Microsoft Visio 2000 Professional Edition Upgrade

Rating:
Summary: Great new feature, same old warts, but worth it
Review: There are some compelling reasons to upgrade to Visio 2000 if you're using an earlier version of Professional. Here are some of my favorite features that I did not have in version 5.5 include the ability to quickly lay out deployment diagrams and create more precise drawings with the dynamic grid feature. It lets you distribute and align shapes on pre-defined grid templates (or ones of your own making). It also has automatic shape numbering, which I find very useful when I am creating a complex flow or process chart. I include a legend in the drawing that corresponds with the numbered shapes to further clarify that is happening.

Another feature that is plain wonderful is the page tabs, like in Excel and other applications. This is a vast improvement over the hard-to-find pages in earlier versions. The best feature, though, is the ability to use your arrow keys to "nudge" shapes in small increments. If you are doing web-enabled diagrams you can now embed URLs (links) in your shapes that can point to web pages, other documents, drawings or even another shape on your drawing. This is an incredibly handy feature even if you are not publishing your diagram to a web page because it allows you to create drawings that can be "drilled down" into, or point to entire documents for additional information. The possibilities here are endless.

Although I don't use it, a friend raves about the feature that allows you to model directory schemas, such as Active Directory, Novell's Directory Services (NDS; now called "eDirectory"), and LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol). Since directory-enabled enterprises are based on one of these products or standards this feature alone might be reason enough to upgrade. Note that NDS modeling has long been a feature with a wizard that Visio provided for free before Microsoft acquired the product. This has now been integrated into the core product and the other directory types added.

This version can also be extensively customized without resorting to Visual Basic for Applications (VBA). ALthough the documentation that ships with Visio 2000 is lame Ralph Grabowski's excellent book, Learn Visio 2000 for the Advanced User, will show you how to fully customize Visio to meet your unique needs. This book is especially valuable if you use Visio all of the time because it will show you how to use a lot of features that you might not otherwise discover (or discover by trial and error), and how to configure Visio into a fine tool fitted to your needs instead of the generic implement it is out of the box.

Yes, Visio 2000 Professional is bloated, and yes, it still does strange things when you're editing a diagram within Microsoft Word. However, it is also incredibly powerful and easy to use. The learning curve for creating diagrams is shallow. I estimate that most people become 80% more productive even if they only use 20% of its capabilities. And the diagrams certainly add clarity to documentation. Despite the warts this version has some innovative features that make it an improvement over earlier versions. If you need the new features I cited above then the upgrade is worth it.

Rating:
Summary: Great new feature, same old warts, but worth it
Review: There are some compelling reasons to upgrade to Visio 2000 if you're using an earlier version of Professional. Here are some of my favorite features that I did not have in version 5.5 include the ability to quickly lay out deployment diagrams and create more precise drawings with the dynamic grid feature. It lets you distribute and align shapes on pre-defined grid templates (or ones of your own making). It also has automatic shape numbering, which I find very useful when I am creating a complex flow or process chart. I include a legend in the drawing that corresponds with the numbered shapes to further clarify that is happening.

Another feature that is plain wonderful is the page tabs, like in Excel and other applications. This is a vast improvement over the hard-to-find pages in earlier versions. The best feature, though, is the ability to use your arrow keys to "nudge" shapes in small increments. If you are doing web-enabled diagrams you can now embed URLs (links) in your shapes that can point to web pages, other documents, drawings or even another shape on your drawing. This is an incredibly handy feature even if you are not publishing your diagram to a web page because it allows you to create drawings that can be "drilled down" into, or point to entire documents for additional information. The possibilities here are endless.

Although I don't use it, a friend raves about the feature that allows you to model directory schemas, such as Active Directory, Novell's Directory Services (NDS; now called "eDirectory"), and LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol). Since directory-enabled enterprises are based on one of these products or standards this feature alone might be reason enough to upgrade. Note that NDS modeling has long been a feature with a wizard that Visio provided for free before Microsoft acquired the product. This has now been integrated into the core product and the other directory types added.

This version can also be extensively customized without resorting to Visual Basic for Applications (VBA). ALthough the documentation that ships with Visio 2000 is lame Ralph Grabowski's excellent book, Learn Visio 2000 for the Advanced User, will show you how to fully customize Visio to meet your unique needs. This book is especially valuable if you use Visio all of the time because it will show you how to use a lot of features that you might not otherwise discover (or discover by trial and error), and how to configure Visio into a fine tool fitted to your needs instead of the generic implement it is out of the box.

Yes, Visio 2000 Professional is bloated, and yes, it still does strange things when you're editing a diagram within Microsoft Word. However, it is also incredibly powerful and easy to use. The learning curve for creating diagrams is shallow. I estimate that most people become 80% more productive even if they only use 20% of its capabilities. And the diagrams certainly add clarity to documentation. Despite the warts this version has some innovative features that make it an improvement over earlier versions. If you need the new features I cited above then the upgrade is worth it.