Flowchart/Diagram Software
You can't accuse Microsoft of nurturing Not Invented Here Syndrome (is a pathological prejudice against ideas and software they didn't develop themselves); some of Microsoft's best products have been other people's creations, which they bought to add to their portfolio (e.g. Internet Explorer, WebTV, Hotmail, SQL Server, etc). Visio is one such program, now assimilated into the MS Office "family". This is a disappointment to long-time users who liked Visio as it was (a stand-alone application that didn't care what other software you used) because now it's changing to work only in conjunction with its new siblings. Fans of other flowcharting programs have reason to be concerned because those products are now in danger of being stomped by the strongest software marketing machine on the planet.
Inspiration is a tool designed to help "develop ideas and organize thinking". It's primary use is as a teaching tool (in language arts, science, and social studies), but don't assume that just because elementary school students also use it that it's beneath you. It could be just the thing many people need to get them thinking about problems creatively, which is one of the things flowcharting and diagramming is for. And unlike software written by engineers for engineers, you may find its user-friendliness appealing.
TeamFlow does a lot more than just drawing pretty charts; it's a project management system that links the items in a chart to a database
iGrafx FlowCharter(formerly of Micrografx)
close match SmartDraw
Dia
Kivio
Edge Designer
FlowBiz
PathMaker
RFFlow
Patton & Patton Flow Charting
Graham Process Charting Software
MainStay WinFlow/MacFlow
allCLEAR
OmniGraffle
Many drawing programs can be used to produce flow-charts and other such diagrams without too much difficulty, and they're flexible enough to be used for a lot of other things as well. They don't provide the same amount of structure, and most don't have the wealth of diagramming templates, but they can be a good choice if you do some of both kinds of work.
close match a close match or substitute for Microsoft's product
high quality an especially high-quality alternative
low price an inexpensive (or even free) alternative
challenge MS offers a strong challenge to Microsoft's influence
my choice my personal selection
Runs on: Windows Windows, Mac OS Mac OS, Unix-like Unix-like systems, Java Java-compatible systems, Symbian Symbian OS, Palm OS Palm OS, Netware Netware, OpenVMS OpenVMS, BeOS BeOS, OS/2 OS/2, Amiga Amiga, RISC OS RISC OS, DOS DOS
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