50 Awesome Open Source Apps You've (Probably) Never Heard Of: Page 3

Mind Mapping

Similar to the better-known project FreeMind, XMind makes it very easy and intuitive to conduct brainstorming sessions and map the relationships between ideas. It also includes handy export features which let you convert files to PDFs, Word documents or PowerPoint presentations. Operating System: Windows, Linux, OS X.

Music Education

This "Improvisation Advisor" helps aspiring jazz musicians learn to compose their own solos. In addition to teaching students to understand improvisation, it can also improvise on its own or transcribe music. Operating System: Windows, Linux, OS X.

Networking

This helpful little app makes it easy to turn on or shut down Windows systems connected to your network. It also includes a scheduling feature and can be run from the command line or a GUI. Operating System: Windows.

Novel Writing

Just the other day, I heard an interview with a novelist who wished he had a computer program to help him keep track of storylines and characters. It's not well known, but Storybook does just that for creative writers of all kinds. Operating System: OS Independent.

Office Productivity

LibreOffice is an old standby—OpenOffice.org—with a new name. Some of the leaders behind OpenOffice.org broke free from Oracle and created their own version of the well-known open source office productivity suite. It's still officially in beta, but it includes the capabilities of its predecessor, including compatibility with Microsoft Office. Operating System: Windows, Linux, OS X.

Portable Applications

Like the well-known PortableApps.com, winPenPack puts a whole bunch of great open source apps into one package that you can take with you on a thumb drive. What's particularly nice is that it comes in six different flavors—2GB, Essential, Game, School, Web and Personal—so that you can get apps that are tailored for your needs. Operating System: Windows.

Presentations

If you want to make your presentations more, well, impressive, give this app a try. It takes presentations you create with PowerPoint or other apps and lets you add more interesting transitions, use a handy overview screen, and spotlight or highlight text on the screen as you give your talk. Operating System: OS Independent.

Project Management

This Web-based project management tool issued its version 1.0 release earlier this year. It allows teams to track multiple projects, track progress with a Gantt chart and calendar, track time, and more. It also integrates with the major source code managers, including Git, Subversion, Mercurial, Bazaar, etc. Operating System: OS Independent.

33. Digaboard

Replace the old-fashioned whiteboard and sticky notes you're using to track your agile development project with a Web-based version. It makes it easy to plan projects, find bottlenecks and track progress. Operating System: OS Independent.

Property Management

If you're running a hotel, car rental company or a craft fair, SpaceBooker can help you keep track of reservations. It works both on- and offline, and it gives you a number of different views, including a graphical map, so that you can see what's reserved and what's available for various dates. Operating System: Windows.

Security

Find out how well your Web site will stand up to attack with this penetration testing framework. It incorporates a number of well-known open source tools, including e Fierce domain scanner, Maltego, WebScarab, ratproxy, w3af, burp, BeEF, AJAXShell and many others. Operating System: Linux.

36. No Autorun

Just like the name suggest, this app prevents any malware on a thumb drive from auto-running when you plug it into your system. It also logs suspicious files so you can see the malware it's blocked. Operating System: Windows.

37. SourceAFIS

The "AFIS" in this app name stands for "Automated Fingerprint Identification System." It works with a variety of fingerprint readers to authenticate users. Operating System: OS Independent.

Next Page: Still more semi-obscure open source apps