Visual Studio IDE, Code Editor, VSTS, & App Center 2018-11-16T12:23:30+00:00 Microsoft Connect(); 2018 Tune in virtually on December 4, 2018, to get the latest updates on Azure and Visual Studio. Although Microsoft has never released Visio for Mac, the good news is there are some superb alternatives in 2018 that can do everything Visio can on macOS. In some cases, we think the software featured here are even better than Microsoft’s product.

This article is written intended to guide you how to Install Microsoft Visio Mac / MacBook Pro / MacBook Air running OS X El Capitan.

One program that missing when using MacBook is there is no Microsoft Visio for Mac. Although Microsoft has been officially releasing Microsoft Office (e.g Word, Excel, PowerPoint) for Mac, Microsoft still does not release Visio for Mac, at least until now.

Since I work as a network administrator, Microsoft Visio is very important for me to draw network diagram / topology. Although there are many Visio alternatives for Mac such ConceptDraw, LucidChart, SmartDraw, or OmniGraffle according to my opinion they can not replace Visio. It is the best because of its simplicity and easy to use. Another reason is I am already familiar with Visio when running Windows and also already bought the software license so buying another program for this purpose is wasting money.

In this article I will not talk about which software is better. I want to show you how to install Microsoft Visio on Mac running OS X El Capitan on top of Wine, thanks to WineHQ team for making this great tool. It should be applicable on previous version of OS X such as OS X Yosemite, OS X Mavericks, and Mac OS X Mountain Lion.

Lets start with the installation process

Windows programs can be run on OS X, Linux and BSD via WINE (Windows Emulator) so first we need to install wine and winetricks.

We can install wine and winetricks packages using Homebrew, follow this post how to install Wine on OS X.

Define Visio Home directory

Although it is not necessary, it is better to set environment folder for Visio. We will set it under $HOME/.vision2007. Inside your $HOME directory (/Users/your_username), create .visio2007 directory.

Perform Wine initialisation and setup of WINEPREFIX in .visio2007

We need several packages be installed to run Visio 2007. Those packages are gdiplus, msxml6, dotnet20, riched20, and corefonts. Install them using winetricks as follows:

Capture example of installing .Net Framework (dotnet20) is as in image below:

After installing the packages above, then run Wine configuration editor (winecfg)

In Wine configuration, under Libraries tab make sure that gdiplus, msxml6, riched20 are set to native. See image below!

Run Visio setup installation

Once the above dependency packages installed and configured, we are ready to run the installation.

After the installation completed and successful, you can run Visio using command below:

Visio should be running well without any problem.

Create visio script

To make it easier to run Visio using Terminal, create a script named as ‘visio’.

Copy and paste the following command into the visio script. Change the ‘your-username’ accordingly with yours.

Make it executable and then move it into $PATH

To run Visio, just type visio in Terminal.

Website administrators may still prefer Visio Network Diagram software. Actually, there are some quite good alternatives with a higher price-performance ratio. This article will show you the top five recommendations in the category.

1. Edraw Max

As a good Visio network diagram tool alternative, Edraw Max has continuously improved the drawing tools and riched their built-in editable network diagram resources. For example, for the latest Edraw Max 9.1 version, you can enjoy from Amazon Web Services AWS, GCP, Azure, and Cisco along with a wide range of basic network diagram symbols and templates. Furthermore, the software has good compatibility with Visio files, and you can easily change element colors, insert connectors, add supportive materials like notes or attachments from the clear user interface.

Operating Systems: Windows, Mac, and Linux
Price: Free trial available; monthly fee for up to $8 per user. Non-profit discount available.

2. Gliffy

This Visio network diagram creator alternative has similar symbols as Visio’s. The overall operation is as easy as dragging and dropping the element you preferred on your work. You are also free to set the drawing canvas in small or large sizes. Moreover, it makes your team collaboration convenient via the live sharing feature.

Operating Systems: Windows, Mac, web-based
Price: $8 per month for a single user

Visio For Mac 2016

3. Lanflow

Lanflow, as another Visio network diagram software alternative, is specifically designed for creating network schematics. The simple-design user interface allows users move, rename or connect network symbols with connectors. You can also do further edits, such as defining a single line weight or insert clip art to rich your content.

Operating Systems: Windows
Price: Free Trial available; Full version for a single user starts from $99

4. LibreOffice Draw

LibreOffice Draw, which has a similar MS Windows-style user interface, covers lots of options for the average users. For instance, you can set database or edit the vectors from basic to complex projects in this Visio network diagram maker alternative. However, it would be better if the team could add more exporting or sharing options in different graphics formats.

Visio

Operating Systems: Windows and Mac
Price: Free Trial available

5. LucidChart

Lucidchart helps you in organizing any single part or ideas for your projects. The Visio network diagram alternative tool offers you a clean and innovative interface to draw elements. Once finished your registration for the free trial version, a built-in resources library with hundreds of network diagram examples and symbols is available to you. Besides, LucidChart integrates well with Google Drive for users to access files at any locations.

Operating Systems: Web-based
Price: Version for a single user starts from $5

Which is Your Best Visio Network Diagram Tool Alternative?

Mac Version Of Visio

So far, we have discussed a series of effective Visio alternatives for network diagrams. The rich network templates and symbols from would gonna spark your ideas. Hopefully, you can reach a final decision for your favorite one after checking all the aforementioned names. Visio is indeed powerful, but it’s time to explore more possibilities especially for those who work in small or middle-sized business.

Visio For Mac 2018