Spacebar expands and collapses nodes. I think part of the problem is just that the default settings are bad. Changing these couple things makes FreeMind 10x better:

Preferences -> appearance

  1. Check "edges start from 1 point at root node"
  2. Uncheck "enter confirms by default"

Preferences -> behavior

  1. Set "use formatting for all nodes" to no

Control-rightclick -> hide note window