Microsoft Visio Professional 2003

Rating:
Summary: Does everything but tie your shoelaces for you
Review: I was able to turn out a complicated flowchart polished enough for professional training purposes in just two hours - despite having never used this kind of software before, and having no assistance whatsoever besides the program's own Help files. Now *that's* ease-of-use.

Rating:
Summary: Missing features of previous versions
Review: Visio 2003 Pro is a good product, but the fact that several key features are gone is the reason for a 3 star rating.

I use Visio 2003 Pro for general diagramming and for informal data modeling and process modeling in the course of developing system requirements. I used the simple data flow model diagram for years in Visio 2000, but 2003 has removed the "model" capabilities; it's just a picture now with no reusable components.

Pluses:
Good screen layout options
Still reverse-engineers databases
Better shape manipulation
Shape transparency

Minuses:
Removed "explorer" and modeling capabilities of Data Flow Model diagram
Does not generate DDL (Data Definition Language) anymore (need Visual Studio)
No longer exports to ERWin ERX files
Does not save to Visio 5 format (only 2002)
Removed Auto-Discovery
Removed a bunch of file converters and import tools

I recommend looking at Microsoft's "What you won't find in Microsoft Office Visio 2003" found at http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/assistance/HA010857571033.aspx.




Rating:
Summary: Powerful, Versatile, Sophisticated Business Diagramming
Review: Visio has always been an excellent solution for technical diagramming. Version 2003 is no exception and improves upon its predecessor with support for the web and integration with other Office applications. The program still lacks certain elements of Microsoft Office which I feel concerned about. Users are able to import Native Auto CAD drawings directly into Visio, and use the Visio tools to further customize and edit drawings to their hearts content. You can create custom stencils save them and share with other Visio users over a corporate network. You can export diagrams as a webpage so that users who don't have Visio installed locally on their machine can View diagrams through web browser at different resolutions with ease. The program enables IT Adminstrators to create Diagrams for Active Directory role outs for Windows 2000 Server and Server 2003. SQL Server or other third party database products such as Oracle and IBM DB2 can use the Visio functionality to outline a companies storage of data through active digrams that automate how data is stored and used. You can create simple project management task, and also export other Visio digrams to PowerPoint and further edit within PowerPoint or Word.Other features include searching for stencils online in the program, which makes it easy for you to find that particular diagram. Visio still lacks certain elements such as native support for WordArt. Overall, this upgrade is a must have for existing Visio 2000 or 5.0 users, but some 2002 users might not see any need for some of the functionality and might wait first to see if their diagramming and network infrastructure needs demand the new functionality and technology that Visio 2003 has to offer.