Microsoft Visio

A brief introduction

In brief, what is Microsoft Visio?

Microsoft Visio is a commercial diagramming program for Microsoft Windows that uses vector graphics to create diagrams.

Visio 2010 is a graphical and drawing application that helps you to visualize, explore, and communicate complex information. With Visio, you can transform complicated text and tables that are hard to understand into Visio diagrams that communicate information at a glance.
Visio provides modern shapes and templates for a diverse set of diagramming needs, including IT management, process modeling, building and architecture, UI design, human-resource management, project management, and more.

EDITIONS

The Standard and Professional editions both share the same interface, but the latter has additional templates for more advanced diagrams and layouts as well as unique functionality that makes it easy for users to connect their diagrams to a number of data sources and display the information graphically. The Premium edition has three additional diagram types with intelligent rules support, validation and subprocess (diagram breakdown) support.

DATA-CONNECTED VISIO DIAGRAMS

Instead of static pictures, you can create data-connected Visio Professional 2010 and Visio Premium 2010 diagrams that display data, are easy to refresh, and dramatically increase your productivity. You can use the wide variety of diagram templates and stencils in Visio to understand, act on, and share information about organizational systems, resources, and processes throughout your enterprise.
You can integrate data to shapes from a variety of real-time data sources, including Excel, Access, SQL, SharePoint lists, or any OLEDB or ODBC data source, with just a few clicks in a Data Wizard.

WEB DRAWINGS WITH VISIO SERVICES

Beyond basic sharing via e-mail or static web pages, the latest innovations in Visio 2010 allow users the ability to see rich, compelling visuals, shapes, and processes via their browser - even if they don't have Visio. You can publish Visio Professional 2010 and Visio Premium 2010 web drawings using Visio Services, a feature of SharePoint Server 2010 that renders interactive and data-connected diagrams. Your Visio Web drawings can display data from a variety of sources, including Excel, SQL, SharePoint lists, or any OLEDB or ODBC data source.