The latest version of Visio also has data visualization that allows users to create diagrams from Excel data and also embed Visio diagrams in Power BI dashboards.

Microsoft made Visio 2013 for Windows available in two editions: Standard and Professional.

The Standard and Professional editions share the same interface, but the Professional edition has additional templates for more advanced diagrams and layouts, as well as capabilities intended to make it easy for users to connect their diagrams to data sources and to display their data graphically.

[10] All of the previous versions of Visio used VSD, the proprietary binary-file format.

[12] Since these files are susceptible to macro virus infection, the program enforces strict security on them.

Visio began as a standalone product produced by Shapeware Corporation; version 1.0 shipped in 1992.

A pre-release, Version 0.92, was distributed free on a floppy disk along with a Microsoft Windows systems readiness evaluation utility.

Like Microsoft Project, however, it has never been officially included in any of the bundled Office suites.

[17] The following year, Microsoft released a patch which gave Enterprise Network Tools users access to the network equipment shapes via Visio's built-in Find Shape feature.