Tinderbox - 5.0.1

I've been using Tinderbox for about six months, after purchasing a copy of version 4.5. This new version is a great improvement in many ways, so if you're intrigued by Tinderbox, but were put off by some of its idiosyncrasies, I'd recommend trying version 5.

Another comment I'd like to make is that a lot is said about how big a learning curve Tinderbox requires. That's true if you want to squeeze every ounce of power out of the application. But I find I can get a lot of use from Tinderbox just using its most basic functions... functions you won't find replicated elsewhere. No other application I'm aware of can show you your notes in a text outline, a diagram and in a free form map (i.e. a sort of white board). And you do not need to be a power user to appreciate this functionality.

Of course, it is the map view that is most associated with Tinderbox, and this truly is unique. Arrange your notes exactly how you want them. Categorize them hierarchically (as in an outline) or visually using the unique and very useful adornments -- which allow you to "fence off" areas of your map to visually distinguish various notes. I use adornments to create matrices for planning.

I hate to use an old cliche, but it is true that Tinderbox is really only limited by your imagination (and a few remaining quirks).

This software is as much a power-user toolkit as it is an end-user application. It can be very simple and elegant to use as an outliner and mind mapper. But it is also suited for highly complex tasks. It has many unique and obscure features that delight faithful power users populating the developer's "geeky" discussion forums. Though responses are prompt and helpful, non-programmers may feel intimidated about asking "obvious" questions. Unfortunately, despite the software's appeal, as of v. 4.5.3 and v. 4.6.1 it still is not universal binary, resulting occasionally in strange glitches running under Rosetta on a late-model Intel MacBook Pro. Even more unfortunate, Tinderbox does not fully support Unicode, which means it's virtually useless for working with Chinese, Japanese, Hebrew and dozens of other languages.