ConceptDraw MINDMAP v7 can export and import Microsoft Project files

PRESS RELEASE

SAN JOSE, Calif., May 24, 2011  ConceptDraw MINDMAP v7 can export and import Microsoft Project files from either Macintosh or PC computers. ConceptDraw MINDMAP v7 is a powerful mind mapping product that starts projects right. Effective brainstorming and requirements gathering from the project team is critical to getting things off of the ground. ConceptDraw MINDMAP on Macintosh or Windows can export to Microsoft Project data from a mind map; it can also import a project file from Microsoft Project giving team members a working visual map of a planned project.


The mind map format makes it easy to restructure project files and quickly discover status of phases, tasks and milestones using the report plug-ins available for ConceptDraw MINDMAP. ConceptDraw MINDMAP has many report plug-ins available to keep everyone up to date.



A mind map of project requirements visually represents the projects structure and can be quickly modified with a couple clicks in ConceptDraw PROJECT or exported to Microsoft Project. Using a mind map to start up projects is a quick and efficient way to get projects off of the ground. Mind maps when incorporated as part of the project planning methodology improve project outcomes, by simplifying planning and adding important contingency strategies.



ConceptDraw MINDMAP is a powerful planning tool that is closely integrated with ConceptDraw PROJECT; using ConceptDraw INGYRE2 technology, to rapidly move teams from planning to implementation. With the added ability of both ConceptDraw MINDMAP and ConceptDraw PROJECT of working with Microsoft Project .xml file format, the flexibility in usage scenarios has increased by an order of magnitude.



ConceptDraw MINDMAP and ConceptDraw PROJECT are powerful professional project management tools that increase productivity by improving team communication and providing timely project status.



Olin Reams, General Manager at CS Odessa comments, a Project Managers and their teams can now mix PCs and Macintoshes with impunity, the amount of flexibility that this can bring to a project team is incredible. There are no barriers to how you can share project data. Couple the file flexibility of ConceptDraw MINDMAP with the many project solutions available in ConceptDraw Solution Park, and you can see the tremendous value that is in our products.



Pricing and Completive Upgrades Available



Availability of ConceptDraw MINDMAP v7 is immediate. ConceptDraw MINDMAP retails for $219 USD, competitive upgrades from other paid mind mapping products are available for $109 USD, contact CS Odessa sales for details on completive up grades of any quantity.



ConceptDraw Solution Park

ConceptDraw Solution Park is an online collection of visual solutions for knowledge workers designed to provide productivity increasing solutions for all ConceptDraw products. ConceptDraw Solution Park contains many subject areas for professional applications. It delivers solutions for Project Management, Business Productivity, Universal Diagramming and Collaboration. To address personal goal setting CS Odessa has added the popular Crystal Mapping SaaS and desktop applications bringing you a powerful personal development tool to augment you and your team's work.

CS Odessa Announces Update to ConceptDraw MindWave

CS Odessa Announces Update to ConceptDraw MindWave, a No-Cost Mind Mapping Gadget for Google Wave

San Jose, California, June 2, 2010 – CS Odessa has released an updated version of its popular mind mapping tool, ConceptDraw MindWave for Google Wave. This is a no charge Google Wave add-in, which enables users to rapidly collaborate with any amount of people, from 2 to 2000.

ConceptDraw MindWave provides teams the opportunity to interactively collaborate on a mind map while building a map structure that represents the focus of collaboration. The mind map can then take full advantage of Google Wave playback, or be downloaded to one’s desktop for further development using ConceptDraw MINDMAP.

Improved Functionality of ConceptDraw MindWave 2:

· Getting Started mind map on first launch to introduce new users to functionality.

· Horizontal scroll bar for more versatile navigation.

· Automatic hyper linking of URL topic text.

· Added help and privacy resources to gadget

· New shortcuts and many usability improvements

Olin Reams, General Manager for the Americas at CS Odessa, observes, “We demonstrated ConceptDraw MindWave, at the recent Google I/O Developers Conference. ConceptDraw MindWave was presented in the Sandbox and was a huge success.”

“Many of the developers and spectators in attendance were able to immediately see the great potential in being able to build and store a mind map whose access can be embedded anywhere HTML appropriate, such as a web page or enterprise portal. Participants are then free to discover and interact with the wave mind map, join the conversation, and add or edit information. The end result is a great collaborative productivity tool.”

ConceptDraw MindWave is a no cost gadget for Google Wave. To install ConceptDraw MindWave, please visit: http://www.conceptdraw.com/mindwave.

ABOUT CS ODESSA

Founded in 1993, Computer Systems Odessa supplies cross-platform productivity tools and graphics technologies to professional and corporate users around the world. With headquarters in Odessa, Ukraine and an office in California, CS Odessa sells products internationally through resellers in over 25 countries. The ConceptDraw Productivity Line of products has won numerous awards and is used by hundreds of thousands of people all over the world.

www.conceptdraw.com

CS Odessa Announces ConceptDraw MindWave

PRESS RELEASE

CS Odessa announces ConceptDraw MindWave a no charge mind mapping add-in for Google Wave

San Jose, California, on March 1st, 2010 – CS Odessa released a version of its mind mapping tool for Google Wave. This is a no charge add-in to Google Wave that can be used as part of Google Wave to map out a strategy rapidly or brainstorm on a critical topic. The ConceptDraw MindWave for Google Wave tool allows teams to collaborate on a mind map in an interactive flowing manner building a map structure that represents the planned work.

The map add-in supports Google Wave playback that allows one to step back through a map. Once a mind map is has the contents from the interactive session the mind map file can then be downloaded to one’s desktop to be further developed using ConceptDraw MINDMAP for Macintosh or Windows.

Olin Reams, General Manager for the Americas at CS Odessa, states, “We hear from our customers that collaboration tools are critical for team communication today. It is what gives them the competitive edge needed to maintain flexibility. Google Wave and ConceptDraw MindWave are free tools that deliver seamless communication inside or outside your organization”.

Yuriy Varbanets, Product Manager for ConceptDraw MINDMAP, adds, “We feel that Google Wave is a great collaboration backbone for us to support with our collaboration tool. Beta customers have been talking up about how well suited it is to their planning process.”

Learn more about ConceptDraw MINDMAP add-in for Google Wave on the ConceptDraw
website http://www.conceptdraw.com/en/mindwave

ABOUT CS ODESSA

Founded in 1993, Computer Systems Odessa supplies cross-platform productivity tools and graphics technologies to professional and corporate users around the world. With headquarters in Odessa, Ukraine and an office in California, CS Odessa sells products internationally through resellers in over 25 countries. The ConceptDraw Productivity Line of products has won numerous awards and is used by hundreds of thousands of people all over the world.

ConceptDraw Mindmap and ConceptDraw Project to support Google Desktop Search

PRESS RELEASE

Contact: Olin Reams

Email: oreams@csodessa.com

Phone: +1 (408) 441-1150 x 205



ConceptDraw Mindmap and ConceptDraw Project to support Google Desktop Search

Plug-in provides convenient access to ideas and information captured using CS Odessa visual documents for Windows





San Jose, CA, December 8, 2009 -- CS Odessa, the leading provider of business productivity and visualization software solutions for Macintosh and PC, announced today the release of its new Google Desktop Search® plug-in. The plug-in is available at no charge to individual and corporate customers who have the current Windows version of the company’s ConceptDraw MINDMAP® or ConceptDraw PROJECT®.



“With the release today of this new plug-in, our customers—especially those working in the enterprise—can now use Google Desktop Search to locate business-critical ideas and information stored inside their ConceptDraw mind maps and project plans,” said Yuriy Varbanets, ConceptDraw MINDMAP product manager. “Unlike typical file systems, ConceptDraw mind maps provide an intuitive, collaborative way to organize the brainstorming, research and planning that is critical to business success.”



CS Odessa’s new plug-in enables customers to use Google Desktop Search to dig deep inside ConceptDraw MINDMAP and ConceptDraw PROJECT documents. This gives users immediate access to a wide range of content types, including project management plans, project task lists, creative brainstorming for new products and services, detailed research notes, and relevant hyperlinks. Search results are then viewable from the Google Desktop Page.

“Our customers are telling us how important search has become to their business,” said Danil Somsikov, ConceptDraw MINDMAP developer. “Integration with Google Desktop Search gives our users a quick, convenient way to search the wealth of information they generate using ConceptDraw mind mapping and project planning software.”



The Google Desktop Search plug-in for ConceptDraw MINDMAP and ConceptDraw PROJECT can be downloaded at http://www.conceptdraw.com/googlesearch. The update is currently available for Windows users only.



The ConceptDraw Productivity Product Line

CS Odessa ConceptDraw products for Macintosh and Windows include:

• ConceptDraw MINDMAP

Brainstorming tool that utilizes mind mapping techniques to help organize ideas and tasks

• ConceptDraw PROJECT

Professional project management software

• ConceptDraw Office

Powerful integrated productivity software suite that allows one to plan, do and manage any process or project

• ConceptDraw PRO

Diagramming and drawing software

• ConceptDraw PRO WebWave Plug-in

Optional software plug-in for ConceptDraw PRO to create professional diagrams and drawings on the stage of website or application prototyping and design, page mocking-up and site-mapping

• ConceptDraw PRO NetDiagrammer Plug-in

Optional network and system design plug-in for ConceptDraw Pro



ABOUT CS ODESSA

Founded in 1993, Computer Systems Odessa supplies cross-platform productivity tools and graphics technologies to professional and corporate users. With headquarters in Odessa, Ukraine and an office in California, USA, CS Odessa sells products internationally through resellers in over 25 countries, and directly sells products in over 120 countries. The ConceptDraw line of productivity solutions has won numerous awards and is used by hundreds of thousands of people all over the world.

To learn more about CS Odessa, please visit

http://www.conceptdraw.com/

# # #

Inside Interview on Snow Leopard Update of ConceptDraw Products

I want to thank Gregory Zhukov, President of CS Odessa for providing me with this inside interview. I know that I found this to be interesting reading in getting an insiders perspective of what it was like to release ConceptDraw Office for the Macintosh with support for Apple's latest operating software Snow Leopard. So enjoy!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Interviewed by: Vladimir Bogatov

In this post release interview of ConceptDraw, Danil Somsikov discusses some of the details on the new update of ConceptDraw Office to support Apple’s Snow Leopard. Danil talks about how this update improves the user experience for those whose daily work relies on ConceptDraw Products..

On September 9th 2009, CS Odessa released an update of their ConceptDraw Office suite, and its associated products, to support the Macintosh Snow Leopard release version 10.6.
This update covered all three products included in the ConceptDraw suite:
• ConceptDraw PRO – Professional business graphics tool for drawing schemes, diagrams and illustrating business documentation
• ConceptDraw PROJECT — Project planning tool and
• ConceptDraw MINDMAP — Tool for writing notes and presenting plans, knowledge and ideas
Many Mac users are familiar with ConceptDraw Products as professional software tools that enable them to visually work with documents and information. CS Odessa is well known for its constant stream of innovation. The latest ConceptDraw Office release for Snow Leopard reminded me of the value that is built into all the ConceptDraw Products, and I felt that this would be a good time to interview one of the key developers of ConceptDraw Office.

Danil Somsikov is a senior developer of ConceptDraw MINDMAP who recently took the time to sit down with me to discuss this release from a developer viewpoint. Of course, I also wanted to take this opportunity for Danil Somsikov to talk about the value in ConceptDraw MINDMAP as well as the support of Snow Leopard. We also spent some time discussing why the ConceptDraw MINDMAP implementation and its close integration with its suite mates within ConceptDraw Office is so important for project management and viewed as a real time saver to our customers.

What can you tell us of the ConceptDraw release for Snow Leopard and the approach taken by you and the other developers?

Our main goal for this update was the support of Snow Leopard. We focused on releasing this update on time to provide business users of Snow Leopard with reliable and stable application. We know many people use our products very heavily in their business, so we spent many hours preparing the release to support our customer’s requirements.When we do the next major update we will use many of the major innovations that are contained in Snow Leopard. Multithreading and a 64-bit architecture enabled us to implement huge improvements in our application’s speed, as well as to the application’s user interface.

Was there anything significant in the fact that the update was released at 9/09/09?

It was just a random play of events that kept us working very hard up to the last minute, it is just pure happenstance that we had everything completed at exactly 9 AM of 9/9/9. :-)

What can you say about the application speed for Snow Leopard? Can you see any difference between Snow Leopard and previous
versions of the Mac OS?

Yes, the application works significantly faster; we have found it to be one and a half times
more efficient.

How many interface changes were made in the updated version for Snow Leopard?

Technically, we paid the most attention to delivering a quick and responsive interface; Snow Leopard helped us with that. The updated interfaces work very smoothly. We made no changes to the GUI (graphical user interface) so this update will remain very familiar for our customers.

What was the hardest part of releasing this version for Snow Leopard?

This time we made many modifications in accordance with Cocoa changes. I really love the Mac platform and all of us on the development team made the required changes to deliver a reliable and stable application for our Snow Leopard users. Traditionally, even with the minor updates of ConceptDraw Products, users can expect to see some additional new and useful features.

What features were added for this update for Snow Leopard?

This time we extended functionality of exporting to PowerPoint, I think our users who use this export feature of the product will like the improvements.

How do you personally use mind mapping in your daily work?

Oh, wow, I use it for everything! I have a multipage mind map in the form of my own personal dashboard where I keep all my notes, books I have or am currently reading, my personal journal/log, and frequently I email mind maps to my friends. I even have a very large mind map that describes all of my work projects and presentations. Additionally, I use mind maps to collect information which may be of use for my current or future work. Aside from these, I use maps to organize information to make decisions that involve many different scenarios and options.

What do you see that differentiates the ConceptDraw MINDMAP product in the marketplace?
How much space do you have to write in?

I will be brief here and limit it to five:
• One, our customers tell us that the product is very easy to learn and use, but is very
powerful at the same time. We work hard to accomplish this; it is a constant focus
of ours.
• Two, we are well integrated with ConceptDraw PROJECT. This makes it easy to start
and manage projects. We are not just a lightweight visual representation of task data,
but a real tool that can be used.
• Three, ConceptDraw MINDMAP multiple page feature in a single map is a very powerful
way to organize larger maps. I use this functionality in most of my maps.
• Four, we provide identical functionality with our Macintosh and PC versions of all of our
products. For people that use both, or want to migrate from one to the other, this is
a immeasurable feature.
• Five, our Brainstorm mode is very powerful and well liked by all of our customers
I could go on, but for the sake of space I will stop at five!

Can you tell me be about your favorite feature of ConceptDraw MINDMAP?

I love the shortcut keys Ctrl+Arrows (up/down, left/right). When viewing a map, I use
the Ctrl+Arrows keys to change a topic’s location levels inside the map’s structure. I find
that for books I read — changing a topic’s location helps me better understand the subject
and creates a more thoughtful and logical description. When I’m changing the topic’s order
and finally discover the right place – my understanding of the subject improves. I like that. :-)
Once you have distributed topics to the right places on the branches of the mind map
tree, the problem becomes much clearer and making decisions becomes an easy and visual
process. It’s a great guideline to follow.

What do you wish to tell people who use ConceptDraw?

I encourage all users of ConceptDraw to write to us with their ideas and wish lists. We research
and implement many fresh ideas of what our users have told us, they would want in
a toolbox for daily use. We are happy to consider all ideas from our customers, especially the most innovative
functionality suggestions which intend to save time and make them more efficient. Many of these ideas have been or are being implemented in future major upgrades. An example of this type of work is the implementation of our One Click Navigation feature set, which was added because of user feedback on making navigation easier within
large maps.We have also implemented a number of easy to use tools for transforming notes into
a presentation. Another feature that we added was an extensive toolbox for project managers who
need to communicate work status of projects and tasks on a daily basis.

What would you like to add to this interview?
I love helping people become more productive. It is my wish to continue to develop our
products that will be useful in anyone’s daily work! :-)
______________________________________
The powerful cross-platform development technology, used by CS Odessa, provides
customers with regular updates as quick as any Windows or Macintosh operating
system updates are scheduled for release. We will always ensure that
ConceptDraw Products will be on-time with updates in the future.
Our development team listens to customer feedback which has a positive impact
on our product development. We are focused and dedicated to improving our products
with innovative functionality and new techniques for “visual writing”.
Who benefits from visual writing? There is a universal need to produce highly visual
documents everywhere and by everyone. One such category of knowledge worker who
require this capability are project managers. They have an appreciation for tools which
saves time and resources on their tasks, and can automatically generate different views
of a project’s data for a wide audience of project participants and stakeholders.

New ConceptDraw Office Release

FYI- CS Odessa announces the release of ConceptDraw Office which provides an innovative approach to managing and visualizing information within your organization

--------------------------------

PRESS RELEASE

Contact: Olesya Yatsuk
Email: O.Yatsuk@csodessa.com
Phone: +38 (0482) 722 66 14

New ConceptDraw Office Release From CS Odessa Takes an Innovative Approach to Managing and Representing Information Within Organizations

Odessa, Ukraine, May 6, 2008 - CS Odessa announces the upcoming release of ConceptDraw Office, scheduled for general availability in mid-June 2008. The brand new business productivity software suite targeted at assisting knowledge workers and project managers in successfully completing extensive sets of tasks in any businesses of any size. ConceptDraw Office addresses the needs of modern managers in a single software solution by covering all aspects of project management including: creativity, productivity, team management, project planning, information management, tracking, resource allocation, and reporting results to stockholders and executives.

The key innovation behind ConceptDraw Office is that for any particular project scenario there is an appropriate visual representation for the respective information. Sample usage scenarios include brainstorming project ideas using a whiteboard-like view, organizing results into highly informative mind maps, and transforming data into detailed project plans and Gantt charts.

ConceptDraw Office reflects the entire collective CS Odessa expertise in developing leading market business applications, data visualization technologies and project management tools. With CS Odessa's revolutionary InGyre Technology, the business productivity applications ConceptDraw MINDMAP, ConceptDraw PROJECT, and ConceptDraw PRO are securely and seamlessly integrated into a single software solution. Depending on the tasks that need to be resolved at a particular moment, the three different applications within the suite can be used while all project data is kept consistent.

The InGyre Technology introduces the capability to work with a single data file when using CS Odessa's project management tool ConceptDraw PROJECT, along with visual mapping software ConceptDraw MINDMAP. Depending on the tasks that need to be resolved, users can decide which application within the suite is most appropriate to accomplish their needs. Any changes to project data in one application are automatically integrated in the others.

The simple creation of visual documentation reflecting actual work progress is a major task that InGyre Technology supports. It easily assists in the creation of visual dashboards and reports that represent key indicators of work progress from either project files or a set of selected tasks. InGyre Technology enables to transform task outlines into professional looking WBS charts. All these documents are editable with ConceptDraw PRO.

Gregory Zhukov, Chief Executive Officer of CS Odessa states, "Never before has a company integrated three visual software solutions into one suite. We place workplace capability into the hands of knowledge workers. We have broken down many of the barriers of true productivity. ConceptDraw Office is all about accomplishing goals and not accepting technical barriers that exist within many other solutions in the market. We have raised the bar, changed the workplace dynamic, and designed our products to utilize the way people think, work, communicate and most importantly:achieve. It's all about accomplishment rather than workarounds that get in the way of real productivity. ConceptDraw Office is for those who want to do."

For more information about ConceptDraw Office, please visit:
http://www.conceptdraw.com/pg?id=cdo_alfa_press-about

ConceptDraw Office is available for pre-order at the price of $499 USD at:
http://www.conceptdraw.com/pg?id=cdo_alfa_press-preorder

ABOUT CONCEPTDRAW PRODUCTIVITY LINE
The ConceptDraw product line for Macintosh and Windows is comprised of:

• ConceptDraw PRO
  Diagramming and drawing software
• ConceptDraw MINDMAP
  Brainstorming tool that utilizes mind mapping techniques to help organize ideas and tasks
• ConceptDraw PROJECT
  Professional project management software
• ConceptDraw WebWave
  Software for creating professional diagrams and drawings on the stage of website or application prototyping and design, page mocking-up and site-mapping
• ConceptDraw NetDiagrammer
  Network and system design

ABOUT CS ODESSA
Founded in 1993, Computer Systems Odessa (www.conceptdraw.com) supplies cross-platform productivity tools and graphics technologies to professional and corporate users. With headquarters in Odessa, Ukraine and an office in California, USA; CS Odessa sells products internationally through resellers in over 25 countries. The ConceptDraw Productivity Line of products has won numerous awards and is used by hundreds of thousands of people all over the world.

Highlights of Summer Blogging

I hope that everyone has had a great summer! I have been busy blogging this summer and I hope I can keep up the pace as I move into my Fall schedule. It has been a lot of fun writing about new applications and having the opportunity to meet and talk to some of the developers of the programs. But along the way , I have met some great folks who not only have a vision as to how these programs can be utilized but are passionate about the work they do.

For those of you who may be new to this blog, I have spent a fair amount of time talking about assistive technology, mind mapping, visual learning, project management, as well as talking about Web 2.0 applications that are both innovative and useful. Along the way I have also written about some interesting programs which I would like to highlight for you. If you have the opportunity take a look at the Archived articles, I’m sure you will find something of interest.

Review of MindManager 7 Mac
MindSystems ThemeReader & Text to Speech
InspireData from Inspiration
Odiogo- Adding Accessibility to Blogs
Teacher’s Guide to Mindmapping
TouchGraph Visual Search Engine
FastTrack Schedule 9.2
NovaMind 4 for Mac Released
IntelliGantt Add-in for Mindmanager Pro 7
PersonalBrain 4 Macintosh Released
JVCGantt Pro 3 & MindManager 7-Perfect Together
Vernier’s Labquest Handheld Data Analysis Tool
XMIND for Mindmapping
Hyperstudio 5 to be Released this Fall
LiveScribe- This Isn’t an Ordinary Pen
theRealizer-Mindmanager Add-in
ConceptDraw Mindmap 5 for Macintosh Shipping August 28


Enjoy and let me know what you think-your comments are always welcomed!

ConceptDraw MINDMAP 5 Updated

Odessa, Ukraine, July 10 2007 – CS Odessa today has released a service pack for its business productivity software product ConceptDraw MINDMAP 5. Mind mapping and brainstorming techniques are often recognized as helping people boost their business effectiveness and productivity, and our latest offering MINDMAP 5 is a sophisticated tool that is easy to use for mapping out a new process or task.

ConceptDraw MINDMAP 5 provides a simple and intuitive toolset that can be used in project planning, personal organizing and team management tasks using the mind mapping visual metaphor. MINDMAP 5 easily integrates into one’s daily office workflow because of the tight integration with the Microsoft Office product line and many popular project management tools.

MINDMAP 5.0.3 service pack is available to any registered customer of version 5. Individuals who are currently evaluating ConceptDraw MINDMAP 5.0.2 version can now download the newest release to evaluate our MINDMAP product offering.