I've a confession to make. Although I've reviewed Mindjet's mind mapping software, MindManager, a number of times now, it's never really grabbed my imagination, at least not in the way it has with some of the users I've spoken to. The latest release, however, is starting to win me over, with a number of new features in MindManager 8 which really should widen its appeal.

Let's start by re-capping what this so-called mind mapping tool is all about which, in essence, is visualising complex projects and tasks using graphical tree diagrams. The main topic is placed at the centre of the tree, with braches then added pointing to related ideas, notes, tasks and so on. Much like the paper-based mind maps popularised by TV guru Tony Buzan back in the seventies, but translated to the PC.

Hardware requirements are very straightforward. All you need is a PC running Windows XP or Vista (32-bit only in either case) with the supporting .Net Framework installed by the setup program if not already configured. You're then presented with a Visio-like set of drawing tools to create maps containing not just boxes and labels but links to other data sources including complete or partial documents, spreadsheets, external URLs and so on. You can also quickly re-organise map content, change the way it's displayed on the screen and so on.

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So what's new in this release? Well to start with there's some minor tidying of the user interface, MindManager being one of the first applications to adopt the Fluid ribbon introduced in Office 2007. That stays, but is made more consistent and easier to navigate.

One of the biggest changes, however, affects the sharing of maps. Previously you could export and distribute maps, but recipients needed a program called the MindManager Player to open them. This was available free of charge but distributing it was a bind, so now the player can be embedded together with the map inside a PDF document or Flash .SWF file, making it much simpler to share maps with others.

Maps shared this way are still read-only, but for £8 + VAT per month, subscribers to Mindjet Connect can work with others on their maps over the Internet.

Also new in this release is a linker tool to enable information held on shared databases to be included in MindManager maps, with support for DB2, MySQL and Oracle as well Access, Excel and SQL Server databases. Plus there's an integrated browser to do research and link to online data sources without having to leave the MindManager application. Likewise, you now get built-in editors to directly edit Word, Excel and other Office documents, and a tool to add links to Web services to a map.

The number of services isn't huge but you can, for example, drag links to a number of search engines onto a map to run a search using the topic chosen. A pre-specified number of results will automatically be added as linked sub-topics. Click one of these and it opens in the embedded browser, with a refresh button to update the results as needed.

A handful of eCommerce Web services is also supported including Amazon and eBay, along with FaceBook and MySpace searches.

Packaging also changes with this release, with the previous Pro and Lite editions replaced by a single MindManager 8 product. There's also a new software-as-a-service implementation - MindManager Web - which for £8 + VAT per user per month lets you create, edit and share maps in a browser, albeit without all the features of the Windows version.

It still takes a while to get to grips with MindManager 8 and it remains something of a specialist tool. However, this latest release makes it a lot more usable and it's well worth checking out if you've business projects and other complex tasks to manage.

The latest release of the MindManager visual mind mapping tool makes it easier to share maps plus work on the data they contain, with a new database linker, embedded browser and built-in editors for Microsoft Office documents. Links to Web services can also be included and there's a new hosted implementation, all of which will broaden the appeal of this still somewhat specialised application.