Visio For Mac Os X

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We are acquainted with such a software product as MS Visio, which beyond any doubt, is a powerful and multi-functional tool but it has no Macintosh version. This is a great issue, and you’ll be quite pleased to know about ConceptDraw PRO - the perfect MS Visio alternative that runs natively in both platforms: OS X.

While Microsoft doesn't have a desktop version of Visio for macOS, you can still work on Visio files on a Mac in your web browser. Visio for the web lets you view, create, and edit diagrams in the Safari or Chrome browser on your Mac. There's nothing to install. I would like view the vsd files in Mac OS X. Is there a Visio Viewer for Mac OS X? This thread is locked. You can follow the question or vote as helpful, but you cannot reply to this thread.

Mac users aren’t at all shy about making their requests for applications known:

How about Visio for Mac?

When will IE return to Mac?

Will we ever see a Microsoft Project for Mac?

Where can I get Access for Mac?

When will (insert name of hot new game here) be available for Mac?

Most of these requests are for well-known Microsoft applications on Windows, and Mac users want them. Let me address a few of these in some detail.

Microsoft Visio

It’s unwise to say “never” with regard to future development efforts by a company as large as Microsoft, so I will predict this about Visio for Mac: it’s very, very unlikely to ever happen.

I, and many others, believe the development costs to produce a Mac Visio that would faithfully render any existing Visio drawing (and have almost all the functionality of Visio for Windows) would never be recouped by Microsoft.

For any Mac software company, a software product that brought in $50 million per year would be viewed as a fantastic success. But in the rarified world of the Microsoft Office team, such a product would be considered a dismal failure.

For any Mac software company, a software product that brought in $50 million per year would be viewed as a fantastic success. But in the rarified world of the Microsoft Office team, such a product would be considered a dismal failure.

Microsoft Access

Exactly the same as Visio: very, very unlikely to ever happen, and for exactly the same reason.

Internet Explorer

Never going to happen.

There was a version of IE for Mac about 15 years ago. Microsoft ceased development of IE for Mac in July 2003. Given that there is no new development for IE for Windows (because of the release of Microsoft Edge in 2015), there is no chance at all for a future release of IE for Mac.

Any Hot New Game by Microsoft

Never going to happen.

The graphics foundations on Mac and Windows diverge sufficiently that porting any hot new Windows game over to the Mac is a major undertaking. It would be unlikely to recoup development costs, for the same reasons as the Office applications. You can read more details about DirectX and OpenGL.

What’s a Mac User to Do?

There are a couple of options for a Mac user:

  • Use a viewer application. In some cases, a viewer application that faithfully renders a document that you could not otherwise open will suffice. In the case of Visio, Microsoft has released a Visio Viewer for iOS, as shown in Figure 1.
  • Use a competing application. Search for “Visio for Mac” on Google, and many of the results will be for third-party applications for Mac that open Visio drawings and provide much of the same functionality.
  • Run the real Windows application on your Mac. If you need the real Visio with all its functionality, then use Parallels Desktop® for Mac to run Windows 10 on your Mac and purchase Visio from Microsoft. You lose no functionality or visual fidelity, since you are running the real Visio in the environment it expects: Windows 10.

Microsoft Visio For Macbook

(Already own Visio? No problem. Just use the Migration feature in Parallels Desktop to move everything on your PC—including Visio—into a virtual machine on your Mac.)

Figure 2 shows Visio running on my MacBook Pro®.

Figure 2_Visio 2016 running in Windows10 on a Mac with Parallels Desktop

Figures 3 and 4 show Access, and Figure 5 shows IE—all running on my MacBook Pro.

Visio Viewer Mac Os X

Figure 3_Access 2016 in Windows 10 running on a Mac with Parallels Desktop

Figure 4_Access 2016 in Windows 10 running on a Mac with Parallels Desktop

Figure 5_IE in Windows10 running on a Mac with Parallels Desktop

While you may not be able to get the Mac applications you desire, you can get the Windows versions and run them right alongside your Mac applications.

As the product manager for Parallels Desktop, you might consider my opinions to be a bit biased. (They aren’t, but you might think that.) So, here is a quote from a Network World review (emphasis mine):

“I’ve been a Mac user for many years, and like with most Mac users, there are occasions when I have core business apps that require me to run Internet Explorer for a browser, or run Visual Studio for app development work, or even run Microsoft Project and Visio that just aren’t available on a Mac. And while Apple provides BootCamp where I can switch between booting from a Mac to booting as a Windows system, that means I have to constantly reboot my system to switch between operating platforms. So I’ve been a happy user of Parallels for years where I can run Windows and Mac applications side by side at the same time.” –Rand Morimoto, Network World

Try Parallels Desktop for free for 14 days!

Microsoft Visio is a professional diagramming and vector graphics application which was first introduced in 1992 and is part of the Microsoft Office family since 2000. Like most Microsoft products, Visio for Mac doesn’t exist, but following are some of the best professional alternatives to Microsoft Visio for Mac users.

You can try these products on most of the recent Mac OS X versions such as Yosemite, Mountain Lion and Lion OS X. You can check similar post about MS Publisher alternatives for Mac here.

See also: Best external hard drive for Mac with great deals

Best Alternatives to Visio for Mac

OmniGraffle Pro

OmniGraffle Pro is a professional diagramming application made by The Omni group and available only on Mac OS X and the iPad. It is a very powerful and user friendly alternative to Microsoft Visio for Mac and in some areas, it offers even more features than Microsoft Visio itself. OmniGraffle Pro is easier to use than Microsoft Visio and the Pro version allow the users to import and export Visio files. It supports all Visio formats including .vsd, .vst and .vss files.

A drawback of OmniGraffle Pro is that it is not as precise as Microsoft Visio and lacks the fine tuning of shapes and objects that Visio offers. OmniGraffle Pro also lacks integration of CAD and features like DWG or DXF (AutoDesk file formats). OmniGraffle Pro is available at Mac App Store for $99 and the iPad version costs $49.99.

Visio

Visio For Mac Os X

ConceptDraw Pro

ConceptDraw Pro is a professional diagramming application which is used for creating business graphics diagrams, flowcharts and infographics. It was first introduced in 1999 and developed by CS Odessa for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X platform. It is mostly used by professional designers working in a CAD environment. It includes lots of different keyboard shortcuts for ease of access. Like OmniGraffle Pro, it also allows the users to import and export Visio files. It offers tons of templates in different categories including landscaping, engineering, management and sciences.

ConceptDraw Pro is a great alternative to Visio for Mac users as it offers more features and can easily handle the most demanding professional needs. It also offers a ConceptDraw Solution Park, which greatly extends the capabilities of the application. ConceptDraw Pro is available at Mac App Store for $199 and a single license is valid for both Mac OS X and Microsoft Windows. Although it is harder to learn, but users are satisfied with it as an alternative to Visio for Mac.

Visio Viewer Mac Os X Free

LucidChart for Mac

Does Visio Work On Mac

Lucidchart is a web-based diagramming application with a drag and drop web interface which allows users to draw any kind of diagram. It was introduced in 2008 by Lucid Software Inc and it allows the users to create flowcharts, organizational charts, UML designs and many other diagram types. LucidChart supports all latest web browsers, including Google Chrome, Firefox and Safari.

LucidChart is a cloud based application and it is fully integrated with Google Drive and Microsoft Office 2013. It supports both import and export of Visio files. One of the main features of LucidChart is that it allows multiple users to work on the same file as a team. LucidChart is a diagramming application for a variety of professionals, including designers, executives and engineers. Being a web-based application, LucidChart is very light, free of bloatware and one of the best alternatives to Visio for Mac users. LucidChart offers a free limited version for single users, but to use all the features users must purchase monthly subscriptions.