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Module 1 Lesson 1
Module 1 Lesson 1
Module 1.1
Contents
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Module 1.1 3
Overview
This lesson introduces you briefly to the new features of
Microsoft® Project 2000 and its companion product, Microsoft Project Central. It also
reviews how Microsoft Project 2000 helps reduce Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) in
large organizations.
Delivery Tip
Go through each of the new
features and introduce each one.
Spend time briefly
demonstrating each of the
features not covered later in the
course.
Microsoft Project 2000
Microsoft Project 2000 is an enhanced version of the desktop application
Microsoft Project 98. It includes many new features that greatly increase and expand its
functionality and ease of use. Among the new features are the following:
HTML Help
Microsoft Project 2000 includes a new help feature that includes the
following:
HTML-based help – follows the familiar Web format
Help Home Page – this page includes links to all parts of Help
Project Map – a new map based on project management principles and user goals
Quick Preview – a brief presentation on the capabilities of Microsoft Project 2000
Tutorial – a brief lesson on working in Microsoft Project 2000
Accessibility
The Microsoft Project 2000 user interface is now consistent with Control Panel
Settings when running on Microsoft® Windows® 95 or Microsoft® Windows NT®.
Some features, however, work best on Microsoft® Windows® 98 or
Microsoft® Windows® 2000.
Answer
A. Open RegEdit.exe, usually
found in C:\Windows.
B. Open
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Soft
ware\Microsoft\Office\9.0\MS
Project.
C. Right-click the Options
folder, point to New, and then
click Key.
D. Type Accessibility as the
name of the new folder, and
then press ENTER.
E. Right-click the Accessibility
folder, point to New, and then
click DWORD Value.
F. Type EnableControlTooltips
as the name of the value, and
then press ENTER.
G. Click
EnableControlTooltips, click
Edit, and then click Modify.
H. In the Value Data box, type
1, and then click OK.
I. Click Registry, click Exit, and
then restart Microsoft Project.
AutoSave
Microsoft Project 2000 includes the option to automatically save a file at
predefined intervals. It can be set to save only the active project or to
automatically save all open files. AutoSave is located on the Tools menu
under Options on the Save tab.
Module 1.1 7
Note that this feature is simply a timed save only. It should not be
confused with Microsoft Word’s AutoRecover feature.
Fill Handle
In Microsoft Project 98, you could use a fill handle to populate cells in a
time-phased view such as Task Usage. However, you could not do this in
a table such as the left-hand portion of the Gantt Chart view. Microsoft
Project 2000 now gives you this capability.
Fill handles make fill up or down operations easier. To try this feature, go
into a table in the Gantt Chart view and select the cell that you want to
copy. In the lower right hand corner, you will notice a small square. Click
and drag the square to highlight the other cells within the same column
Module 1.1 8
that you want to populate. Releasing the mouse button populates the
highlighted cells with the information within the original cell.
Grouping
Microsoft Project 2000 allows you to group tasks and resources based on
criteria you define. This allows you to view rolled up totals and other
information for criteria that are important to you. Grouping is covered in
greater detail later on in this course.
In Cell Editing
Microsoft Project 2000 allows you to edit cells in place as well as on the
edit bar. To use in-cell editing, single-click on the desired cell.
Hyperlink Improvements
Microsoft Project 2000 includes the same improved hyperlink
functionality found in other Microsoft Office 2000 products. New features
include the ability to customize a hyperlink’s screen tip and the ability to
select links from a list of previously viewed sites. Hyperlinks will be
covered in more detail later on in this course.
Printing Improvements
Microsoft Project 2000 includes a number of printing improvements.
These include improved scaling, improved fit to page, and improved
headers and footers. Printing improvements are covered in more detail
later on in this course.
In conjunction with this is the option “Hide rollup bars when summary
expanded.” With both of these options selected you get the behavior
displayed below:
Note that you can now simply delete and rename projects stored within a
database via this dialog box. You no longer need to manually edit the
database or use VBA.
Because this option can be set independently for each timescale, the
minor timescale may display a different year than the major timescale.
Copy Picture
The Copy Picture command in Microsoft Project 2000 has been improved.
It now includes better picture quality, increased size, and better scaling.
Microsoft Project 2000 now alerts you if the picture you are copying is
particularly large or will not fit well into another document. This alert
gives you the option of making changes before saving or pasting.
The Copy Picture command is now also found on the Edit menu as well as
on the Standard Toolbar. This feature will be covered in more detail later
on in this course.
on the Project menu, point to Outline, then point to Show and click the
desired outline level.
With this feature enabled, all leveling delay values are set to zero at the
outset of the leveling process. This behavior is the same as
Microsoft Project 98. With this option off, any previous leveling delay
values are initially untouched, which means leveling can only make the
current leveling delay larger. Therefore tasks that are currently leveled
will likely remain scheduled the same.
Priorities
Microsoft Project 2000 allows you to set 1000 different priority levels to
both tasks and projects. These different priorities are used to better control
how resource leveling adjusts a project’s schedule. Priorities are covered
in more detail later in the course.
Deadline Date
Microsoft Project 2000 allows you to apply deadline dates to tasks. This
allows an indicator to be displayed if a task finishes after the deadline. (No
indicator displays if a task finishes before the deadline)
A deadline is different than a constraint in that it is not used when
calculating a project’s schedule. It does, however, affect the Late Finish
date of a task and the calculation of Total Slack.
Deadline dates affect the calculation of Total Slack and thus can affect the
critical path.
Estimated Durations
In Microsoft Project 2000, a task’s duration may be entered as an
estimated duration. This is denoted by a “?” after the duration. Estimated
durations allow a user to quickly find tasks with durations that may not be
firm. Tasks with estimated durations are easily found using the new
“Tasks With Estimated Durations” filter.
Estimated durations roll up to the highest connected outline level. Tasks
can be marked as estimated duration by typing a “?” after the duration or
by choosing “Yes” in the new Estimated field.
Enabled by default, you may control whether or not tasks appear with
estimated durations from the Schedule tab of the Tools Options dialog
box. The two options that control this feature are named “Show that tasks
have estimated durations” and “New tasks have estimated durations.”
Material Resources
Microsoft Project 2000 now includes material resources. Material
resources allow you to specify consumable resources such as lumber or
concrete and assign them to tasks. Material Resources are covered in
further detail later in this course.
Module 1.1 17
Task Calendars
Microsoft Project 2000 allows you to assign calendars to specific tasks.
This allows you to create schedules that only affect selected tasks. Task
calendars are covered in more detail later in this course.
Network Diagram
The Network Diagram is a new view in Microsoft Project 2000 that
replaces the Pert Chart. (Correspondingly the Task Pert has been renamed
the Relationship Diagram.) In addition to the new name, this view has
many new features including filtering and detailed node formatting. The
Network Diagram and its features are covered in more detail later in this
course.
Microsoft Project Central
Microsoft Project Central is a completely new companion product to
Microsoft Project. It takes the Web-based messaging portion of
Microsoft Project 98 and greatly increases its functionality. This Web-
based workgroup application is based on database (MSDE, SQL, or
Oracle), Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS) and Active Server
Pages (ASP) technology. It integrates with Microsoft Project 2000 and
allows users to manage their tasks via a Web browser.
Tasks
Timesheet – allows you to see your assignments, working hours, and non-working
time. Its layout is very similar to the Resource Usage view in Microsoft Project 98.
Personal Gantt – allows you to see your assignments in a Gantt Chart view.
Work Day Change – allows the resource to send a message to the manager indicating
a change in available working times.
Views
Assignments – allows you to view assignments for multiple resources. The
administrator specifies the assignment view. Thus, you can only see the assignments
that the administrator allows.
Portfolios – allows you to see multiple projects. Once again, the administrator
specifies the portfolio view. Thus you can only see the projects that the administrator
allows.
Status Reports
Submit – allows a resource to submit a status report to the project manager.
Request – allows a project manager to request a status report.
Module 1.1 18
Administration
Users – allows the administrator to add or delete users of Project Central.
Delete Items – allows the administrator to get rid of old tasks, messages, status
reports, or even whole projects.
Customize – allows the administrator to customize appearance, add links to
homepages, and adjust security settings.
Manage Views – allows the administrator to create and customize assignment and
portfolio views.
System Requirements
Microsoft Project 2000 and Microsoft Project Central are different not
only in their feature sets, but also in the way they are designed. As such,
each product has its own unique set of system requirements.
Microsoft Project 2000
System requirements are as follows:
PC with Intel Pentium 75 MHz or higher or compatible
Microsoft Windows 9.x, Windows NT Workstation 4.0 (SP3 or later), or
Windows 2000 Professional.
On Windows 9.x, 24 MB of RAM is required. On Windows NT or 2000, 40 MB of
RAM is required.
30-204 MB of hard disk is required. Microsoft Project 2000 shares components with
Microsoft Office 2000. Hard disk usage will vary depending on configuration. 30
MB is required for a typical installation that already has Microsoft Office 2000
installed. 204 MB is recommended for a full installation without
Microsoft Office 2000 installed.
CD-ROM and VGA or higher resolution monitor are required. A mouse is
recommended.
Microsoft Project Central
System requirements are as follows:
Server
PC Intel Pentium 200 MHz or higher or compatible
Windows NT 4.0 Server (with SP4 or later) and the Windows NT 4.0 Option Pack or
Windows 2000 Server.
128 MB of RAM
100-150 MB of available hard disk space is recommended. Hard disk usage will vary
depending on configuration.
Client
PC with Intel Pentium 75 MHz or higher or compatible
Microsoft Windows 9.x, Windows NT Workstation 4.0 (SP4 or later), or
Windows 2000 Professional.
On Windows 9.x, 16 MB of RAM is required. On Windows NT or 2000, 32 MB of
RAM is required.
Module 1.1 19
10-20 MB of available hard disk space is recommended. Hard disk usage will vary
depending on configuration.
Note:
Although Project Central uses the same installation technologies as
Microsoft Project 2000, TCO is not a major issue for this product. This is
because Project Central is a workgroup application designed to be
installed on a server. As such, thousands of installations within a single
organization are not likely.
Total Cost of Ownership, the cost of owning a PC, includes initial cost of
hardware and software, costs associated with deployment and
configuration, training, day-to-day maintenance and administration, and
telephone and onsite technical support.
Below is a brief overview of the Microsoft Project 2000 technologies that
help to reduce Total Cost of Ownership: