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Module 1.1

Contents

Lesson 1: New Feature Overview

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Lesson 1: New Feature Overview

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.
What You Will Learn
After completing this lesson, you will be able to:
• Briefly discuss the new features of Microsoft Project 2000 and Microsoft Project
Central
• List the system requirements for Microsoft Project 2000 and Microsoft Project
Central
• Describe how Microsoft Project 2000 reduces TCO
Module 1.1 4

New Feature Overview

In this latest release of Microsoft Project, Microsoft has delivered two different products
with two different feature sets. The first is the desktop application,
Microsoft Project 2000. The second is a Web-based, workgroup application called
Microsoft Project Central.
In this portion of the course, we will briefly describe the product and some of the new
features of each product. This is done to help introduce the product. It is not intended that
you will have an in-depth understanding of these features after completing this lesson.
That understanding should come later in this course when the features listed below are
covered in further depth.
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
Delivery Tip following:
Go through each of the new
features and introduce each one. • HTML-based help – follows the familiar Web format
Spend time briefly • Help Home Page – this page includes links to all parts of Help
demonstrating each of the
features not covered later in the • Project Map – a new map based on project management principles and user goals
course.
• 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.

If you choose the High Contrast appearance scheme on a

Microsoft® Windows NT® 4.0 machine, you may experience printing
problems. This is because high contrast formats text as white, much like
you changed the text color yourself. On a Windows 98 or Windows 2000
machine, however, schemes are treated differently and you will not
experience this problem.

Microsoft Project 2000 has also added support for Microsoft® Active
Accessibility® (MSAA). This allows third-party accessibility aids such as
screen readers and voice-input utilities to work directly with
Microsoft Project 2000. For more information on accessibility options or
add-ons, consult Microsoft Project’s online help.
 Module 1.1 5

Try This: Display Additional Screen Tips

One accessibility option that is available in Microsoft Project 2000 is the ability to
Answer display more information within the screen tips. Find out how to enable this feature in
A. Open RegEdit.exe, usually Microsoft Project 2000 by using the online help. While doing this, make sure to look at
found in C:\Windows. other accessibility information.
B. Open 1. Press the F1 button to call online help.
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Soft
2. Query the Office Assistant using key words such as “accessibility.”
ware\Microsoft\Office\9.0\MS
Project. How do you automatically display additional screen tips?
C. Right-click the Options
folder, point to New, and then AutoSave
click Key.
Microsoft Project 2000 includes the option to automatically save a file at
D. Type Accessibility as the
name of the new folder, and
predefined intervals. It can be set to save only the active project or to
then press ENTER. automatically save all open files. AutoSave is located on the Tools menu
E. Right-click the Accessibility under Options on the Save tab.
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.

Figure 1 – Autosave/Default Save Format and Path

Note that this feature is simply a timed save only. It should not be
confused with Microsoft Word’s AutoRecover feature.

Default Save Format and Path

Microsoft Project 2000 now lets you set both the default file format and
the default directory when saving your project. Different directories can
also be specified for project files, user templates, and workgroup
templates. This feature is located on the Tools menu under Options on the
Save tab.
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Click Gantt Bar to Select a Task

Microsoft Project 2000 now allows you to select a task by clicking on its
Gantt bar. This helps you to determine more easily to which task a given
Gantt bar belongs.

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
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.

WBS and Outline Codes

Microsoft Project 2000 allows you to specify your own WBS numbering
format. Additionally it allows you to create multiple outline structures in
custom fields. These allow you to sort and group information based on
predefined outline codes. WBS and Outline Codes will be covered in
further detail later on in this course.

Custom Field Enhancements

Microsoft Project 2000 allows you to create pick lists for more accurate
data entry, create custom formulas for doing calculations on data, and use
customized graphical indicators to represent data in a custom field.
Custom Fields will be covered in further detail later on in this course.

Increased Tool Tips

Microsoft Project 2000 has increased tool tips. Two notable examples are
as follows:
• When pointing to a timescale unit, the date for that unit is now displayed.
• When pointing to a table cell where the column width is too narrow for the data
contained, the tool tip now shows the data contained in the cell.
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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.

Multiple Files & Resource Pool Improvements

Microsoft Project 2000 delivers better performance when working with
multiple files and resource pools. Additionally it allows you greater ability
to manipulate these files via Microsoft® Visual Basic® for Applications
(VBA). Microsoft Project 2000 now also stores the relative path to files.
This allows you move linked and inserted projects without the need to
resave them to a new location from within Microsoft Project. Working
with multiple files and resource pools is covered in further detail later in
this course.

Clear Baseline Feature

Microsoft Project 2000 includes a new feature that allows you to clear the
baseline or interim plan on a project. To find this feature, go to the Tools
menu, select Tracking and click Clear Baseline. Doing so gives you a
dialog box like that below.

Figure 1 – Clear Baseline

Project Template Improvements

Microsoft Project 2000 now makes it easy to base a new project on a pre-
defined template. Similar to Microsoft Office 2000, you now see the File
New dialog box when selecting new from the File menu.
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Figure 2 - File New dialog

Microsoft Project 2000 also includes an easy way to remove data from
actual projects when you save them as templates. This is accomplished
through the following dialog box that appears when you save a project as a
template.

Figure 3 - Templates Remove Data

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.

New Rollup Behavior

Customizing the rollup behavior of Gantt bars in Microsoft Project 2000 is
much easier than in previous versions. Microsoft Project 2000 includes a
new option called “Always roll up Gantt bars.” This is found on the
Format menu under Layout. When selected it gives you the following
behavior.
 Module 1.1 9

Figure 4 - Always Roll Up

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:

Figure 5 - Hide Rollup Bars

Single Document Interface

Project supports the Single Document Interface (SDI) similar to other
Microsoft Office applications like Microsoft Excel. This interface exposes
each project on the Window Menu as a “process” (i.e., on the Windows
task bar and in the Alt-Tab list). SDI makes switching between individual
projects no different than switching between Web pages today.
To disable this feature, go to the Tools menu and click Options. Then, on
the View tab, deselect the “Windows in Taskbar” option.

NOTE: SDI is only available if Internet Explorer 4.01 SP1 or above is

installed with Active Desktop components.

Project Open and Save

Microsoft Project 2000 open and save dialog boxes have been improved to
be less cluttered and include the new “Places Bar.”
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Figure 6 - Places Bar

To improve access to projects in a database, the Import/Export dialog box

is enhanced to provide better display of projects in the database, better
navigation among these projects, and to allow simple maintenance
operation such as rename and delete for projects in the database.

Figure 7 - Database Import/Export

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.
 Module 1.1 11

Month Duration Unit

Microsoft Project 2000 now supports months as a unit of duration. Typing
“3mon” in the duration field is recognized as three months. Months should
be used as a measure of time as defined by the user. They do not
correspond to actual months such as Jan, Feb, etc.

The number of days that constitutes a months is defined on the Calendar

tab under Tools/Options. It is set to 20 days by default.

Fiscal Year Timescale Labeling

Microsoft Project 2000 now includes the ability to independently set the
“Use Fiscal Year” option on both your major and minor timescales. To set
this option, go to the Format menu and click Timescale. Doing so displays
the following dialog box.

Figure 8 - Fiscal Year Timescale

Because this option can be set independently for each timescale, the
minor timescale may display a different year than the major timescale.

Variable Row Height

Microsoft Project 2000 now allows you to independently set the row
height of individual rows. To do so, simply drag the row line between
tasks to the height that you want.
To change multiple rows, select the rows you want and then drag any one
of the rows in the selection to set a uniform height for the rows. Any data
in a cell that is too wide to fit a column width automatically wraps as the
row height gets larger.
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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.

Task Outline Improvement

Microsoft Project 2000 now allows you to expand and contract outline
levels more efficiently. You can now directly select the outline level to
which you would like to display your tasks. To do this, click Show on the
Format tool bar and then click the desired outline level. To find this option
on the Project menu, point to Outline, then point to Show and click the
desired outline level.

Figure 9 - Outline Levels

Office Namespace Extensions

Microsoft Project 2000 allows you to easily save to a Web Server that is
running FrontPage or Office Server Extensions. This helps facilitate
workgroup collaboration.
This topic will be covered in further detail later on in this course.
 Module 1.1 13

Clear Leveling Values Before Leveling Option

Microsoft Project 2000 users now have the option to clear leveling values
before re-leveling. This option is found in the Resource Leveling dialog
box under the Tools/Resource Leveling. It is located in the top portion of
the dialog box as shown in the following picture.

Figure 10 - Clear Leveling

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.

Inserted Projects Calculated Like Summary Tasks

Microsoft Project 2000 master (or consolidated) projects calculate late
finish across all inserted projects. This allows you to see one critical path
across a master project. Enabled by default, you can find this feature if
Module 1.1 14

you go to the Tools menu and click Options. It is found on the Calculation
tab and is entitled “Inserted projects are calculated like summary tasks.”
This feature will be covered in more detail later in the course.

Contoured Resource Availability

Microsoft Project 2000 now includes the ability for a resource’s
availability (Max. Units) to be contoured. This feature is most useful in
defining the available units over time for a resource group. For example,
you may have a group of electricians that will be working on your project.
In March, only two of these electricians may be available for your project.
In April, two more may be available, giving you a total of four. However,
one may be retiring in May, bringing the available electricians down to
three for that month.
In Microsoft Project 2000, you can set the availability of your electricians
and thus influence your scheduling and leveling. Resource Availability
can be set on the General Tab of the Resource Information dialog box.
This feature will be 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.

Deadline dates will be covered in more detail later on in this course.

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.”
 Module 1.1 15

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.

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.

Project Central has five main areas.

Messages
• Send/receive messages – allows resources and managers to exchange messages.
• Set up rules to manage messages – allows managers to create automated actions to
manage messages.
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.
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• 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.
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.
 Module 1.1 17

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.
• 10-20 MB of available hard disk space is recommended. Hard disk usage will vary
depending on configuration.

Total Cost of Ownership

Both Microsoft Project 2000 and Microsoft Project Central use new
technologies in the installation process. The technologies used are the
same as those used by other Microsoft Office 2000 applications. One of
the major purposes of these new technologies is to reduce Total Cost of
Ownership (TCO) in large organizations. Since these organizations often
deploy Microsoft Project to thousands of computers, the need for easier
deployment, administration and maintenance was key in the development
of Microsoft Project 2000.

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:

Custom Installation Wizard (CIW)

The Custom Installation Wizard is a tool used to customize Project
installations. This tool is much improved over the Network Installation
Wizard (NIW) used by Microsoft Project 98 allowing for customizations
at the individual feature level. This, in return, reduces costs associated
with installation and deployment.

Office Profile Wizard (OPW)

The Office Profile Wizard is a stand-alone tool that captures all
preferences and settings made to Project in a single Office Profile Settings
(*.ops) file. If users need to move to a new machine or reconfigure an
existing one, they can use the Office Profile Wizard to “pack up” their
personal settings and preferences in one location so they can "unpack" and
Module 1.1 18

personalize the new installation quickly and easily. Individuals can also
use the Office Profile Wizard if a hard drive crashes and they want to get
going again quickly, without having to re-customize personal Project
settings. In the enterprise, the Office Profile Wizard is primarily used for
customizing Project in conjunction with the Custom Installation Wizard.

New System Policy Editor and Templates

One of the major costs to a corporation is the loss of productivity at the
desktop caused by user error (e.g., changing the system configuration and
rendering the system unworkable) or system distractions (e.g., too many
features or nonessential applications installed on the desktop). To assist in
reducing this cost, the Microsoft Project 2000 release and the
Microsoft Project 2000 Resource Kit include an updated System Policy
Editor and a number of system policy templates that provide a means for
controlling a user’s access to application features and settings.

Support for the Microsoft® Windows® Installer

Technology
This new setup program helps to reduce Total Cost of Ownership by
providing a more consistent set of installation rules and an easier method
of customization. In addition, it also provides a method of managing the
removal of previous versions of Project and the ability to track necessary
Microsoft Project 2000 components (i.e. shared DLLs). Furthermore,
automatic repair and installation processes are provided, as well as easier
ways to configure new systems and update or patch
Microsoft Project 2000 features.

Language Pack (LPK)

The Language Pack allows you to proof a document in other languages
without having to purchase different localized versions of Project. The
Language Pack also includes the help files and a user interface (menus,
toolbars, and help) localized in those other languages. This may
considerably reduce Total Cost of Ownership for multi-national
organizations.

Self-repairing Applications (Resiliency)

In previous versions of Microsoft Project, missing files could result in
obscure error messages or the failure of Microsoft Project to start.
Microsoft Project 2000 is resilient and will therefore automatically verify
and reinstall any missing files and registry entries. As a result, fewer calls
to the help desk are needed and Total Cost of Ownership is reduced.

Optimized to Run on Microsoft Terminal Server

Terminal Server provides the ability to run Windows and 32-bit Windows-
based applications from a back-end Windows NT server while the client
serves only as the front-end display. Microsoft Project 2000 was
specifically designed to run optimally in a Terminal Server environment.
Running Microsoft Project 2000 in this environment reduces the Total
 Module 1.1 19

Cost of Ownership by allowing organizations the ability to effectively use

computers with limited disk space, memory or processing speed.

Support of Roaming and Multi-user Environments

Advancements in how Microsoft Project 2000 stores user-customized
settings provide users with an easier transition between different
computers and also makes it easier for two or more users to share the same
computer. Unlike previous versions of Project, users can roam between
different computers without any changes to the user experience. These
improvements in roaming and a multi-user environment help to reduce
Total Cost of Ownership.
The above technologies are the same technologies used by Office 2000 to
reduce Total Cost of Ownership. As such, much of the information in the
white papers written for Office 2000 is applicable to
Microsoft Project 2000.