Product Description

Microsoft® Office Visio 2003 gives business and technical users the power to visualize and communicate ideas, information, and systems. Use the simple, flexible tools in Visio 2003 to easily create business and technical charts and graphics that capture your inspiration and communicate it with impact.

Features:

• Visio helps you improve systems and processes by turning data from existing applications into interactive diagrams.
• Visio helps you easily create business and technical diagrams to think through, better understand, and design ideas, processes and systems.
• Diagrams created in Visio help you communicate information clearly, concisely and effectively in a way that text and numbers alone can not.

Features

• Integrate with other business systems by extracting data from Visio diagrams and importing it to Excel, Word, Access,SQL Server, XML and other formats
• It's never been easier to assemble diagrams -- just drag the pre-defined Microsoft SmartShapes symbols into the desired location
• Generate common diagram types from all sorts of existing data, to put complex concepts, processes, and relationships into their proper context
• Create visually rich diagrams that ive your ideas maximum impact -- then share them in workspace files on your team's SharePoint site
• Track reviewer's comments and customize your diagram, to meet the needs of your organization

Reviews (7)

Missing features of previous versions
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.

Does everything but tie your shoelaces for you
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 assistancewhatsoever besides the program's own Help files. Now *that's* ease-of-use.

Beware!!!Not an upgrade for Visio 2003 Standard
I just purchased this thinking that "of course I can upgrade to Visio 2003 Pro from Visio 2003 Standard".Nope. This is just plain silly. I still am trying to figure out if I can even upgrade my Visio *2003* Standard version to Professional.

A Valuable Upgrade
I have been using the Visio diagramming software since the 2000 version.In my mind this upgrade is the best I have purchased.

The interface with the rest of the Office XP 2003 Suite is vastly improved.I can now take a diagram created in Visio and drop it into Word documents, PowerPoint Presentations and e-mails without having to reformat it.In the past the transfer was never clean.

Once the diagram is embedded, I can emphasize and clarify key points, gather input from team members and even share documents using SharePoint services.This is a huge timesaver for me.

If you embed your diagrams in other documents, you will love this upgrade.

Powerful, Versatile, Sophisticated Business Diagramming
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. ... Read more

Product Description

Fast, easy, and completeThis easy-to-use tool will enable even the most inexperienced marketer to create and implement practical marketing plans to find customers, raise awareness of your business and increase sales. Let Marketing Plan Pro 6.0 walk you through the "ABCs" of marketing planning to quickly produce a professional and complete plan.

• Chose from over 70 Sample PlansDon't worry about writer's block-get started and finished fast, with all the examples you need from a variety of industries.
• Find Your CustomersThe software will lead you through the process of learning who your customers are, what their needs are and help you create a plan to reach them.
• Understand the TerminologyLearn and use accepted marketing tools including SWOT Analysis, channel strategy, sales and expense budgets, and milestones.
• PlusImport and export information from your existing software, including Microsoft Word®, Excel® and Business Plan Pro 2003®.

Reviews (5)

For Amateurs
I am a professional marketing manager, and this product was a great disappointment. We purchased it because of the great reviews, but I found it to be very cumbersome. The entire program is created in some sort of Web design software, and your documents are formatted in HTML. If you do not like the plain-jane layout that it offers you, YOU MUST GO IN AND EDIT THE HTML CODE to change it. In addition, the entire program was designed around marketing PRODUCTS so if you have a service based industry, or combination, you will spend great amounts of time deleting and adding categories. I finally gave up on the program and transferred everything over to Word. The only thing good about this software is the samples it provides, which I could have obtained free from a textbook. I wish I had my money back.

Not For Students
This program works great if you are trying to open a business from the beginning, but not for writing a plan for an existing business. I had to write a marketing plan for a class and it was helpful but there are many more resources out there that would be better.

Excellent Marketing Resource
I was referred to this product through a contact at the American Marketing Association.What a great piece of advice!

This is impressive software from every perspective.I found it easy to use, the content is excellent throughout, and the sample marketing plans were amazing.Check out "Interior Views" for example.The other resources, including the associated book, were also valuable for me.

My marketing plans looks great and I would not have been able to accomplish this task so efficiently without this software.

The New Version is Even Better
The latest version of Marketing Plan Pro has everything you need to create a solid marketing plan, and now it has an impressive library of sample plans.I found a couple plans that were very helpful to me as I created mine.

This sofware saved me hours and my marketing plan looks awesome!

It made me look like a marketing guru
I first learned about Marketing Plan Pro through a class I took that used Kotler's "Marketing Managment" text where the software is mentioned.This software was so helpful in creating a marketing plan, I just can't imagine doing one without it.Great wizards, good sample plans, and the graphics it created for me were incredible.

The plan looks great, my boss was blown away, and it is the easiest way for me to keep my marketing plan current and useful.

I recommend it without hesitation. ... Read more

Product Description

Microsoft (D86-01663) Microsoft Visio Standard 2003 ... Read more

Features

• Academic Price - Not For Use In Commercial Environment

Features

• Legacy CAD Symbol Convertor
• Allows engineers and others to create drawings in an intuitive environment
• Includes easy-to-use tools for designing P&ID's and PFD¿s
• Generate component lists and create datasheets
• Intelligent pipe routing and symbol alignment

Product Description

KEYNOTE ... Read more

Features

• Experiment with different typefaces to create the perfect text for your presentation
• Design razor-sharp text, beautiful charts & tables, and professional-quality layouts, all with just a few clicks
• Create high-quality visual effects like transitions between slides, element effects and more
• Intuitive slide navigator and simple thumbnail viewer for more precise controls and better slide organization
• Professional themes and images combined with must-haves like anti-aliased text, dynamic alignment guides and snap-rulers

Reviews (9)

New Turn Your Slide Presentations with Keynote
For most Mac users, slide presentations means Microsoft's Powerpoint. Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple, in 2003 decided there is the ÔMac WayÕ for presentations. In Steve Jobs words, ÒKeynote makes your presentation really count. Ó

Under the Keynote Hood

You can choose transition, style, direction and speed when you use KeynoteÕs Inspector. Creating object builds adds visual interest to your slide presentation. You can animate the elements on a single slide or in a group of slides.

One click and you alter the opacity of a graphic using the Slide Inspector. Click twice and you can set the playback parameters for a QuickTime movie. The Build window in the Inspector allows you to preview, add, and manipulate transitions within and between slides.

AppleÕs Keynote allows you to include sound for your presentation. AppleÕs KeynoteÕs sound formats you can use are MOV, Flash, MP3 and AIFF.Also, you can add files from iTunesÕ music library to your Keynote slide presentation. In addition, you can add a Quicktime movie to your slides.

Pro Reaction

Keynote has crisp, fresh graphics. KeynoteÕs ÔDrag and DropÕ and exporting to AppleÕs Quicklime both work well. You can import Microsoft PowerPoint or AppleWorksÕ presentations and create a custom theme base on those slides.

You can store your images in KeynoteÕs Image Library. KeynoteÕs Cube and Mosaic Large transitions are outstanding for updating your MicrosoftÕs PowerPoint. You receive a KeynoteÕs User Guide manual. No missing manual here.

Con Reaction

Keynote lacks prebuilt presentations. Also, Keynote has very little clip art to work with in presentations. Also, you have limited presentation themes to choose from in Keynote.

Keynote Cube and Mosaic Large and small transitions do not render well when exporting in MicrosoftÕs PowerPoint or AcrobatÕs PDF formats. Missing from KeynoteÕs User Guide is an index.

Final Notes

You can count on KeynoteÕs sharp appearance, ease of use, and great price. Keynote makeÔs it easy to create professional-looking presentations compatible with MicrosoftÕs PowerPoint. In addition, Keynote gives your presentations attractive slide-transition effects. I use AppleÕs KeynoteÕs software as a companion software for revising my MicrosoftÕs PowerPoint presentations.

Charts and clean presentations...
I work with plenty of powerpoint charts in my work with windows users...but when I need a great statistics chart, I turn to Keynote.I have plenty of control over the output and the results are stunning.

The export to powerpoint works terrific.However, if you build a presentation in Keynote, you may just consider exporting it into Quicktime so that the viewer can simply run through the presentation in pristine quality and enjoy all of the terrific transitions.

I hope to see more office apps like this from Apple in the future.

It knows what you need.
For years, PowerPoint has been the bain of my existence. My boss is obsessed with it. Every week it's another presentation in PowerPoint. Finally, an alternative. As usual, Apple takes the "point" out of a Microsoft product. It seems fair, all things considered.

The user interface for this program is fast and easy to learn. It even gives you several options of themes to use for those deadline crunches that we all run into from time to time. It includes the famous drag-and-drop functionality that we've come to expect.

Most importantly, you can save it out to PowerPoint for those less enlighted souls who still think that a Windows machine will help them keep up with the times.

Bill Palmer's Keynote Review
Despite its youth and inexperience, Keynote represents everything that's right about computing in the Mac universe, and easily explains why I use a Mac.

My full thoughts on Keynote are too long to post here, but if you would like to read all about it, just follow this link (cut and paste it into your browser if it's not clickable):

Bill Palmer's Keynote Review
[website]

Easy, Sharp, Intuitive, Apple
After being a slave to both Mc and PC versions of PPT, Keynote came along and threw off the bonds. As I own my own business and can use what I want, Keynote will replace PPT without hesitation.
Graphic acuity, more choices and freedoms to manipulate charts and graphs with ease.
No problem leaving MS PPT at the curb with the rest of the mutts.. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Good program to get started with flowcharts and diagramming
Recently I faces with a necessity to teach basic diagramming and flowcharting and I found that Omnigraffle is a perfect program to get started and to master all the basic functions. For advanced usage and sophisticated layouts and diagrams I try to use other programs that are also available on Mac, for example, ConceptDraw.

It really is good...
OmniGraffle is for me, the most unique productivity tool I possess.

I teach film and digital media at a local university. All of my handouts to my students are produced in OmniGraffle. It works seamlessly with their companion outliner program; OmniOutliner. I prepare handouts in OmniOutliner first, clarifying my thinking and then I simply load it into Omnigraffle which converts the outline with indents etc. into structured diagrams with the same inter-relationship as the original outline document. Easier to do than explain, I have to say.

They look great, they are easily edited and changed. You can make incredible documents with this program from flowcharts highlighting processes to floorplans, to detailed notes, and step-by-step explanations, etc. etc. etc. Faster and easier than a desktop publishing program and far, far more flexible.

The other reviewer was right, if you work with ideas, this program, especially working with OmniOutliner, is invaluable. There are plenty of outliners for the PC, there are also graphics software, but nothing like this pair for productivity.

One of the easiest and most useful programs I've ever used
As a former software quality assurance tester for a major software company I have to say that this is arguably the easiest and most useful program I have ever used.

Through the years I've had to dabble with Photoshop, Quark, PageMaker and FileMaker.The companies that make these titles like us to think that their programs are easy to use.Well, they need to send some folks over to Omni Group to learn how it's really done.

I've never been able to just sit down and intutiively know how to operate software such as this.OmniGraffle has been the exception.Within minutes I had created a flow chart of ideas that was close to perfect.I didn't even need to look at the directions.Speaking of which, the small manual for this program looks like a booklet made by Dorling-Kindersley.You can't get any more user friendly than that.

If you work with ideas and concepts - creative writing, marketing, politics, business, nonprofits. speech writing, education, etc. - you will find this software useful.It will allow you to easily and succinctly present these ideas to others or just for your own personal use.

Omni Group has a demo version of this software which allows users to have up to 20 graphic items in their document.This might sound like a lot, but it isn't.If you're serious about using the software you'll definitely want to purchase it.

Reason alone to buy a Mac?Maybe.
This remarkable program astonishes people.It may be the finest software I have ever used--and I've used more than my share.OmniGraffle is designed to create visual representations of data, from time lines, to flow charts, to electronic diagrams, to office lay-outs, and much, much more.But this sterile list hardly does justice to the amazing flexibility and ease of use of this program.Everything from object fill, to line width, to line features, to labelling, to color, to fonts, to page lay-out are so feature rich, so user friendly as to put any competitors to rest.There certainly is nothing even close to this software in the Windows world.(If you are using something like Visio for these tasks, you are in the stone-age.)I wish I could include a sample document to illustrate what this program can do.But, since I can't, go to OmniGroup's web site (www.omnigroup.com) to check out their examples.

I'd give this a 10 if I could. ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

In just six years, Visio set the standard for business diagramming, so it only makes sense for the company to change the product name to Visio Standard. Given the new flow-charting tools, Internet capabilities, and dozens of other dynamic features that have been added, Visio Standard 5.0 will continue setting clear, effective communication precedents--across your organization and the world! This software allows users to quickly create flow charts and business diagrams to enhance business communications and manage information, processes, and concepts. Visio's pioneering approach to drag-and-drop drawing and its tight integration with Microsoft Office puts powerful graphics capabilities within reach of the mainstream business user. ... Read more

Product Description

Truthfully, you've been actively "planning" your business for months. You know your objectives and have a very clear picture of how you'll attain them. Still, the prospect of committing that plan to writing seems more daunting than any of the real business challenges that lie ahead.

Well, the entire process has just become a whole lot easier with Business Plan Writer Deluxe for 2004. This version combines powerful new features with proven techniques to cast your vision in terms that bankers and prospective investors understand and expect. By answering a series of questions in an "interview format", you'll be able to express your ideas cohesively and concisely - and win the praise and support of your readers.

Best of all, with example text for every section and so many real business plans to draw on, the toughest part of the writing job is behind you. The upshot: you'll complete your plan quickly and with absolutely no writer's block. ... Read more

Features

• Business planning guidebook, The Winning Business Plan included.
• Walks you through the planning process.
• Hundreds of sample business plans.
• Import financial data from QuickBooks Pro and Microsoft Excel.
• Includes Kiplinger's Business Attorney with 75+ essential legal documents.

Features

• The sure way to create better Communication and more effective planning for your company!
• Create orgcharts instantly, using the Data Import Wizard -- Plan out new organizational structures by clicking a mouse
• Pre-made chart and box style templates - Design a high-quality chart with a few keystrokes
• Re-organize people and position in the database, or on the chart, by clicking & dragging
• Publish your charts to a file or Website where it can viewed & used in other documents

Product Description

IMSI FlowCharts & More v.5.0 - Complete Product - Flow Chart - 1 User(s) Complete Product - Standard - PCFlowCharts&More offers all the tools you need to quickly and easily create professional flow charts, organizational charts and business diagrams in minutes. A well-designed chart or diagram readily communicates information in an organized, graphical way. Now you can produce charts and diagrams quickly and easily with FlowCharts&More. Nice electronics is your source for everyday low prices on theIMSI 00FLO560CC - FLOWCHARTS & MORE DRAWING SOFTWARE and all other IMSI Software - Misc ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Avoid this software.
I purchased Flowcharts & More in the hopes of getting an inexpensive s/w tool for making very simple flowcharts.(I didn't see the point of paying hundreds for Visio - which I've used before.)This software has caused me hours of aggrevation and disappointment.It frequently crashes; and makes the files you were working on at the time of the crash unrecoverable. (NB: I am using Windows XP professional.) The simple line tool used to connect figures in the software doesn't function properly.And there is no product support worth speaking of. Save yourself the time and hassle, buy another flowchart product.(It isn't even worth one star - but Amazon tells me I have to assign a star value...) ... Read more

Product Description

You can create custom flow charts, organization charts, business and network diagrams and more! Choose from professional templates or start from scratch - using 600 predefined drag-and-drop symbols. ... Read more

Amazon.com Product Description

Flow! is a tool for creating well-designed professional-looking charts and diagrams to maximize your business documents. It provides a familiar, Office-like interface and Web linking features.

Layout tools include a customizable grid, guidelines, rulers, align, distribute, and layers. There are over 600 drag-and-drop symbols from 20 Smart Symbol Libraries. You can automatically grow shapes to fit text, and take advantage of autorouting connecting lines. Formatting options include start, end, center, and repeating arrows; fountain fills for shapes, lines, and shadows; and repeating pattern lines and fills for shapes and shadows. Easily transform any shape, icon, or clip art image into a hyperlink. Import and export the most popular file formats, including JPG, BMP, PCX, GIF, TIF, PSD, EPS, CMX, CGM, WPG, WMF, EMF, and PCT. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

QUIMICO
ESPERO UN GRAN PROGRAMA QUE FACILITE EL TRABAJO DE DISEÑO ... Read more

Product Description

Corel iGrafx FlowCharter 2003.Enjoy improved productivity and ease-of-use when creating flowcharts, process maps, and other business diagrams with iGrafx FlowCharter(TM) 2003, the newest version of the award winning ABC FlowCharter(TM). Document even the most complex processes, systems, or organization charts in record time using the intuitive drawing features of iGrafx FlowCharter 2003, then output to Web, print or presentations. ... Read more