The latest on Edraw

For three months, I had a post on this blog’s front page: “Questions about Edraw”.  Now, I’m really pleased to say that the questions have been resolved and I am able to remove that post.  The background to that post is at the end of this, if you’re interested.

The publishers have released Edraw Max V5.3 and Edraw Mind Map V4.6 and the warning messages I reported before no longer appear.

Edraw Mind Map is a very capable, professional-looking application and is free.  It makes more than just mind maps.  With it, you can produce glossy-looking bubble charts, block 2D diagrams, 3D diagrams and use its smart-looking collection of clipart.  There is dynamic help on the right-hand side of the main window, which is a nice touch, but anyone familiar with Visio will rarely need that.

(you can click on this to see a larger image)

This is not a dedicated mind map application.  It is more of a general purpose diagrammer, but does include tools that are mind map specific.

I would use it if I wanted a mind map or other diagram with strong visual impact without too much work.

To download a copy, go to this page.  When you get there, don’t click the big Download button unless you want Edraw Max, which is not free.  Instead click on the link “Edraw Mind Map English Version (freeware)” which is a few lines below the download button.

Have an Edraw product already?  Check your version

If you are already using one of these packages, it would be a really good idea to make sure you have the latest version.  You can check as follows:

For Edraw Max:

  1. Go to C:\Program Files\Edraw Max
  2. Right-click on Edraw.exe and select Properties
  3. Select to Version tab and ensure the File version at the top is 5.2.0.1249 or greater

For Edraw Mind Map:

  1. Go to C:\Program Files\Edraw Mind Map
  2. Right-click on Edraw.exe and select Properties
  3. Select to Version tab and ensure the File version at the top is 4.6.0.1135 or greater

Edraw Mind Map is worth a look, and as it’s free, it’s a good idea to have it available on your PC (there’s no Mac version).  Edraw have a range of visual tools, for making flowcharts, UML diagrams, network diagrams and others.

Vic

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The detailed background to the earlier question, if you want it:

A component of earlier versions of both Edraw Max and Edraw MindMap called ssloader.e32 was consistently flagged by five different A-V engines as having a Trojan/Keylogger embedded. Ssloaders.e32 was a 3rd-party library used in Edraw for the slide show function.

When the new versions were released I verified that ssloader.e32 was no longer included, and checked all components of Edraw MindMap at VirusTotal.com.  The 42 A-V programs used there found no issue with any component.

Google

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