60 New Open Source Apps You've (Probably) Never Heard Of

As open source software continues to grow in popularity, particularly with enterprises, the number of new open source projects started each year continues to climb. By some estimates the amount of open source code available nearly doubles every year.

More importantly, the quality of new projects has also continued to increase. Many newer open source projects are launched by commercial entities that can provide long-term support and are committed to updating their offerings on a regular basis.

For this list, we tried to find some of the best FOSS projects that have launched within the last couple of years. While a few of these have received some significant media coverage and/or have large userbases, many are emerging projects that haven't yet gained a lot of attention.

As always, if you know of a new open source project that you think should be on our list, feel free to note it in the Comments section below.

Business Process Management

1. Activiti

This newer project offers a lightweight, Java-based business process management platform. It aims to meet the needs of both business people and software developers. Operating System: OS Independent

Charts

2. HighCharts

Although the project is only a few years old, this JavaScript-based charting library counts IBM, NASA, Siemens, HP, EMC, CBS, Hitachi, Ericsson, BMW, Nissan, Sony and MasterCard among its customers. It's available with an open source license for non-commercial use or a fee-based license for commercial use. Operating System: OS Independent

Collaboration/Groupware

3. SparkleShare

SparkleShare aims to make it easy to share documents and collaborate on projects. Recently, it's becoming more popular as an alternative to services like Dropbox. Operating System: Windows, Linux, OS X, Android

4. Open Atrium

Open Atrium describes itself as "a team collaboration tool with a kick of open source hotness." It includes blog, calendar, sharebox, notebook, case tracker and dashboard capabilities. Operating System: OS Independent

5. TeamLab

This cloud-based app includes project management, business collaboration, document management, calendar, CRM and e-mail capabilities. You can host it on your own server, use the fee-based SaaS service or deploy it on Amazon EC2. Operating System: OS Independent

6. SOGo

SOGo is a groupware server that allows users to access e-mail and shared calendar data via the Web, a BlackBerry device, or an e-mail client like Thunderbird. The latest version adds native Outlook support. Operating System: OS Independent

Content Management

7. ImpressPages

This CMS's claim to fame is a drag-and-drop interface designed to make it easier for non-technical folks to create Web pages. It's SEO-friendly and based on PHP and MySQL. Operating System: Windows, Linux, OS X, Android

8. Pimcore

Winner of a 2010 Most Promising Open Source Award, Pimcore offers Web content management, product information management, asset management and rapid application development. It's based on the Zend framework and ExtJS. Operating System: Linux, Unix

9. Armstrong

First released in 2011, Armstrong is a content management system specifically designed to meet the needs of news organizations. It was developed by The Bay Citizen and the Texas Tribune. Operating System: OS Independent

10. TomatoCMS

Tomato takes a widgets-based approach to website design, which makes page layout very easy. Like Pimcore, it's also built on top of Zend. Operating System: Linux

11. Wolf CMS

This newer CMS prides itself on being lightweight, fast and easy to use. However, note that it is easiest to use if you have some PHP coding skills. Operating System: Windows, Linux

Cloud Computing

12. ownCloud

As the name suggests, this app lets you set up your "own cloud" so that you can access your stuff from anywhere. The Web interface makes it easy to find your files, music, calendar, contacts and bookmarks when you store them on your own server. Operating System: Windows, Linux

13. Cloud Foundry

VMware's platform as a service project supports Spring, Rails, Node.js, Scala and more. You can download the code or try the online beta service at CloudFoundry.com. Like some others on our list, this project is far from unknown, but we included it because it's new. Operating System: OS Independent

CRM

14. X2Contacts

Now in beta release, X2Contacts offers sales management with a social-networking focus. It's aimed at SMBs and offers a blog-style interface that makes it easy to see and record sales contacts. Operating System: Windows, Linux, OS X