Ayende’s post today (or yesterday) about Balsamiq reminded me that I needed to write up a quick review.

Disclaimer: As you see this is a great tool. However, in the current economic climate I could not pass up a free post/review for a tool that I already like. So yes, I did receive a free license in exchange for writing about this tool. And yes, that will make some people a little creepy and I am usually one of those people. However, I liked the tool so this post is technically saving me $79 for the 10 minutes it took to write, which is way more than I will make in advertising.¹

I have been using the demo version of a couple of weeks and I have to say that while it is relatively simple it is a very handy tool.

Since I do not have anything interesting to share, I grabbed a nice example off of the Basamiq site.

Here are the basics:

1. Everything is drag/drop and resizable.
2. Most items allow you to edit the text by clicking on them.
3. Complex items such as tables, tabs, and breadcrumbs use a comma delimited format.
4. It is built with Adobe AIR and does not post to Twitter. Seriously, an AIR application that is also not a Twitter client. I was stunned as well. :)

This is a great little tool for any developer, PM, or business type person who could use a little help expressing themselves visually. At $79 this tool is a steal. However, see my disclaimer above.

¹ Now realizing how great a gimmick this free license move is. Kudos Balsamiq on the great tool and clever marketing. :)