FreeMind is a Java-based, cross-platform solution which is designed to make the process as intuitive as possible via 'child' and 'sibling' links that hopefully build your map into something meaningful. To get started with FreeMind, you'll need to locate and double-click on the 'freemind.jar' file in the 'lib/' folder of the FreeMind folder.

You start off with a 'Child Node' which is your main subject. You can write this title in a huge number of font sizes and styles and then right-click on it to add Child Nodes, which are subjects that relate to it. You then have a huge number of tools and annotations down the left hand side to add color and notes to your mind map. This toolbar is horribly crushed together and cluttered though, making it very difficult to see them clearly.

The basic adding and removal of items on FreeMind is extremely easy but the interface does suffer from a lack of organization and clarity. The above mentioned toolbar is way too crowded with many annotations that are not particular useful (such as penguins) and overall, the program does feel a bit flimsy.

FreeMind is, however, very quick and free to use - which is more than can be said for many similar Mind Mapping programs.

Download FreeMind 0.9.0 RC13 in Softonic

The EDraw Mindmap interface is attractive and simple to use - it uses the popular ribbon layout, which means that most users will be able to find their way around intuitively. There's a large selection of Help options, and the start-up screen displays all the templates available, making it easy to start any process.

Once you have picked the best mind map template for your needs, you create the chart by dragging elements from the EDraw Mindmap Libraries on the left into the main interface. You can then rename, modify and move each element until it accurately represents the idea in your head. EDraw Mindmap elements are varied, ranging from simple geometric shapes to universally recognizable symbols and even floor plans and fashion design elements.

Naturally, since mind map software is especially suitable for multi-level projects, EDraw Mindmap has bunches of export/import options. Unfortunately, that's where the integration ends, and there doesn't seem to be options for other sharing features, such importing documents or adding hyperlinks. This means that although EDraw Mindmap is an excellent mind mapping tool, it is probably best suited to personal, individual use.

EDraw Mindmap, a great tool for visually representing even the most complicated ideas.

Download EDraw Mindmap 6.3 in Softonic

If you are looking for a complete tool for diagrams, flowcharts, graphs and mapping, we'd definitely recommend Edraw Max. It will allow you to organize your thoughts - or plans - in graphic form, making it easier and simpler to put them into action.

The sheer breadth of Edraw Max's functions means that it is relatively easy to get lost. The interface is attractive and simple to use - it uses the popular ribbon layout, which means that most users will be able to find their way around intuitively. There's a large selection of Help options, and the start-up screen displays all the templates available, making it easy to start any process.

Once you have picked the best mind map template for your needs with Edraw Max, you create the chart by dragging elements from the Libraries on the left into the main interface. You can then rename, modify and move each element until it accurately represents the idea in your head. Edraw Max elements are varied, ranging from simple geometric shapes to universally recognizable symbols and even floor plans and fashion design elements.

Naturally, since mind mapping software is especially suitable for multi-level projects, Edraw Max has bunches of export/import options, while there are also plenty of tools for sharing, such importing documents or adding hyperlinks. Edraw Max is an excellent mind mapping tool, and makes any complex task or project a much more efficient (and even enjoyable) process.

Edraw Max is so complete, it's a bit overwhelming, but persevere and you'll reap the benefits.

Download Edraw Max 6.3 in Softonic

What is Inspiration?

Graphic diagram editors are often quite complicated to use, mainly because they include so many tools and customizing options that you can't help feeling lost. Luckily enough, Inspiration goes beyond these first difficult steps and offers users an easy-to-use, yet very complete diagram tool.

Inspiration is an app that can be used by a wide variety of people. We can see it being of use to students, who might make diagrams as a study aid, professionals, who might use it to plan out new structures or business plans, and even everyday people who simply want to transfer an idea to a solid plan in a more ordered, practical way.

How does it work?

Using Inspiration is very easy. Start with your main concept and drill down from there. The great thing about this app is that you can add images, music, text and more to really make the diagrams complete, and, of course, they are completely modifiable, in case you find that your plans change, or work better in a different order.

The Inspiration interface is very easy to use, and a few moments playing around with it should let you get the gist very quickly. Even so, Inspiration offers a huge variety of templates, help documents and even videos designed to let you get the most out of it, while the floating Symbols bar makes the job even faster.

The only downsides to Inspiration is that, despite support for simultaneous documents, there's no handy way to move between them. Maybe a tab bar would fix this. Secondly, it's not the slickest application on the block - even on Windows 7, Inspiration looks like something from the last decade. While that has little impact on functionality, it will put some users off.

Inspiration is a highly usable and handy idea-mapping application that everyone can use. It's just a pity it's not a little more modern.

Download Inspiration 9.0.3 in Softonic

With Cayra you can now create those concept maps in a very clear, well-structured way. Unlike other expensive mindmapping utilities, Cayra is an open-source tool that won't cost you a cent: on the downside, this means that it's not as complete as other similar apps. Nevertheless, the program includes all the tools and functions you need to create conceptual maps with nodes, links and categories, all with different colors and very attractive animation effects.

Maps can be saved in the program's proprietary format, which you can then open and browse with Cayra itself, or as images (JPG and BMP) which you can open with any third-party image viewer.

In spite of being a little basic when compared to other more complete mindmapping tools, Cayra is still a great tool to create your own conceptual maps and improve your work organization and productivity.

Download Cayra 0.9.5 in Softonic

With ThinkingRock you can easily apply the GTD method to your daily workflow, following all the steps proposed by David Allen to manage your pending tasks: gathering items, identifying them and sorting them out into actionable or non-actionable task lists – in which case, you need to schedule them for a specific date or file them under the "Someday/Maybe" list.

Before starting to use ThinkingRock, I'd suggest you to read the help section, which gives you an accurate description of each tool. Also, you should already have some knowledge about the GTD method because the program doesn't include any information about it. You'll be then ready to start adding and processing tasks.

ThinkingRock requires Java 1.6, which you'll have to install manually if it's not present in your system. Being programmed in Java, its interface is quite plain, but also easy to use and very functional. In a way we could say the efficiency of the GTD method is also applied to the program itself.

ThinkingRock is undoubtedly a great help for all GTD fans – and a perfect way to start adopting this methodology. On the downside, it does require quite a lot of work to get it going, in the sense that you have to create all the necessary categories and criteria for your work, as well as manually enter all your tasks. Then again, changes always imply some kind of effort.

ThinkingRock is an excellent task management application that helps you organize your work by following the popular GTD methodology.

Download ThinkingRock 2.2.1 in Softonic

This easy note application is more than just a digital post-it pad to jot things down. It's a complete personal information manager where you can store all the important dates, events, tasks and other data you can't miss. As the program supports note scheduling, you can use set reminders for yourself and also mark certain notes as recurrent events, turning Note Mania into a comprehensive calendar tool to schedule both your personal and professional lives. Notes are displayed as individual floating windows, listed on the program's main interface and also arranged on Note Mania's embedded calendar.

Besides its handy functionality, another outstanding feature in Note Mania is its support for customization. Notes can be personalized in many ways: paper color, text color, font face, size and event transparency level. Also, these settings can be applied globally or to each individual note. The program's calendar, however, uses your Windows wallpaper as background decoration and cannot be customized in any way.

With Note Mania you'll organize your tasks in a more productive way won't lose track of any important date or event in your life again.

Download Note Mania 1.3 in Softonic

EssentialPIM Portable can securely schedule your day, manage your contacts, keep track of your To Do plans and organize your notes. EssentialPIM Portable's interface is very similar to Outlook, and is clean and well organized. You can use the left sidebar to change between the program's utilities and all the details are displayed on the right hand side.

The tools included in EssentialPIM Portable are easy to use and have pretty much everything you need to organize your daily work. Schedule displays a calendar with different background colors and symbols that indicate frequency and degree of completion; Notes lets you add notes with pictures, rich-format text, tables and symbols; and with Contacts you can easily keep a list of all your friends and colleagues, with highly customizable information fields.

EssentialPIM Portable does feature a large variety of options, but it's only when you take a deeper look that you realize that many of them are only available in the Pro version – which is kind of disappointing.

EssentialPIM Portable is a useful application but it loses some of its attraction when you discover some of its options are only available in the Pro version.

Download EssentialPIM Portable Free 4.51 in Softonic

SimpleDiagrams is the kind of tool that is already perfectly described by its own name: a simple program to create diagrams. It requires Adobe AIR to work, but other than that, it's a breeze to install and set up.

With SimpleDiagrams you'll be able to create all sorts of diagrams in just a few minutes. The program includes a handful of ready-made shapes – conveniently organized in libraries – that you can simply drag and drop onto the diagram, as well as a few editing tools to draw, write, insert straight lights and move objects around.

Once the diagram is finished, SimpleDiagrams lets you save it as XML or PNG, or export it to your BaseCamp account. Too bad it doesn't support more formats!

SimpleDiagrams is a really cute, simple app that lets you create diagrams in seconds.

Download SimpleDiagrams 1.2.2 in Softonic

Using MSD Organizer has many advantages, not least that it saves you time and effort trying to keep track of what you have to do next and when you have to do it. The program doesn't win many marks for visual appearance - it's not exactly the most attractive organizer I've ever seen but what it does excel in is organizational features - there's just about nothing that you can't enter into MSD Organizer.

This includes everything from managing your daily activities, your phone book, and banking transactions to, if you're managing a business, your dealings with clients, suppliers and other contacts. MSD Organizer even stores essential passwords and usernames for your favorite sites and applications so that you don't waste valuable time in that department either. As an additional bonus, MSD Organizer also lets you print out and save schedules and even histories in PDF format so that you've got a hard copy in case of any crashes to your system or confusions in your appointments.

You can set MSD Organizer to encrypt your saved data, which is important, as you could pretty much store all your important personal data here. The main problem with MSD Organizer is related to this - it's so extensive you may not feel safe with so much information entrusted to one application, however good it is. It's size also makes it a bit clunky. It's resource heavy and can be slow at times.

If you're not bothered by looks or navigation issues, MSD Organizer is a fully comprehensive organiser that caters for every conceivable need.

Download MSD Organizer Personal 11.2 in Softonic

Bookvar lets you design all sorts of mind maps, diagrams and flowcharts to manage and present any project or argument in a more optimized way. It doesn't include as many predefined shapes, templates or customization options as other similar tools, but in exchange for that it offers full support for media files, which enables you to use photos, videos or hyperlinks in your maps.

Bookvar is very easy to use. Simply click on the Add button and select the kind of topic you want to add. Then fill it in with the concept that item represents in your map, and you're done. You can rearrange elements on the map by dragging them with your mouse, though it'll require a bit of practice.

Once your diagram is finished, you can save it to your hard drive, share it on the Web or upload it to your Facebook account.

With Bookvar you can easily create all sorts of mind maps, flowcharts and diagrams, as long as they're simple enough and don't require a dozen different shapes.

Download Bookvar 1.1 in Softonic