At long last

Oft-maligned, occasionally cast aside, but rarely passed by, Microsoft Project has long ruled as the essential desktop scheduling and project management tool. Microsoft has spent a decade trying to catch up with the demand for portfolio management and web-based collaboration, and this year's major upgrade still lags behind the leading edge. But by freshening Project's original centerpiece, Microsoft is answering the competition by doubling down on the software's proven strengths.

The company calls this upgrade the most significant in more than a decade. It's simultaneously revamping its entire Office suite, parts of which—notably Excel, Word, Outlook and Visio—have collaboration features closely tied to Project 2010.

The upgrade builds on a design goal first realized in Office Project 2007: making project planning more accessible to less-experienced users without sacrificing the tools a project manager requires. At the same time, it provides a path for organizations to gain portfolio-level control over projects and bring them more in line with business goals.

As part of the overhaul, the number of editions has been reduced from four to three: Gone is Project Portfolio Server, its functions rolled into Project Server 2010. For this review, I tried out a near-final beta copy of Project Professional, which has resource-management and collaboration features lacking in entry-level Project Standard. (All three are slated to be released by mid-year.)

Many of the more sophisticated collaboration and reporting features require Project Server 2010, which is built on SharePoint Server 2010, Microsoft's flagship collaboration software. The company claims the two-way integration is much improved. For example, users can now convert task lists created in SharePoint Foundation 2010 into Project schedules, and vice versa. And when team members update task status in one program, the changes will sync in the other.

A RIBBON RUNS THROUGH IT

The most visible change in Project 2010 is the debut of Microsoft's Fluent user interface and its centerpiece, the Ribbon—a radically redesigned, tabbed menu and toolbar system added to the core Office applications three years ago. Tabs change to suit what appears in the main window—a Gantt chart or resource grid, for example—and users can let the mouse arrow hover over a command, producing a description of its function. Right-click on any cell in the window below and up pops a mini-toolbar of typical commands.

The Ribbon's File tab brings you to Backstage, a fancy name for Windows’ familiar old File menu. But Backstage is more than just a File/Save control; it's also where you “publish” project information in PDF or XPS format.

Office Project 2007 was arguably the first version to have truly useful integration with the other Office apps most people use. Now Project 2010 ups the ante in a big way, offering a much better ability to cut and paste Project elements into Excel or PowerPoint. Even so, I found pasting to the latter created a mess requiring substantial cleanup.

Project 2010 also has more Excel-like conveniences. You can now add columns by entering data in cells without having to first specify the data type. And when you add text to a cell, the row's height automatically adjusts.

Other additions provide more explicit and significant project management support. The new Team Planner view lists team members and their time allocations, while an adjacent window shows unassigned tasks that users can devote resources to by dragging and dropping items on the screen.

Hovering over a task reveals details such as percent completed, constraints and duration, and the new Task Inspector shows factors driving completion. Scheduling conflicts are indicated by a squiggly red line, much like spell-check. Users can then click on the Resource tab to level the resources, or split or delay tasks.

To see the effects of changes, users can now toggle task labels between active and inactive—performing, in essence, a rudimentary what-if analysis. Project can be dogmatic about scheduling, but user controls offer more flexibility in specifying task duration and dates.

Another important addition is the Timeline View, which provides a quick glance at key dates and milestones. This is no ordinary timeline, however: You can zoom in and out to hide or reveal details, and copy the timeline to other Office applications.

THE VERDICT

All the new features I tried were useful, and some, such as Team Planner and Task Inspector, could change the way you use Project. The truth is, though, the Fluent interface and other subtler general design features, such as the ubiquitous contextual help, are the real news in Project 2010.

Most of the innovation comes through the Ribbon. Although it can be simplified, I find it too busy. The difference between views and their associated tools is not immediately clear, nor is it obvious how to back out of a wrong screen and return to the previous one. But once users master its moderately steep learning curve, you'll begin to see how Project 2010 brings time, scope and cost variables—and their complex relationships—together under your watchful eyes like never before.

Microsoft Project just keeps getting better. Skeptics might say this isn't saying much, given that the company only upgrades the product every three or four years. But its cool new project management tools, vastly improved ease of use, and tighter-than-ever links to Office, SharePoint and the web keep Project 2010 in line with the times. That should be good enough for most users—project managers and casual collaborators alike. PM