If your need is only to view visio files (.vsd, .vss, .vst, .vdx, .vsx or .vtx), you don’t have to buy Microsoft Visio. There is a free program you can use to read visio files. It’s called Visio Viewer. The latest version is Visio 2010 Viewer that allows you to view visio files that are created with Visio 5.0 through Visio 2010 without having to install Microsoft Visio on your PC.

After installing Visio Viewer, you can just double-click any visio file and it will be opened in Internet Explorer. Since this program is intended for viewing visio files only, you won’t be able to do many things with it. You can only pan and zoom the drawing, view properties of a shape, customize the display and layer, configure the annotation visibility and colors, and print the drawing file with limited printing capability.

The system requirement to run this Visio Viewer is that the operating system must be Windows 7, Windows Vista SP1 or SP2, Windows Server 2003 R2 64-bit or 32-bit, Windows Server 2008 SP2, or Windows XP SP3. Additionally, it requires Internet Explorer 5, 6, 7, or 8.

If you use Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2) you can download the earlier version, Visio Viewer 2007.

Note Your OS must be Microsoft Windows 7, Windows Vista, or Windows XP if you want to display shapes drawn with the Ink tool in Visio. Shapes drawn with the Ink tool will not display on Windows 2000.

Direct download of Visio Viewer 2010: visioviewer.exe.

Visit this page if you want to download Visio Viewer 2007 SP2 instead

Tags: visio opener, visio reader, visio viewer

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