Visio replacement for macs?

[qtip919]

Hey all - Im comin over from the Windows world, and I gotta admit, there is one app that M$ makes that is a lifesaver for me...Visio!

I use it for practically too many things to list

I have yet to dive into the mac world of apps enough to know what people are using that compares to visio, but I would be suprised if there is anything out there that can match visio feature-wise...

I mean, I have done everything with Visio from designing my house floor plans for a major remodel to presentation diagrams for too many different work situations to list...If Apple does anything with the iWork suite of apps, the best thing they could do is stay away from Excel and try to outdo visio...

So, please list your suggested replacements!!

 

[papersushi]

OmniGraffle 3
http://www.omnigroup.com/applications/omnigraffle/

 

[qtip919]

Thanks! Im using it now, and I really like it! (although I feel like its a little underpowered compared to visio...

Im also using ConceptDrawV, its great, but EXTREMELY expensive for the quality level...(I would rather pay for something like Adobe Illustrator)

 

[qtip919]

Note: just realized I didnt try to search the forums on this...I see alot of info on this...wading through it now...

still not seeing anything new however...are alot of people really using Omnigraffle?

 

[edesignuk]

still not seeing anything new however...are alot of people really using Omnigraffle?

I don't think we really have much choice unfortunately. I wish MS would produce Visio for Mac, the latest version for Windows (2003) is just brilliant!

 

[Applespider]

Are you using the normal or Pro version of Omnigraffle? Pro can export and read Visio XML files which is v useful.

There's also a beta of Omnigraffle 4 at the moment (or there was a couple of months ago) which has a few more features. I use Visio at work but on occasion, when I'm doing something more than a simple flow chart that I want to make look good too, I'll do it on Omnigraffle - I find it far more intuitive to play around with. I also like their additional stencil sets for planning office/home furniture, gardens et al

 

[qtip919]

agreed, and extensible stencil set is a wonderful feature...try saying that three times fast

 

[Mitthrawnuruodo]

Another thumbs up for OmniGraffle Pro. It's an awesome piece of software. It can do anything you can in Visio, and more. Things you make look really gorgeous...

Well, to be honest, it's been a while since I tried Visio, but I still think OmniGraffle is the better program...

 

[Epicurus]

OnmiGraffle Pro 4 is great, but its no Visio Pro 2003

Don't feel bad about liking Visio just because it is an M$ product. M$ bought Visio a long while back and still hasn't made that much of an improvement over the original. I've still got the last pre-M$ version of Visio installed on my old PC. It is the only non-game reason I use my PC for any length of time. OmniGraffle Pro is the only decent replacement for Visio on the Mac, and while it does an excellent job with spreadsheets and flowcharts (besting Visio even in some applications), it doesn't hold a candle to Visio's strengths in mechanical drafting and design. Visio is no AutoCAD, but I've still managed time and time again to make really nice technical drawings for my papers without much effort. The same is not the case with OmniGraffle.

I've made the switch from M$ products pretty completely now, not using Word or PowerPoint at all and Excel only sparingly (mostly for grades or budget spreadsheets). If M$ released a Mac version of Visio, though (and it had the same feature set as the Win version does now) I'd drop OnmiGraffle in a second. Maybe it is having years of Visio experience or maybe it's because Visio is better, I don't know. All I can say is that I've got a Virtual PC partition on my PMac at home with just one Win app installed: Visio Pro 2003.