OmniGraffle

What: Software for creating charts and diagrams

By: Omni Development, Inc.

Cost: $69.95; $119.95 for Pro version

Download: www.omnigroup.com

Windows users moving to the Macintosh sometimes ask about whether Microsoft Visio, the charting and diagramming product, is available for Mac. It isn't. OmniGraffle is the program that replaces Visio for Mac users. It reads and writes Visio files.

For those who don't use Visio, OmniGraffle offers an easy way to create good-looking versions of the sorts of things we draw on napkins, placemats, and legal pads. Think of it as a program for making your ideas presentable. It is useful for more than creating diagramsfor instance, for adding callouts to photographs.

The figure shows the making of a diagram in OmniGraffle and some of the tools available.

Why I like it: The program is easy to use and always gives me great resultsan excellent product.