General rate: Positive
Have used for over a year; Amazed how it can be so simple to use yet easily handle so many tasks. This is a thinking tool not a format or image tool. It can easily handle 2do lists, project management, and any kind of organization of topic, subtopics. A recent upgrade makes it an excellect data gathering tool for extracting info from the internet, web pages, or any text oriented application. For being so simple, it doesn't seem like a week goes by that I do not discover another excellent feature or two that I didn't even know BrainStorm had all along.

General rate: Negative
You could really do the same thing as this software's function with Microsoft Word. I also didn't appreciate the make-shift structure of the software. I had to consider that this software was compiled in the 80's.

General rate: Positive
Very useful! As a tool for creativity and organization, BrainStorm compares favorably with the many outliners, mind-mappers, and so forth, that I have used. BrainStorm makes it easy to get out a lot of thoughts quickly, and then to rearrange those thoughts until an appropriate structure emerges. Yes, on the surface the program is simple--that's part of why it facilitates creativity, allowing you to write quickly without fussing over inessentials. Those who explore a bit more deeply will find that the program also has powerful tools for organizing text, as well as for gathering text from other programs and for making structured "models" available for others to navigate.