What is a VSD file?
VSD files are drawings created with Microsoft Visio application to represent variety of graphical objects and the interconnection between these. Such drawings can contain visual objects such as visual objects, flow charts, UML diagram, information flow, organizational charts, software diagrams, network layout, database models, objects mapping and other similar information. Microsoft Visio offers the capability to convert Visio files to a number of different file formats including PNG, BMP, PDF and others.
VSD File Format
VSD file format is the initial file format introduced by Microsoft Visio for storing drawing elements. The internal structure of VSD files is based on binary file format unlike .VSDX that was introduced with Microsoft Visio 2013. The new format is based on the Office Open XML file format and stores project information in a ZIP archive. Microsoft offers vviewer.exe application to Visio drawing files in case Visio is not installed on the system.
Brief History
Visio was initially produced as a standalone product by Shapeware Corporation in 1992 by its version 1.0. Shapeware Corporation changed the name to Visio Corporation in 1995 to take advantage of the market recognition. Microsoft re-brands Vision in 2000 as Microsoft Office application. Visio for Enterprise Architects was introduced with Visual Studio .NET in 2003 and 2005. Visio 2007 was released on November 30, 2006. Ribbons were introduced in user interface by Microsoft Visio in 2010.
