Microsoft Office family its integration with the other family members is very good. The current release is Visio 2002 although you can still get Visio 2000 (See, for instance, Amazon)

This product is easy to use and intuitive but has a multitude of features, taking much longer to get to grips with than, say, Mind Manager. It supports the fundamental Buzan principles of MindMapping, too.

If I was spending my own money and had other diagramming tasks, other than MindMapping but including some MindMaps, this would be my first choice.

Personal Brain's key feature over Mind Manager is that it is a newer product and looks (and feels) both neater and tidier: Its environment is more dynamic. At first this all seems better and more exciting but, after a while, these features get in the way.

For instance, you can create fairly Buzan-like, spider-style MindMaps and the application allows you to zoom onto the currently-selected object. So, when you select a node it moves centre screen and its nearest neighbours arrange themselves around it. While this gives an excellent view of the relationship the selected object has with its closely-associated objects it makes any appreciation of the overall MindMap very difficult.

When I had a go at using Personal Brain I felt as though almost all my efforts went into using the product and almost none into MindMapping. When I first tried the other two it was more like 50:50 and improved rapidly in favour of MindMapping.

As far as I know it's only available to UK end-users by download and at a reasonable price. Like Mind Manager, Personal Brain doesn't need a state of the art machine nor even latest in Windows OS, where both score over Visio.

I look forward to the next version of Personal Brain, assuming the main wrinkles are ironed out between now and then. (I've also noticed considerable unavailability of the www.thebrain.com web site during March 2003 - I hope that's not a bad sign!)

If I had to create MindMaps along the lines suggested by Tony Buzan I would use a sheet of paper and a handful of coloured pens (or pencils).

The closest you are likely to get to the paper based process is Mind Manager. If you have any other diagramming requirements, like organisational charts or network diagrams, for instance, Visio has to be a more complete product and the pricing of Mind Manager kills its attractiveness in comparison.