Office & Productivity · Reviewed
Microsoft Project
Project scheduling software for organizing tasks, dependencies, calendars and resources, with tools for examining timelines, workloads and progress against a plan.
Overview
Microsoft Project helps managers represent a project as related tasks with durations, dependencies and resource assignments. Gantt charts show the planned sequence, while calendars and scheduling calculations determine how changes affect dates. Baselines and progress information allow the developing project to be compared with its original plan.
The software supports detailed scheduling rather than simply collecting a list of things to do. A useful plan still depends on realistic estimates, maintained relationships and accurate updates from the team. Desktop Project and Microsoft's later online planning services have different capabilities and histories, despite sharing part of their branding.
Key features
- Gantt charts and task dependencies
- Calendar-based scheduling
- Resource assignments and workloads
- Baselines and progress tracking
- Project reporting and plan views
Historical significance
Microsoft Project helped bring formal scheduling methods to ordinary business desktops. Its combination of task relationships, graphical timelines and resource information gave project managers tools that had previously been associated with more specialized systems. It also made the limitations of a schedule visible: a chart is useful only when its assumptions and progress data are maintained.
History and development
The first Microsoft Project release appeared for DOS in 1984. A Windows version followed in 1990, bringing project scheduling into the graphical office environment. Later releases added richer resource management, reporting and integration with other Microsoft business tools.
Server-based and online offerings subsequently extended the product family into shared project information and portfolio management. These developments reflect the growing need to coordinate multiple teams and projects, beyond the original single-user desktop plan. The long-running desktop application should therefore be distinguished from Project-branded web services when discussing specific features or release milestones.