Visio 2000 Professional Edition Ships

LAS VEGAS (COMDEX)—Nov. 16, 1999—Visio Corporation (Nasdaq: VSIO) today announced that the English language version of Visio 2000 Professional Edition is now available and can be viewed this week at Comdex, the computer industry's most widely attended trade show, in the Microsoft Partner Pavilion, #L5142.

Visio's information technology solutions are designed for IT professionals charged with critical corporate initiatives such as migrating to Windows 2000, implementing customer relationship management systems, managing the convergence of voice and data networks and integrating enterprise applications necessary for transforming corporations into online businesses. These are initiatives that need to occur simultaneously for a corporation to thrive.

All Visio products that ship this year are based on the re-architected Visio 2000 engine, a common graphics technology for creating and exchanging visual information across departments and disciplines. Visio 2000 graphics technology offers an easier and more effective way to communicate visually by delivering a streamlined work environment, the ability to create and publish larger drawings, and Internet publishing capabilities.

Visio 2000 Professional Edition, the worldwide leader in IT diagramming software, helps IT professionals clarify and communicate the planning, implementation and ongoing administration of a company's IT infrastructures. IT professionals who plan and document networks, database, software applications and Web site designs can easily create detailed diagrams that accurately represent enterprise information systems. Visio 2000 Professional Edition, Visio's flagship IT product, supports industry standard content through an easy-to-use drag and drop interface for quick creation of IT diagrams and documentation. New solutions in Visio 2000 Professional Edition include:

• Improved Network Shapes. Users can update their diagrams with shapes that represent the most recent networking technologies, including Virtual Private Network (VPN) devices, firewalls, thin-clients, flat screen monitors and more. Network-specific custom property fields enable users to define, store and report on specific attributes for each network equipment shape.
• New Directory Services Diagramming. Directory services tools provide a graphical, hierarchical approach to planning, diagramming and communicating the structure of the leading network directory services, including Microsoft Active Directory, Novell Directory Services and LDAP-based directories.
• More Detailed Database Diagramming. Users can gain a more complete understanding of existing database structures and produce more detailed documentation to distribute to others. Reverse engineering tools natively support databases from IBM, Informix, Microsoft, Oracle and other companies and enable documentation of databases to code-level detail.
• Expanded UML Software Design. Professional Edition helps software developers plan software projects by supporting all Unified Modeling Language (UML) 1.2 diagram types. It allows users to reverse engineer Microsoft Visual Basic, Visual C++ and Visual J++ code to create UML diagrams displaying the class structures in existing applications.
• Advanced Data Flow Diagramming. The advanced data flow diagramming solution helps users easily create accurate, comprehensive data flow diagrams by allowing them to automatically drill down on process details. Automated level balancing helps users ensure consistency between top-level and detail diagrams.
• Improved Web Site Mapping. Users can discover and map Web sites in greater detail with support for Java, ASP and HTML tags. Professional Edition helps users quickly identify broken links. They can take advantage of improved layout options, such as collapsible branches, which make it easier to customize Web site mapping and conceptual Web design.

"Communicating visually allows IT departments to overcome corporate boundaries in order to accomplish business-critical work more quickly," said Michael Molendijk, director IT products for Visio Corp. "Traditionally, there has been a natural language barrier between business and IT, yet everyone in the company is counting on the quick and successful completion of IT initiatives that directly impact the corporate bottom line. By using Visio to depict all levels of people, processes and technologies, even the toughest projects can be accomplished effectively and on time."

Pricing and Availability
Comdex attendees are encouraged to stop by the Microsoft Partner Pavilion #L5142 November 15-19 to see a demonstration of Visio 2000 Professional Edition. The Professional Edition is now available for a suggested retail price of $399 (U.S.). Visio 2000 Enterprise Edition will be available in December for a suggested retail price of $995 (U.S.). Customers may purchase through the company's conventional channels or via the new online Visio 2000 Upgrade Center located at http://upgrade.visio.com. The Upgrade Center is the central source for information regarding Visio 2000 and is a fast and simple way to purchase or upgrade to Visio 2000 Professional and Enterprise editions. It contains extensive information on how to purchase directly or upgrade through existing licensing agreements, established corporate resellers or traditional retail channels.

For more information about Visio Corp., Visio 2000 Professional or Enterprise editions, or any of the other Visio 2000 product editions, customers can visit the online upgrade center or contact Visio at 1-877-NEW-VISIO.

About Visio Corp.
Visio is the leading supplier of enterprisewide business diagramming and technical drawing software, with an installed base of 3.5 million users worldwide. Founded in September 1990, the Seattle-based company pioneered the drawing and diagramming software market with the release of Visio 1.0 in November 1992 and has since released additional Windows-based graphics applications that offer users a unique and effective way to communicate and work. Visio's powerful product line is becoming a worldwide standard for graphical solutions in business, with the support of partner programs and third-party relationships in key market segments. Visio products are available in as many as 12 language versions and are sold in more than 45 countries.