The time has come for me to once again mess with the mess that is Microsoft Project. Fortunately (or unfortunately) Microsoft doesn’t make Project for OS X, so here I am with no PM software. I’ve hunted about, and have come up with two seemingly viable options:
- AEC Software’s FastTrack Schedule, in version 9 as I write, and
- ProjectWizards’ Merlin
Now, they both happily suck up and play nice with Microsoft Project files, but the demos are effectively crippleware; FastTrack Schedule doesn’t save and Merlin won’t let you have a project with more than 20 lines! How am I supposed to accurately evaluate the usefulness of these things unless I can use them over several days of project plan iterations? Dumb. I’d probably be happy to fork over the US$349 for FastTrack Schedule or the €145 if, and only if I was given the opportunity to adequately evaluate them.
I’m feeling like both these companies have lost my business.
So now, readers, I’m looking for a free, open source, Microsoft Project-friendly, PM tool. Alternately, is there something out there which isn’t necessarily free, but that give me decent opportunity for evaluation without crippled functionality?
You might want to check in on the status of http://oopm.openoffice.org/. I looked at it over a year ago, and it was just getting out of the gate. I have now idea how far the work has progressed since then.
Everybody seems to love basecamp, but it just seems too text oriented for me. I like the Gantt chart visuals.
Good luck.
Could http://www.dotproject.net/index.php be of any help?
regards,
Dick Broos
dotProject looks cool, I’ll admit. And if it was my choice, I’d probably even use it. I’m a big fan of quality Open Source software. Unfortunately, this is for work, where I’m out providing consultancy services to a range of clients on behalf of my employer. Microsoft Project is the standard, I’m afraid.