Tinderbox is a visual mapping tool for Mac OS X that has attracted quite a devoted following of writers, business users and others who need a fast, intuitive way to record ideas and then link them visually. Developer Eastgate Systems has had a Windows version under development for some time now. I recently queried Eastgate founder Mark Bernstein on the status of Tinderbox for Windows. Here’s what he had to say about its estimated release date:
"Second or third quarter (of 2006). We’ve invested more time than expected refactoring and polishing, but Tinderbox on *both* platforms will benefit substantially from the delay."
I can’t wait to play with this product (in the meantime, maybe I should finally break down and buy an iMac!). If you peruse the Tinderbox site, it’s obvious that this is a "deep" program with a great deal of well thought-out functionality. Its users tend to be fairly passionate, as evidenced by the posts in the Tinderbox Blog.
One interesting new development: Eastgate has started to schedule "Tinderbox Weekends," where developer Mark Bernstein will train users on capturing and organizing ideas in the program, how to work with spatial hypertext, using Tinderbox agents and more. Mark will also be available to answer questions about the program and how to get the most out of it. The first session is scheduled for April 22 in Chicago, followed by May 13-14 in Boston. Several European dates are also planned. If you live close to one of these locations and want to see what all the excitement is about, then you ought to check out these training sessions.
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