Customer Reviews

Microsoft Visio Standard 2002 [Old Version]

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I like this product as it makes nice charts, etc. but it lacks the ability to adapt well to changes in paper size, relocation of objects and will put objects well outside the page limits if you let it. I would like to see an improvement in the automatic repositioning of objects and a "make-it-fit" option. Once you get past the need for manually positioning objects, the output is pretty good.

I recently had to upgrade from Visio 4 to MS Visio 2000 because a customer used it and (of course) there were file incompatibilities! (Nothing like forcing customers to upgrade via incompatibilities rather than true features, huh Microsoft?)

Sorry, I'm really a closet fan of Microsoft software in general, but if I hadn't paid the rediculous $350 myself, I might have never noticed the difference from Visio 4. The Visio 2000 upgrade just didn't change much, and the one new tool I tried to use (auto web page mapping) didn't work well.

So in reading the new features and improvements in Visio 2002, I'm completely underwhelmed again. The basic Visio functionality is amazing, but it always was. If you have an older version of Visio, stick with it. I just don't see the need to upgrade.

I've been fiddling with the OpenOffice.org and StarOffice features for a while, then took a look at the Draw program. I was blown away. It's like a mini Visio Elements -- it's got the connector lines you need and really good control over positioning, plus it's got a gallery where you can store prefab shapes.

Seriously, download OpenOffice.org if you're not a huge Visio power user. You'll be really surprised and impressed, and of course OpenOffice.org is free, so that helps.

No doubt, Visio is a powerful program. But I'm here to advocate a different approach to diagramming. With the release of Office XP, Microsoft has made PowerPoint so intuitive, precise and powerful that - for the vast majority of us - Visio is overkill.

I do lots of business flow-like diagrams. I've worked with Visio in the past, but I feel like the following method works far better for me:

1) Start by building a rudimentary version of what you want in PowerPoint. True, PowerPoint doesn't give you the snap-and-lock type features that are at the core of Visio...but you can closely approximate it with various easy-to-learn techniques. The best thing about PowerPoint is that every action is completely intuitive. I've been able to build some pretty complex things without once looking at online help.

2) Now, once your rudimentary version is in place, you can go back through and punch things up with appropriate graphics. Microsoft provides a great online tool for this purpose called "Design Gallery Live." You have access to it as part of your Office XP purchase. Say that at a certain place, your diagram calls for a picture of a CPU. Bring up Design Gallery Live through the "Clips Online" option of PowerPoint and put 'CPU' in as the search term and, voila, there are four pages of images for you to choose from.

3) You can go beyond Design Gallery Live with the help of Google. Their (relatively) new Image search feature is a boon for anyone putting together a presentation. The other day, I needed a generic image of an ATM. I put "Automated Teller Machine" in as a search term for a Google Image search and got nine pages of images back.

4) Back in PowerPoint, once you drop these images into place, you can double-click on them & go to the 'Size' panel of the 'Format Picture' dialogue box. Play with Height & Width parameters to get to proper scaling for each of the images you've selected (keep the ratios equal, though).

5) You can use the various 'Alignment' options (available through the Drawing menu at the left-hand corner of your screen) to line up the various objects as you see appropriate.

I suggest you give this approach a try as well before committing extra money to buy Visio. You'll be surprised at how powerful Powerpoint has become & how you can assemble professional, eye-catching presentations in a very short period of time.

This software is excellent for those business men who need to make charts for presentations. This software is almost effortless, but a little [high]. I got this at the Microsoft XP convention. It helps a lot to organize my things. There is no reason not to get this. This software is so easy to export the charts to the proper documents. It comes with pre-arraged charts which is really helpful. I had to put this down to a four because it's a little bit too expensive and there are so troubles with it, but they probably fixed it for the full version.

I totally agree with the other reviewer; I use OpenOffice.org for most of my diagramming needs and it works really well. Visio is fine most of the time but I prefer to have more interchangeable formats and OpenOffice.org outputs to EPS etc. and I've just found it to be really great for my technical diagram needs.

So yes. Power users, maybe spend the money on Visio; "regular" people, download OpenOffice.org and try those connector lines and the gallery where you can put all the existing shapes you need.

Save your file regularly and it will still manage to loose the data and destroy hours of work. If the developers of this product can't even manage to design a file load and save mechanism that can recover from errors, then how do you expect them to design a user interface? 1/2 of the time wasiting is from the useless user interface, 1/2 from the loss of "saved" data.
I will never use it again. I wish emacs had a structured drawing mode.......

Once again Microsoft is putting out {garbage}. I use Adobe Illustrator and Visio is not even in the ballpark as far as ease of use or capability. Even for the most simple functions Visio is cumbersome, clumsy and difficult to use. One example is text that is not scaleable. Why would anybody in their right mind want a graphics program where the test does not scale with the graphic? Selecting objects and using layers are both absolutely horrible. The interface is also very not intuitive! Microsoft, please put this foolish excuse for a graphics program out of it's (and our) misery!

I don't buy crippleware. I do not owe microsoft any information about myself, nor do I have any intention of wainting on hold for their registration goons, while they index my caller id and file my name in their records anyway.

for [money] I should get something that installs and works. There is no reason for me or my equipment to contact them.

Other nifty MS tactics these day: If an app fails, the OS asks to send information about the app to microsoft. Wonder if they use that for keeping an eye on _other_ companies market share? Or maybe just what _you_ are running?

Wonder if that autoupdate feature does the same thing?

Oh, and now MSE sets up a click through for typo'd domains. Nice way of pulling demographic information about YOU without your expressed permission.

Don't care about your religious OS affiliations. Collecting demographic and personal information about people without their expressed consent is unethical. These "features" are not for your benefit.

Boycott.