Microsoft Visio 2002 Announced

Microsoft has recently released details of enhancements that are expected to be included in Visio 2002 (aka Visio 10 internally at Microsoft), the next scheduled release of the market-leading diagramming software. The new release is expected to ship around about June 2001.

The important points to note regarding the new release are;

• Consolidation of product range into...
  • Microsoft Visio 2002 Standard
  • Microsoft Visio 2002 Professional (which now includes all the features offered as part of the Technical version)
  • Microsoft Visio 2002 Network Tools (which will include the Enterprise version, subscription services and more)
• Technical enhancements providing tighter Office integration, tighter Web integration, improved graphics, better application administration facilities, more wizards and customization tools.
• Increase in price.

Anyone considering buying 5 or more Visio licenses in the near future and looking to save a dollar would be well-advised to buy now under a Microsoft Select or Open License volume licensing agreement and taking the Upgrade Advantage option.

Visio remains an outstanding diagramming tool and the leader of the pack in this class of software. It provides the greatest range of tools and facilities out-of-the-box and access to extremely powerful customization interface. Although the latter is somewhat difficult to get a grasp of for most people, in the hands of Visio customization specialists, Visio can form the basis of amazingly complex and diverse custom applications.

Microsoft seems insistent on ever-increasing the price of Visio, widening the gap between it and its much lower-priced competition. This aspect together with the rolling of the Technical version into the Professional bundle, could drive potential users in technical disciplines away from Visio. Such users may well look elsewhere for Windows-based drawing tools that are more closely matched to technical drawing tasks, have a smaller footprint and cost a lot less for a perfectly acceptable result.

Even so, for those who want and can afford the best, Visio will not disappoint.