As we get ready for next month’s launch of Visio® 2010, we’re ready to announce that Visio 2010 will be available in three different editions. This post explains the differences between the three editions (and also gives you a sneak peak of what our boxes will look like!)

Visio Standard 2010 Simplify complexity with a diverse set of intuitive and professional tools for diagramming.	Visio Professional 2010 Bring your diagrams to life with dynamic, data-driven visuals that are connected to real-time data and can be easily shared online with anyone.	Visio Premium 2010 Improve consistency and accuracy across your organization with advanced diagramming and new process management tools.

Visio 2007 users will note the introduction of the new edition, Visio Premium 2010. Visio Premium 2010 is our highest offering. If you’re using the Visio 2010 Technical Preview or the Visio 2010 Beta right now, you’re using the “Premium” edition.

Which edition is right for you?

Many of the improvements and new features we’ve added to Visio 2010 are available across all editions, but Professional and Premium contain some additional functionality:

• Visio Standard 2010 brings a brand new look with the incorporation of the Office Fluent User Interface and the redesigned Shapes Window. New features like Quick Shapes, Auto Align & Space, and easy insertion and deletion of shapes make creating and maintaining diagrams even easier. With the new containers and callouts, it’s easy to organize diagrams and make them look great. In addition to the new features that work with all diagram types, the improved cross-functional flowcharting template included in Visio Standard 2010 is designed to be simple, scalable, and reliable.
  
• Visio Professional 2010 builds on top of Visio Standard 2010’s great diagramming features by allowing you to connect your diagrams to data and to publish them to Visio Services. With Visio Services, you can view refreshable data-driven diagrams in SharePoint, even if you don’t have Visio installed. The Professional edition also includes advanced diagram templates like Detailed Network diagrams, Engineering diagrams, Wireframe diagrams, and Software and Database diagrams.
  
• Visio Premium 2010 includes all the features of Visio Professional 2010 and adds advanced process management features like new diagram templates for SharePoint workflows, Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN), and Six Sigma. SharePoint workflow diagrams can be exported into SharePoint Designer 2010 and further customized. The Subprocess feature allows you to break up your processes into manageable and reusable pieces. With diagram Validation, you can ensure that your diagrams are properly constructed. Visio Premium 2010 integrates with SharePoint Server 2010 to provide a process repository for centralized storage of process documents.

The main functionality differences between the three editions are summarized in the table below:

	Visio Standard 2010	Visio Professional 2010	Visio Premium 2010
Ease of Use Features Microsoft Office Fluent UI Quick Shapes and Mini Toolbar Page Auto Size Auto Align & Space Dynamic Grid Improved Cross-Functional Flowchart And too many more to list!
Visio Services and Data Features Publishing to Visio Services* Data Link functionality Data Graphics Data Graphics Legend
Advanced Diagram Templates Detailed Network Diagrams Engineering Diagrams Software and Database Diagrams Wireframe Diagram template ITIL Diagram template Website mapping and documentation diagrams Building architecture and service diagrams
Advanced Process Management Features SharePoint® Workflow Template BPMN Template Six Sigma Template Diagram Validation Subprocess Validation and Validation API

As usual, please comment on the blog if you have any questions about the differences between Visio 2010 editions.

Edited on 9/14/2010: Removed "Publish to Process Repository" from the "Advanced Process Management Features" row. This feature is available in all editions.