After using the software for a little over a day, we’re pretty pleased. The things we like best..

• it has a super-easy user interface – you can just jump in and start creating mock-ups without having to learn a thing!
• it comes with 75 pre-built controls (browser windows, menu bars, scroll bars, buttons etc) and you can download more at Mockups To Go – a community site for sharing ready-to-use UI components and design patterns built using Mockups.
• the mockups intentionally have a ‘hand-drawn’ look, so that people don’t get attached to “that pretty color gradient” or think that your mockup has actual code behind it and is “practically done”.

Experimenting with Balsamiq Mockups

Paul Arden has some great comments on why rough layouts sell the idea better than polished ones in his book ‘It’s Not How Good You Are, It’s How Good You Want To Be‘, so we’re looking forward to seeing how clients respond.

NB. The story behind Balsamiq is worth a read. It’s always great to hear about highly-talented developers producing solid, simple software and enjoying commercial success.

• Google Apps – Includes Google’s email app (Gmail), Google calendar, and Google Docs (which provides excellent web-based word processing and spreadsheet tools). As Google Apps are web-based you don’t need any special software or hardware, and you can access your data from anywhere. The standard edition is free. If you’ve got a larger business or need additional support you may want to consider the premier edition (which has a 30-day trial period).
• Google Analytics – Powerful tool for tracking, analysing and reporting on your website traffic.
• CutePDF – Create professional PDF files from any printable document.
• Paymo – Online time-tracking tool. Free for small businesses and freelancers (up to 3 users).
• Mindomo – Web-based mind mapping tool which allows you to create and edit mind maps, and share them with your colleagues or your friends.
• WordPress – Blog tool and web-publishing platform. While being incredibly powerful and well-featured, WordPress makes it simple to create and manage website content. At finding simple, we love WordPress.
• Skype – Make free video calls to other Skype users. Great for video-conferencing.

A couple of other apps we’ve heard good things about and are looking forward to using include:

• Jing – Grab and share screenshots and video straight from your PC.
• Remember the Milk – Online to-do list and task management program. Integrates with GMail and Twitter, syncs with Blackberry and Windows Mobile, and now features an iPhone app.
• Screenhunter 5.0 Free – Screen capture software. Instead of using ‘Print Screen’ and pasting into ‘Paint’, this application offers easier and more flexible screen capture.