10 Desktop Productivity Must-Haves (That Aren't OpenOffice.org)

Desktop productivity tool No. 8: FreeMind
At first glance it's tempting to lump FreeMind in the same category as Dia, but it's been designed from the inside out to satisfy a separate need. It's a drawing tool specifically for creating "mind maps," or diagrams that illustrate conceptual frameworks. The command keys and default behaviors are well chosen, so it's not hard for someone to dive in and quickly start brainstorming. The resulting map can be exported as graphics or a data tree (such as an XHTML document), or even as a Web page that replicates the layout of the original mind map.

FreeMind is a drawing tool and editor for brainstorming. The presentation of each node in a "mind map" can be customized enormously.

Desktop productivity tool No. 9: GTD-Free
David Allen's Getting Things Done productivity system has helped many people get their lives in order.
GTD-Free helps you automate the GTD system, so you don't have to rely as much on pieces of paper or manual notes. Organized into four action tabs -- Collect, Process, Organize/Review, and Execute -- it lets you see all stages of your GTD workflow at a glance. The program lets you use either a flat XML database (simple) or an ODB-format database (scales well), and you can switch from the former to the latter at any time. Also included are some example action lists to help get you started if you're new to the GTD methodology.

GTD-Free provides you with a framework to implement the "Getting Things Done" methodology without using reams of paper.

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