History of Microsoft Project

Alan M. Boyd was the one who first proposed Microsoft Project to be used internally in the organization.

The Commercial Versions of Microsoft Project is as follows:

1. MSP Version 1 released in 1984 for DOS.

2. MSP Version 2 released in 1985 for DOS.

3. MSP Version 3 released in 1986 for DOS.

4. The Last version of MS Project for DOS is released in 1986.

5. The first version for Windows is released in 1990. It named as version 1.

6. The first version for Macintosh was released in 1991. But after 1993 Microsoft stop making Mac application  until 1998. The last version is MSP 4.0 made in 1993. The last version of MS project does not run on Mac OS X.

 7. After releasing 2 versions for Windows in 1992(v3), 1993(v4), the first MS project with MS office is launched in 1995.

 8.  MSP 98 is launched with Microsoft Office 98 with office looking menus.

 9.  In 2000 and 2002 MSP launched its next versions.

10. In 2003 again with MS Office, MSP new version was launched.

11. In 2007, MS Office applications like MS-Word, MS-Excel etc. change their menu style and come up with ribbon based view but MSP newer version is launched with older interface.

12. The Latest version of MSP was launched in 2010 with MS office. The newer version has Ribbon based view like other Office applications. This new version is better than its previous versions in GUI as well as in Back end Support.

New Features of Microsoft Project 2010

Microsoft® Project Professional 2010 is a tool for project managers that enable them to manage multiple projects effectively. With the ease of Microsoft® Graphical User Interface (GUI) they can manage large projects very effortlessly. The new Project 2010 provides lots of new functionality which make it more profitable tool for Project managers. Microsoft Project 2010 is far better than its previous versions when we compared its visual appearance. 

New features of MSP 2010 are

Microsoft® smooth GUI: - With its ribbon interface everything that a user want is already placed in front of him. The all new ribbon interface gives Microsoft® Project 2010 a smooth look and make it easier for users to use it. With new graphical menus, the tool provides everything that one need to plan and manage their project. 

Ease of Use (Like Excel): - Changes the values in the cell as you change in excel. It automatically wraps the text. Microsoft® Project 2010 provides very rich support for copy and paste. We can add columns quickly. 

Manual Scheduling: - As a project manager if you don’t know the exact end date of your project then you can choose manual scheduling to leave that blank. Manual scheduling simplifies planning with non-active and active tasks to execute What-If analysis. We can get inside of our project using Task Inspector.

The Backstage View: - Connect your Project SharePoint sites in a single click. Print your reports as easily as you never done it before. Connect your project with Project server and Publish your content on Web faster. Create XPS/PDF of your project.

Timeline View: - It provides the graphical view of your project. You can link your milestones, deadlines etc. with Timeline. Timeline View makes easier to view your project. Using this view you can send your project outline to the target audience by directly mailing your timeline view, or any other format with all the formatting remain the same.

Team Planner View: - This view provide the user to graphically assign your resources to tasks, change the duration of your tasks, unassigned your tasks, link tasks with one another etc. In this view user just has to drag and drop the content to plan and manage its project. This view helps in resolving resource over-allocation problem effectively.