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 Software : Microsoft Visio Professional 2002 |
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Rating:  - Good documentation tool...
But it doesn't go far enough. Visio is one of those really cool, fun, products that you start to use and then you say "ok, but where do I go from here?"
One quite bizarre example is the database module for ER diagramming: It will REVERSE engineer a database beautifully, but... why would I want to do that if I can't use the diagram for anything but documentation purposes? So you think to yourself, "well, ok, I have ERwin, so I'll just export it to that...", but then you find out that Visio can IMPORT an ERwin model, but not export one??? What a strange omission! If Visio could export an ERwin model, I could buy ONE seat of a $4000 forward engineering database tool, and innumerable seats of $400 Visio! Then I could export to ERwin, forward engineer, and have my whole team using a very approachable, inexpensive tool to boot! I don't know, maybe even Microsoft if afraid of the mighty, abusive, litigous Computer Associates! This is kind of like the Dead Sea of software products: It will take you in, but you'll never get out!
In the software portion, it also is pretty much a dead end for forward engineering, although very cool and complete for documentation purposes, but Microsoft is also very tight with Rational and doesn't want to upset that apple cart either. One thing I was disappointed about was that nothing showed up as far as Java, C#, or .NET data types. I thought this was a little weird, as that's kind of the reason I upgraded. I didn't install it on my .NET server though, so maybe if you do that it picks that up, but to leave out Java is a little bit of an omission, I think.
On the plus side, the interface is beautiful, it does everything but the kitchen sink documentation wise, the shapes and the way they interact is downright magical, and the thing below about the software registration is really overblown: The only thing they make you provide is the country you reside in. In fact, it says right on the CD case "Don't lose this number! You must use it EVERY TIME you install this software." Microsoft is realistic: they know that you will most likely put it on at least two of your computers, and they're not in panic mode.
Bottom line: The best "single source" documentation tool ever devised is Visio 2002.
Rating: - Not for me, thanks.
My boss is really into technology, and he bought this and claims it's great, so he asked me to do up an organization chart in Visio (he's capable of doing it himself, but doesn't want to waste his time on things he can delegate, understandably).
I'm pretty fast at working out how to use new programs, and, since this was a Microsoft one and I'm used to Office, I worked out quickly how to use it. However, I found it tedious to use, especially for such a simple chart. I ended up opening Word and just doing the chart up in there instead, since it was a lot faster.
If you're doing up a lot of complex charts, then this sounds like the program for you. But if you're only doing up simple charts, stick with MS Word and don't spend your money on this. I know I won't be using it again.
Rating:  - Microsoft Visio 2002 - MIND BLOWING!!
I think Microsoft Visio 2002 Professional is MIND BLOWING!! Its truly amazing. BUY it, and you will see. :)
Its much better than Microsoft Visio 2000.
Rating: - Some great new features, but look before you leap
The newest version of Visio is the first version built completely by Microsoft since the product was acquired. It's a part of the XP family of products and an official member of the Office XP family.
Sporting the XP interface it has features that I am excited about: (1) Professional and Technical versions are combined. You get IT and facilities diagrams and wizards in the same package. (2) You can create diagrams that can export properties to XML. The possibilities are endless: exchange product data with suppliers and customers based on your own product's attributes, export bill of materials to ERP systems, manage assets and get control of total cost of ownership and export process model data to other tools. (3) You can directly scan images or download photos from digital cameras into Visio and use the new photo editing tools to enhance or modify the images to suit your needs. (4) Analyze your web site and develop a complete report of all links. A powerful feature is spotting broken links, making this a good tool for your quality assurance group.
I do not like the possible "gotchas" in the web link feature. Specifically, When you type a hyperlink in a Microsoft Office XP application (of which this version is a part), it has been reported that the application will alter what you've typed, without notifying you or giving you an opportunity to undo the "correction." Not good.
Before making a purchase decision there are issues and factors that you need to consider very carefully. As part of the XP family of products, Visio 2002, like the XP operating system and Office family, will require activation over the Internet once it's been installed. You can bring it up and use it 5 times before activation, but after that it will not work. This is Microsoft's defense against piracy, and at first glance is a sensible scheme. However, if you reinstall it you have to call Microsoft and get instructions. This is NOT a sensible scheme for a number of reasons. First, I travel, and sometimes outside of the country. Calling Redmond is not viable if my system crashes and I need to reload applications. Second, if I want to upgrade my hard drive I cannot simply reinstall this application (or any of the "XP" family applications or operating systems) because when I first activated it there is an entry made in some database somewhere that says this application is already installed and cannot be activated again. The solution is to call and have some unknown drone bypass big brother. What is this going to cause me in lost productivity?
If you need the features (and they are compelling) and can live with the possible web link problem and licensing and activation issues, then this is a worthwhile product. Think long and hard about the issues part, though, because it has ramifications that can be much more serious than I've described. On the other hand, perhaps a wave of good sense will descend upon Redmond and they come up with a more workable solution that shows they care about customers and understand stuff like total cost of ownership and the value of productivity.
Personally, I am passing this one by (along with the other XP products) until/unless there is a better way to recover from disasters like hard disk crashes or upgrade my system without the barriers that have been placed by the vendor. My productivity and sanity is worth more to me than the new features. You have my opinion and must decide for yourself.
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