Visio 2007 Professional is a drawing and diagramming solution for IT professionals who need to effectively and efficiently update, understand, act upon and share complex information about their IT processes, infrastructure and applications. Visio 2007 is the comprehensive visualizing solution with tools to visualize, explore, and communicate the full spectrum of IT information.

Visio 2007 provides powerful graphics to document and communicate information. Visio 2007 does not require advanced technical or artistic skills to diagram important information. Users assemble the graphics they need from predefined Visio SmartShapes® symbols and format elements such as borders, title blocks, backgrounds, and more. With the new Visio 2007 Color Themes feature, the appearance and visual impact of a drawing can be modified in seconds to suit specific needs.

IT professionals need diagrams to support their work tasks such as engineering, installation, troubleshooting, maintenance, support, application design, system design, and more. Microsoft Office Visio Professional 2007 can help these workers with the creation of virtually any kind of diagram related to IT operations, business processes, space planning, and asset management. For these technical and business uses, Microsoft Office Visio Professional 2007 provides comprehensive diagramming tools that render complex information easier to understand and analyze.

While other Microsoft Office programs, such as Microsoft Word and Microsoft PowerPoint®, provide basic diagramming capabilities, Visio is a dedicated diagramming tool that is far more productive for a broad range of diagrams. In contrast to other Office programs, you can use Visio to automatically create diagrams and complete tasks, or to export data to reports and store information within each shape. Visio also is also capable of advanced automation that enables generation of data from diagrams and diagrams from data.

None. With Visio, you can easily create diagrams using intelligent, predefined SmartShapes symbols and templates. Tutorials in the Help menu will help you get started and there are many companies that offer Visio basic and advanced training. In addition, third parties provide a full range of Visio SmartShapes and add-on applications to extend Visio features.

Visio 2007 enhancements for IT include, new templates (ITIL), database integration (Data Linking), visualization (Data Graphics), team collaboration (via SharePoint, data analysis (Pivot Diagrams), and viewing Visio drawings in Microsoft Office Outlook 2007. The Visio automation model has also been updated so that advanced developers can leverage these new features in their applications.

The new features significantly increase the value of diagrams because they are more useful to a broader range of people in an enterprise. Data Linking and Data Graphics communicate important information far more clearly to support critical business decisions. For more information, see the top 10 reasons to use Visio 2007.

Yes. You can open and use any Visio diagram from any previous version in Visio 2007. You can open a Visio 2007 diagram directly in Microsoft Visio 2003. You can also save a Visio 2007 drawing in Visio 2002 or Visio 2000 format. Note: Some functionality specific to Visio 2007 may be unavailable after saving your diagram in a previous version.

The Visio product family comprises Visio Standard 2007 and Visio Professional 2007. For IT professionals, Visio Professional 2007 is the product of choice because it includes an array of shapes, stencils, templates, and solutions for IT related tasks.

Visio 2007 is available in 17 languages:

• Chinese (Simplified)
• Chinese (Traditional)
• Czech
• Danish
• Dutch
• English
• Finnish
• French
• German
• Italian
• Japanese
• Korean
• Norwegian
• Polish
• Portuguese (Brazil)
• Spanish
• Swedish

No. Visio Professional 2007 is available as a stand-alone program only; it is not included in any of the Microsoft Office 2007 Editions. Learn more about what programs are available in Office 2007 Editions.

You can use Visio 2007 with Microsoft Office System programs to:

• Emphasize important points. Emphasize and clarify important points in everyday business communications by inserting information-rich Visio diagrams into Microsoft® Excel® spreadsheets, Microsoft Outlook® e-mail messages, Word documents, and PowerPoint® presentations.
• Edit your diagrams in place. With in-place editing, you don't have to go back to your original diagram to modify it. From another Office program, simply double-click the diagram to access the Visio editing environment and make your changes.
• Transfer your PowerPoint color scheme. Create a Visio diagram in PowerPoint and then transfer the slide's color scheme into your diagram.
• Link to data in Access or Excel; view the data in a Visio External Data window and see the links to the objects on your drawing such as equipment, furniture, and other resources.
• Create a calendar. Create a calendar in Visio from Outlook data using Visio tools to customize the look and feel.
• Create project timelines and Gantt charts. Generate timelines and Gantt charts by importing project tasks and milestones from Microsoft Project. Also, data stored in Visio timelines and Gantt charts can be exported to Microsoft Project. Use Visio to create a work breakdown structure from your Microsoft Project data.

Create Visio solutions that meet the needs of your organization with Visio 2007 tools, such as:

• ActiveX® Controls. Use Microsoft ActiveX® Controls to add Visio drawing capabilities to your development project.
• The Shape Studio. Create shape libraries with this Visio tool.
• The Visio SDK. The Microsoft Visio Software Development Kit (SDK) provides sample code, tools, documentation, and Primary Interop Assemblies (PIAs) for creating custom solutions.
• Visual Studio® .NET. Develop automation programs to synchronize diagrams with enterprise data
• Visual Basic® for Applications (VBA). Use VBA to develop portable automation solutions that may be transferred to other users with the drawing file.

Yes. For help with applying Visio 2007 to IT tasks, visit the Visio 2007 Toolbox Web site (http://www.visiotoolbox.com/). This site contains information about third party resources, technical papers, best practices, and downloads of free and trial versions of various IT related tools for Visio.

For information on customization, use the Visio 2007 SDK or visit the Visio Developer Portal. In addition, a global network of more than 200 Visio Solution Providers can assist customers with specific deployment, training, and customization assistance.

Yes. Visio 2007 also supports the custom install wizard and custom maintenance wizard.

Yes. Visio 2007 integrates with:

• Exchange Server. Use a wizard in Visio to generate an organization chart from the Microsoft Exchange Server global address list.
• SQL Server and Access. Use Visio Professional 2007 to document Microsoft SQL Server™ and Microsoft Access databases by reverse-engineering existing schemas, or to design proposed database structures using entity relationship diagrams. Create or modify Visio diagrams by linking them to a database.
• Visual Studio® .NET. Use Visio Professional 2007 to create Unified Modeling Language (UML) diagrams of Microsoft Visual Studio® .NET development projects by reverse-engineering the class structure. Visio supports add-ins written in Microsoft Visual Basic® .NET and C#, and also supports XML Web services. Visio includes a macro recorder and an integrated Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) editor.
• BizTalk® Server. Use Visio to design or document a business process and then dynamically share the data through XML process standards, such as old domain exit (ODX) or business process execution language (BPEL); automate the task with Microsoft BizTalk® Server.
• Windows Server. Use Visio Professional 2007 to document or design a Microsoft Windows® Server Active Directory® directory service topology for organizations to use with deployment and migration planning.
• Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer: From Visio network diagrams, perform security scans on your networked devices and view reports in a Visio window on a variety of vulnerabilities. This requires the free download Visio 2007 Connector for MBS http://wwwppe/technet/security/tools/mbsavisio.mspx
• Microsoft Operations Manager (MOM). Use Visio as a graphical interface to run MOM tasks from a network diagram.
• Systems Management Server (SMS). Get configuration information about the nodes on your network from a Visio network diagram.

Visio Professional 2007.

Visio 2007 is the comprehensive diagramming solution that provides tools to help IT professionals design, plan, evaluate, document, deploy, monitor and update their infrastructure, line of business applications, work processes and to manage costs through improved efficiency.

New and improved features include:

• An ITIL template
• Additional sample diagrams
• AutoConnect feature to speed the creation of network diagrams
• Data Graphics to easily illustrate network data
• Data Linking to link external databases and Excel files with drawing objects
• Pivot Diagrams to automatically visualize multiple views of the same data set
• Color Schemes to quickly modify the visual impact of a diagram for different purposes

The critical first step in any process management effort is to create a clear picture of the process. Visio 2007 can help you quickly document and map any business or technical processes, providing deeper insight into how these processes work. The diagrams are also valuable tools to educate personnel on their role in a process or what they can expect to occur at each step.

The Visio product includes starter templates and online tutorials. The Visio 2007 Toolbox Web site (http://www.visiotoolbox.com/) provides access to technical information on best practices and advanced Visio usage. The Visio product Home page also links to resources for users and developers such as templates, add-ons, samples, and tips. Microsoft Visio Certified Partners offer additional services such as custom solutions and training.

Visit Visio Courses to find online Visio training courses you can complete yourself. In addition, a global network of Visio Solution Providers can assist customers with specific deployment, training, and customization assistance.

Visit Visio on TechNet to find information on deploying, maintaining, and supporting Visio.

Visit the Visio Developer Center on MSDN for the latest information about developing with Visio, including product news, technical articles, samples, code snippets, best practices, and the Microsoft Office Visio 2007 SDK.

The latest information on Visio can be found at the Visio Office Online Center. Here you will find detailed product information, the latest articles on topics most requested by users, and links to resources including hands-on training, white papers, best practices, and more.

The public newsgroup for Visio is microsoft.public.visio.

Visit the Microsoft Office Visio Help and Support site for the latest troubleshooting information and technical articles on Microsoft Office Visio 2007.

Following are the retail and upgrade prices:

• Retail $559
• Upgrade $349 from qualifying products
  • Microsoft® Visio® Professional 2000–2002
  • Microsoft® Office Visio® Professional 2003
  • Microsoft® Visio® Standard 2000–2002
  • Microsoft® Office Visio® Standard 2003–2007

It is be licensed as a stand-alone product. For Visio 2007 pricing and licensing information, see the previous question regarding pricing.

Yes. Find more information about getting the Visio Professional 2007 trial software.

To use Microsoft Office Professional 2007, you will need:

• Computer and processor 500 megahertz (MHz) processor or higher
• Memory 256 megabyte (MB) RAM or higher
• Hard disk 1.5 gigabyte (GB); a portion of this disk space will be freed after installation if the original download package is removed from the hard drive.
• Drive CD-ROM or DVD drive
• Display 1024x768 or higher resolution monitor
• Operating system - Microsoft® Windows VistaTM, Windows® XP with Service Pack (SP) 2, Windows® Server 2003 with SP1, or later operating system