Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Look at OpenOffice.org draw features before buying
I've been fiddling with the OpenOffice.org and StarOffice features for a while, then took a look at the Draw program. I was blown away. It's like a mini Visio Elements -- it's got the connector lines you need and really good control over positioning, plus it's got a gallery where you can store prefab shapes.Seriously, download OpenOffice.org if you're not a huge Visio power user. You'll be really surprised and impressed, and of course OpenOffice.org is free, so that helps.
Rating:  - For most, PowerPoint will suffice
No doubt, Visio is a powerful program. But I'm here to advocate a different approach to diagramming. With the release of Office XP, Microsoft has made PowerPoint so intuitive, precise and powerful that - for the vast majority of us - Visio is overkill.I do lots of business flow-like diagrams. I've worked with Visio in the past, but I feel like the following method works far better for me: 1) Start by building a rudimentary version of what you want in PowerPoint. True, PowerPoint doesn't give you the snap-and-lock type features that are at the core of Visio...but you can closely approximate it with various easy-to-learn techniques. The best thing about PowerPoint is that every action is completely intuitive. I've been able to build some pretty complex things without once looking at online help. 2) Now, once your rudimentary version is in place, you can go back through and punch things up with appropriate graphics. Microsoft provides a great online tool for this purpose called "Design Gallery Live." You have access to it as part of your Office XP purchase. Say that at a certain place, your diagram calls for a picture of a CPU. Bring up Design Gallery Live through the "Clips Online" option of PowerPoint and put 'CPU' in as the search term and, voila, there are four pages of images for you to choose from. 3) You can go beyond Design Gallery Live with the help of Google. Their (relatively) new Image search feature is a boon for anyone putting together a presentation. The other day, I needed a generic image of an ATM. I put "Automated Teller Machine" in as a search term for a Google Image search and got nine pages of images back. 4) Back in PowerPoint, once you drop these images into place, you can double-click on them & go to the 'Size' panel of the 'Format Picture' dialogue box. Play with Height & Width parameters to get to proper scaling for each of the images you've selected (keep the ratios equal, though). 5) You can use the various 'Alignment' options (available through the Drawing menu at the left-hand corner of your screen) to line up the various objects as you see appropriate. I suggest you give this approach a try as well before committing extra money to buy Visio. You'll be surprised at how powerful Powerpoint has become & how you can assemble professional, eye-catching presentations in a very short period of time.
Rating:  - You are being robbed and you don't know it
I don't buy crippleware. I do not owe microsoft any information about myself, nor do I have any intention of wainting on hold for their registration goons, while they index my caller id and file my name in their records anyway. for [money] I should get something that installs and works. There is no reason for me or my equipment to contact them. Other nifty MS tactics these day: If an app fails, the OS asks to send information about the app to microsoft. Wonder if they use that for keeping an eye on _other_ companies market share? Or maybe just what _you_ are running? Wonder if that autoupdate feature does the same thing? Oh, and now MSE sets up a click through for typo'd domains. Nice way of pulling demographic information about YOU without your expressed permission. Don't care about your religious OS affiliations. Collecting demographic and personal information about people without their expressed consent is unethical. These "features" are not for your benefit. Boycott.
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