Visio equivalents for Mac
May 2, 2005 9:50 AM Subscribe
Are there any reasonable Mac (OS X) based applications (with not so steep learning curves) that can more or less approximate what one can do with Visio?
My current client distributes PC laptops for all work, but invariably for my product and technical documenation work, I end up using my PowerBook. Only thing is, some parts of my job require Visio for flow diagrams, org charts, etc. Are there close approximations to Visio available for the Mac platform. I know some people use Adobe Illustrator for similar tasks, but that strikes me as being a fairly difficult product to learn quickly.
My current client distributes PC laptops for all work, but invariably for my product and technical documenation work, I end up using my PowerBook. Only thing is, some parts of my job require Visio for flow diagrams, org charts, etc. Are there close approximations to Visio available for the Mac platform. I know some people use Adobe Illustrator for similar tasks, but that strikes me as being a fairly difficult product to learn quickly.
psmealey, thanks for asking this question... I was just about to post this exact same question to the TECHWR-L (technical writing) mailing list. I am PC-based and need to collaborate with a Mac user.
For those of you who use OmniGraffle and ConceptDraw, do you exchange documents with Visio users with any frequency? How's that working for you?
posted by enrevanche at 10:08 AM on May 2, 2005
For those of you who use OmniGraffle and ConceptDraw, do you exchange documents with Visio users with any frequency? How's that working for you?
posted by enrevanche at 10:08 AM on May 2, 2005
OmniGraffle Pro will import and export Visio as well. I haven't tried it personally, but based on the overall quality of Omni software, it should be pretty good.
posted by mikel at 10:40 AM on May 2, 2005
posted by mikel at 10:40 AM on May 2, 2005
I use OmniGraffle Pro with Visio documents - both importing and exporting. Works beautifully.
posted by annathea at 10:44 AM on May 2, 2005
posted by annathea at 10:44 AM on May 2, 2005
Response by poster: Thanks for the heads up on this, guys. I downloaded OmniGraffle at 10:05 AM PST, and have already completed my first workflow diagram (of the 5 I need to get down by 5pm)! I have only scratched the surface of it, but I think I actually prefer it to Visio alread!
posted by psmealey at 10:52 AM on May 2, 2005
posted by psmealey at 10:52 AM on May 2, 2005
I third (fourth) the vote for OmniGraffle - unbelievably easy to use and I have successfully imported/exported Visio xml (.vdx) files for work uses many times. Just a great program, and exactly what you're looking for, I'd wager...
posted by gazole at 11:11 AM on May 2, 2005
posted by gazole at 11:11 AM on May 2, 2005
Add one more to the pile of OmniGraffle Pro. I use it routinely and have only had one compatibility issue with Visio, ever (and that was a long time ago).
A++++++ WOULD BUY AGAIN!!!!! GREAT PRODUCT AND SELLER!
posted by mosch at 2:46 PM on May 2, 2005
A++++++ WOULD BUY AGAIN!!!!! GREAT PRODUCT AND SELLER!
posted by mosch at 2:46 PM on May 2, 2005
One more thing about Omnigraffle.
There are TONS of more shapes for it.
extras
posted by filmgeek at 4:51 PM on May 2, 2005
There are TONS of more shapes for it.
extras
posted by filmgeek at 4:51 PM on May 2, 2005
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by eschatfische at 9:56 AM on May 2, 2005