Fortunately, there is a huge variety of project management tools available to help freelancers and small business owners with their project planning needs. Some of the very best tools require a substantial financial investment on the part of the freelancer. However, there other tools that may not be quite as full-featured that will work fine for a freelancer who is just starting out or for a very small business owner.Here is a list of eleven project management software applications that are either free (or available at a very low cost) with a brief description of each:    jxProject – Free application that includes many of the features expected of a project management package such as: task dependencies, resource scheduling, timeline formatting, and resource leveling. (The tool is free because it includes advertisements. A version without advertisements is available for $20.00.)

    iManageProject – project management software site that allows the creation of projects and easy team collaboration.

    dotProject – Open source tool designed to help you structure and schedule your work. For user questions, there is forum (manned by volunteers) that can be accessed from the main site. Announcements are made through the blog, which can be accessed from their website.

    GanttProject – Free, open source software lets you create Gantt charts, assign resources, create PERT charts, and plan collaboration. The tool has a very helpful user forum and blog.

    Open Workbench – This open source software bills itself as a direct competitor to Microsoft Project. In fact, the software’s website includes a detailed comparison between the two packages. Open Workbench is sponsored by CA, the manufacturer of the Clarity family of products (which are not free).

    SugarCRM – The community edition of this software is released under the GNU General Public License (GPL) v3. This product includes a user forum and there is even a conference. (There are two additional products from this company that are not open source and do cost money.)

    ProjectPier – This open source software lets you manage messages, tasks, and milestones. You can also upload and manage files. The website includes a helpful forum and a blog listing planned updates.

    OpenProj – Open source software package distributed under the CPAL license. It is comparable to Microsoft Project in that it lets you produce a wide variety of charts such as Gantt and PERT. This software is owned by Serena Software Incorporated, which also sells Projects on Demand.

    Project HQ – This open source software package compares itself with Basecamp. Features include the ability to track projects, milestones, and create task lists and tasks. The website does include a user forum. I did notice on the download page that there are no stable releases of this software yet, which means that all versions are in development.

    Clocking IT – This free project management tool was designed by a consultant for consultants. It helps you track how much time is spent on each project, although it can produce Gantt charts and other reports. The website includes a user forum and a wiki.

    TaskJuggler – This open source package is released under the GNU GPL version 2 license. With this tool you can manage tasks, resources, and costs that are related to your projects. It also supports risk analysis and flexible working hours. Support is available through Google Groups.

My roommate says that a slow computer can be a hint that something else may soon go wrong with your computer. He suggests that if you notice this happening to yours, you have it checked out as soon as possible. It will probably be something quick and inexpensive if you do it right away and not procrastinate. He says unfortunately it is human nature for some people to put it off. This may be because they are afraid that it would be too expensive to fix and they can not afford an extra bill.