Microsoft have released a new version of the free Visio Viewer ( see http://blogs.office.com/b/visio/archive/2012/11/28/download-the-free-microsoft-visio-viewer.aspx ), so you can now view Visio 2013 files, in addition to earlier versions, without having Visio installed. Or, as in my case, on a PC that has Visio 2010 installed.
In my book, Microsoft Visio 2010 Business Process Diagramming and Validation (see http://www.visiorules.com/ ), I presented a table of the progressive maturity of BPM within Visio. I have now extended this diagram in the figure below to show how Visio 2013 increases this maturity level.
I have just been running 2 day Visio 2013 Services introductory courses to Microsoft partners in Oslo and Copenhagen, and I think there has been a very positive response to the new capabilities of Visio 2013 along with SharePoint 2013. The two products together provide some great capabilities that should lead to exciting value propositions to business. New features include co-authoring of Visio files; commenting with or without the Visio client application; deeper integration with SharePoint Designer for SharePoint Workflows; and rendering of Visio files in high quality images, making them usable from any browser on any device.
Microsoft have also merged Visio Premium into Visio Professional for the 2013 product, making all of these features available to the normal business user. The good news about my book mentioned above is that it is very current for Visio 2013 Professional, as there have been no significant changes in this area … 
Update : Just got my latest copy of Redmond Magazine ( see http://redmondmag.com/ ). Great article about SharePoint 2013 and Visio 2013!
My last two blogs have been about how I managed to convert XAML icon shapes into native Visio masters. Well, I have now converted all of Syncfusion’s Metro Studio 2 (now 5) shapes, and got their permission to release my own version of them. See Products/MetroIcons for more information.
Following on from my previous post, http://blog.bvisual.net/2012/11/02/us-election-special-vector-visio-2013-icons/, I have saved the stencil that was generated in Visio 2013 back to Visio 2003 – 2010 format … and, guess what? All of the new Bezier Curves got automatically translated to Nurbs, which means they work! (Except for themes … but they can be coloured)
They can be downloaded from : tp://sdrv.ms/TlzoEB
Perhaps someone would like to make Data Graphic icons from them ? : http://blog.bvisual.net/2012/04/19/make-your-own-visio-data-graphic-icons-sets-automatically/
Whilst the east coast of America has been battered by hurricane Sandy from the Atlantic (my commiserations), Microsoft have been hosting the //Build/ conference in the Pacific North West (specifically Redmond). I have been watching some of the overly fed attendees whoop with joy as they got given 100 Gb SkyDrive account, a Microsoft Surface and a Nokia Lumia 920 each. Yes, I felt jealous, but it would have cost me much more than their combined cost to get out there, so I stuck my head-phones into my large laptop and watched from the comfort of my living room. The reality of the devastation caused by nature can easily overwhelm the storm of technological advances that have been recently announced, but I am genuinely excited by Windows 8, SharePoint 2013, Office 2013 and, of course, Visio 2013.
Over a year ago, I wrote a blog about Page Grids and Off Page References ( see http://blog.bvisual.net/2011/09/02/page-grids-and-off-page-references/ ), and I promised to accommodate page margins. In addition, a user commented that a matching printable grid would be useful …. so here is an update. In this blog I provide an updated Off-page reference master, along with new GridLines and GridLabel masters.
