Re: Alternatives to MS project

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I had wondered about the size of a project file and if it would become a
problem at a certain point. It's also the reason I do not plan on using the
document attachment feature but rather just use links, or someday if I'm real
lucky and get it approved, let sharepoint store the documents and do all the
stuff to let sharepoint work with project.

But I do have another question on the file size matter. It would seem at
this time that project uses its own unique data file structure based on what
has been said. I was wondering if you knew of or had seen any information
regarding if MS has plans to convert the project data file structure over to
embedded SQL?

I would have thought that this would have been something that would have
already been done by now, but perhaps they just never have gotten to it or
they just don't plan on doing it.

Thanks,
Ira

"davegb" wrote:

> It's been a while since I've used any of the competitors, and things
> keep changing. I can tell you what I know from past experience. Most of
> the alternatives had a very different genesis than project, and the
> current products still reflect their beginnings to a degree. Project
> was developed by expert developers who had no understanding of
> scheduling. They hired scheduling experts to advise them but, according
> to one of those experts I knew, largely ignored them. MS put in lot's
> of "features" that prevent, or at least inhibit, good scheduling. I.e.,
> the "Autolink inserted or moved tasks" feature, which must be turned
> off before you can properly use Project.
> The other products, like SureTrak, Workbench (now available as
> open-source software) were developed by schedulers who hired
> programmers to write the code to do what the schedulers knew how to do.
> They don't have any self-defeating "features" like Project, but are
> usually not as easy to use. MS does know how to use a GUI better than
> most.
> There are also major issues of file instability with Project as you use
> it's more sophisticated features, as with most all MS software. Files
> that suddenly lock and close, or simply won't open after months of time
> invested in their content. Makes daily backing up of everything a
> neccessity. Even then, you're just backing up to the day before the
> file blew up, with not much you can do about it. Years of code-bloat
> and constant adding of feature sets without revisiting the original
> code, I suspect.
> The other big difference is support. Since Project has the vast
> majority of the marketshare, there is far more support for Project than
> for all the others combined. This means that trainers and consultants
> and books to help you implement it at all levels are available in most
> large cities in the US, and probably overseas as well. On the other
> hand, there are lots of hacks, who pretend to know Project but have
> never build anything as complex as a doghouse using it. They will
> happily charge you big bucks to misinform and mislead you. It's a
> jungle out there!
>
> I hope this helps in your world.
>
>
.

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