Mind mapping is something I have come across a lot of times in industry. Some people love it, some just think it is a mess. I would be really interested in how it would be used differently in an educational context. Applications include FreeMind http://freemind.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/Main_Page and the really pretty looking BasKet http://basket.kde.org/screenshots.php I think BasKet could be really powerful when used in a collaborative way.
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Another creative thinking application to consider here is VUE. VUE is a Visual Understand Environment focused on creating flexible tools for managing and integrating digital resources in support of teaching, learning and research.
I have used MindMeister. Not OSS and not free except in reduced state. Link to video showing it used in my classroom here.
What it was is collaborative and this provided a great platform to motivate students building mindmaps together, even building the same map at the same time.
Vue looks interesting so I'll give it a go at home for functionality. Not running a linux OS at the moment so can't try BasKet (no XP version is there? I couldn't find one) which is a shame as the post above mentions it's collaborative.
I've used freemind a bit but will explore this more.
I use freemind lots, both for my own brainstorming and note-taking and with pupils or colleagues. I like it very much, particularly as the key board shortcuts allow fairly rapid input when brainstorming ideas in class. The maps themselves are defined in semi-readable text files, which makes them amenable to automatic creation and parsing. There's also a rather neat flash viewer which allows freemind maps to be embedded in webpages.
I've heard very posiive things about xmind, which is open source, allows import from freemind, also has a web viewer and integrates with the open source IDE eclipse. I'd be interested to hear more from anyone who's used this in schools.