Microsoft Visio

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Microsoft Visio(/ˈvɪz.i./,VIZ-ee-oh), formerlyMicrosoft Office Visio,is a diagramming andvector graphicsapplication and is part of theMicrosoft 365family. The product was first introduced in 1992 by former American software companyVisio Corporation,and its latest version is Visio 2021.Microsoftacquired the assets of Visio Corporation in 2000. A lightweight version of Visio is now included with all commercialSKUof Microsoft 365 and is known asVisio in Microsoft 365.It has two other subscription based SKUs.Visio Plan 1includes the Visio web app whereasVisio Plan 2provides access to both the web app and the Desktop application.

Microsoft Visio
Developer(s)Microsoft
Initial release1992;32 years ago(1992)
Stable release(s)
Microsoft 365& Retail[a](Windows)2410 (Build 18129.20158) / 12 November 2024;14 days ago(2024-11-12)[1][2]
Microsoft 365(Mac)16.91 (Build 24111020) / 12 November 2024;14 days ago(2024-11-12)[3]
Office 2021 (LTSC)2108 (Build 14332.20812) / 12 November 2024;14 days ago(2024-11-12)[2]
Office 2019 (LTSC)1808 (Build 10416.20007) / 12 November 2024;14 days ago(2024-11-12)[4]
Operating systemMicrosoft Windows
TypeDiagramming software
LicenseTrialware
Websitewww.microsoft/en/microsoft-365/visio/flowchart-software

Features

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Microsoft Visio is used to create diagram types such asflowcharts,org charts,floor plans,network diagrams,UML diagrams,mind mapsand more. It is also commonly used for scenarios such asProcess Mappingand Visual Collaboration. The latest version of Visio also hasdata visualizationthat allows users to create diagrams from Excel data and also embed Visio diagrams inPower BIdashboards.

Microsoft made Visio 2013 for Windows available in two editions: Standard and Professional. The Standard and Professional editions share the same interface, but the Professional edition has additional templates for more advanced diagrams and layouts, as well as capabilities intended to make it easy for users to connect their diagrams to data sources and to display their data graphically.[5][6]The Professional edition features three additional diagram types, as well as intelligent rules, validation, and subprocess (diagram breakdown).[7]Visio Professional is also offered as an additional component of anOffice365subscription.[8]

On 22 September 2015, Visio 2016 was released alongsideMicrosoft Office 2016.A few new features have been added such as one-step connectivity with Excel data, information rights management (IRM) protection for Visio files, modernized shapes for office layout, detailed shapes for site plans, updated shapes for floor plans, modern shapes for home plans,IEEEcompliant shapes for electrical diagrams, new range of starter diagrams, and new themes for the Visio interface.[9]

Database modelingin Visio revolves around a Database Model Diagram (DMD).[10]

File formats

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Native file formats
Icons for.vsdx(left) and.vss(right) files
VSDVisio 2003-2010 Drawing
VSSStencil
VSTTemplate
VDWWeb drawing[11]
VDXXML drawing (Discontinued[12])
VSXXML stencil (Discontinued[12])
VTXXML template (Discontinued[12])
VSDXOPC/XML drawing, Current Visio drawing[12][13]
VSDMOPC/XML drawing, macro-enabled[12]
VSSXOPC/XML stencil[12]
VSSMOPC/XML stencil, macro-enabled[12]
VSTXOPC/XML template[12]
VSTMOPC/XML template, macro-enabled[12]
VSLAdd-on

All of the previous versions of Visio used VSD, the proprietary binary-file format. Visio 2010 added support for the VDX file format, which is a well-documentedXMLSchema-based ( "DatadiagramML" ) format, but still uses VSD by default only.

Visio 2013 drops support for writing VDX files in favor of the new VSDX and VSDM file formats,[12]and uses them by default. Created based onOpen Packaging Conventions(OPC) standard (ISO 29500, Part 2), a VSDX or VSDM file consists of a group of XML files archived inside aZip file.[12]VSDX and VSDM files differ only in that VSDM files may containmacros.[12]Since these files are susceptible tomacro virusinfection, the program enforces strict security on them.[14]

While VSD files useLZW-likelossless compression,VDX is not compressed. Hence, a VDX file typically takes up 3 to 5 times more storage.[citation needed]VSDX and VSDM files use the same compression as Zip files.

Visio also supports saving files in SVG files, other diagramming files and images. However, images cannot be opened by the program.

History

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Visio began as a standalone product produced by Shapeware Corporation; version 1.0 shipped in 1992. A pre-release, Version 0.92, was distributed free on a floppy disk along with a Microsoft Windows systems readiness evaluation utility. In 1995, Shapeware Corporation changed their name toVisio Corporationto take advantage of market recognition and related product equity. Microsoft acquired Visio in 2000, re-branding it as a Microsoft Office application. LikeMicrosoft Project,however, it has never been officially included in any of the bundled Office suites. Microsoft included aVisio for Enterprise Architectsedition with some editions ofVisual Studio.NET 2003andVisual Studio 2005.[15]

Along with Microsoft Visio 2002 Professional, Microsoft introduced Visio Enterprise Network Tools and Visio Network Center. Visio Enterprise Network Tools was an add-on product that enabled automated network and directory services diagramming. Visio Network Center was a subscription-based website where users could locate the latestnetwork documentationcontent and exact-replica network equipment shapes from 500 leading manufacturers.[16]Visio Enterprise Network Tools was discontinued in July 2002.[17]The following year, Microsoft released a patch which gave Enterprise Network Tools users access to the network equipment shapes via Visio's built-in Find Shape feature.[18]Visio 2007 was released on November 30, 2006.

Microsoft Visio adoptedribbonsin itsuser interfacein Visio 2010.[19]Microsoft Word,Excel,PowerPoint,AccessandOutlook(to some extents) had already adopted the ribbon with the release ofMicrosoft Office 2007.[20]

November 19, 2012:BPMN2.0 was utilized within Microsoft Visio.[21]

Versions

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  • Visio v1.0 (Standard, Lite, Home)
  • Visio v2.0
  • Visio v3.0
  • Visio v4.0 (Standard, Technical)
  • Visio v4.1 (Standard, Technical)
  • Visio v4.5 (Standard, Professional, Technical)
  • Visio v5.0 (Standard, Professional, Technical)
  • Visio 2000 (v6.0; Standard, Professional, Technical, Enterprise) – later updated to SP1 and Microsoft branding after Visio Corporation's acquisition
  • Visio 2002 (v10.0; Standard, Professional)
    • Visio for Enterprise Architects 2003 (VEA 2003) – based on Visio 2002 and included with Visual Studio.NET 2003 Enterprise Architect edition
  • Office Visio 2003 (v11.0; Standard, Professional)
    • Office Visio for Enterprise Architects 2005 (VEA 2005) – based on Visio 2003 and included with Visual Studio 2005 Team Suite and Team Architect editions
  • Office Visio 2007 (v12.0; Standard, Professional)
  • Visio 2010 (v14.0; Standard, Professional, Premium)
  • Visio 2013 (v15.0; Standard, Professional)
  • Visio 2016 (v16.0; Standard, Professional, Office 365)
  • Visio Online Plan 1 (Web based editor), Visio Online Plan 2 (Desktop, Office 365)
  • Visio 2019 (v16.0; Standard, Professional)
  • Visio 2021 (Standard, Professional)

There are no Visio versions 7, 8, or 9, because after Microsoft acquired and branded Visio as a Microsoft Office product, the Visio version numbers followed the Office version numbers. Version 13 was skipped owing totriskaidekaphobia.[22]

Visio does not have amacOSversion, which has led to the growth of several third-party applications which can open and edit Visio files on Mac.

On 7 May 2001, Microsoft introducedVisio Enterprise Network Tools(VENT), an add-on for Visio 2002 scheduled for release on 1 July 2001, andVisio Network Center,a subscription-based web service for IT professionals who use Microsoft Visio forcomputer networkdiagramming.[23]VENT was discontinued on 1 July 2002 because of very low customer demand.[24]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^Including Office 2021, 2019 and 2016

References

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  1. ^"Release notes for Current Channel".Microsoft Learn.RetrievedNovember 12,2024.
  2. ^ab"Update history for Office LTSC 2021 and Office 2021".Microsoft Learn.RetrievedNovember 12,2024.
  3. ^"Update history for Office for Mac".Microsoft Learn.RetrievedNovember 12,2024.
  4. ^"Update history for Office 2016 C2R and Office 2019".Microsoft Learn.RetrievedNovember 12,2024.
  5. ^"A comparison of Visio Standard and Visio Professional".Microsoft.
  6. ^"Visio 2007 Edition Comparison".Microsoft. Archived fromthe originalon February 15, 2008.
  7. ^"Visio 2010 Edition Comparison".Microsoft. Archived fromthe originalon March 16, 2013.
  8. ^"Compare Visio Versions".Microsoft.
  9. ^"What's new in Visio 2016".Microsoft.
  10. ^ Filev, Andrew (October 28, 2005).Professional UML Using Visual Studio.Net.John Wiley & Sons (published 2005). p. 276.ISBN9780764558757.RetrievedDecember 12,2012.The cornerstone of the Visio Data POroject will be the Database Model Diagram (DMD). [...] The DMD is mainly an Entity Relationship (ER) diagram with project management capabilities.
  11. ^"Save diagrams to SharePoint as Web drawings".
  12. ^abcdefghijkl"What's new for Visio 2013 developers".MSDN.Microsoft. July 16, 2012. New file format.RetrievedMarch 31,2013.
  13. ^"Introduction to the Visio file format (.VSDX)".March 10, 2022.
  14. ^"Check for macros that might contain viruses".Visio Help.Microsoft. Archived fromthe originalon June 24, 2013.RetrievedApril 6,2013.
  15. ^"History of Visio".MVPS. Archived fromthe originalon April 18, 2011.
  16. ^"Press release".Microsoft. May 1, 2001.
  17. ^"Visio Enterprise Network Tools product discontinued".Microsoft. July 27, 2006. Archived fromthe originalon November 10, 2006.
  18. ^"Patch for Network Equipment Shape Access".Microsoft. January 17, 2003. Archived fromthe originalon January 6, 2006.
  19. ^"What's New in Visio 2010 for Automation Developers".MSDN.Microsoft. The ribbon.RetrievedMarch 31,2013.
  20. ^"Use the Ribbon instead of toolbars and menus".Microsoft Office website.Microsoft. 2007. Archived fromthe originalon June 15, 2011.RetrievedMarch 31,2013.
  21. ^Horn, Stephanie (November 18, 2012)."Introducing BPMN 2.0 in Visio".Microsoft.RetrievedMarch 8,2019.
  22. ^Flynn, David (March 29, 2007)."Microsoft to Skip 'Unlucky' Office 13".APC.Future.Archived fromthe originalon February 6, 2009.RetrievedSeptember 10,2016.
  23. ^"Microsoft Visio Enterprise Network Tools and Visio Network Center Debut at NetWorld+Interop".News Center.Las Vegas:Microsoft. May 7, 2001.RetrievedMarch 31,2013.
  24. ^"Visio Enterprise Network Tools product discontinued".Support.Microsoft. July 27, 2006.RetrievedMarch 31,2013.

Further reading

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