Pros
- Opens & Edits 2003/2007 mpp project files
- Saves as xml and print/print to pdf features (For export to excel, use RationalPlan free viewer)
Cons
- Errors/cannot open file messages (If it happens too often or you have MS project 2010 files, better try http://sourceforge.net/projects/projectlibre/, which comes from same team as OpenProj but is more recent)
Summary
Works fine to open & edit mpp files from MS project 2007 or earlier. For later versions MS project 2010, better go with the project software http://sourceforge.net/projects/projectlibre/ (same team as OpenProj) or with a free viewer like RationalPlan (that can save to xml, export to excel or print to pdf printer).
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Pros
Free and open source.
Cons
I cannot begin to list them...
1) The program is unstable and buggy, to say the least.
2) The interface is unusable.
3) Export options are severely limited.
4) Does not do what it is meant to do.
Summary
I tried to use this program to figure out where we were wasting the most time. The answer? Using this program.
I would rather beat my head against a brick wall than use this program. The basic theory is good, but the implementation is terrible. Some errors are simply annoying: the first character that you type into each line is deleted, for instance. Some errors are flabbergasting: when I tell it a task is 2 hours long it may store any value from 2 hours to 2.125 days as the length. Most importantly, some errors make it useless: events do not like up in the correct fashion, so that the only way to get it to produce the correct chart is to manually enter all the start and stop times for each item.
Don't waste your time.
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Pros
- Easy to download & install
- Similar to Microsoft Project interface
- The indent and outdent buttons work
Cons
- The output of the gantt chart for distribution to others is useless
- PDF output requires additional sign up
- Changing the working times is not possible
Summary
Essentially this is an advertising tool to try and get you to buy a subscription to another project management product "Projects On Demand". To took the free trial offer to try and print a PDF but it is the most convoluted bit of management software I have had the misfortune to use, it was very slow despite (my connection is fast) and the original OpenProj file did not have all the data imported.
I gave up after two hours....
If you want to make a gantt chart for personal use it's OK but taking it any further than that you will be wasting your time.
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Pros
easy to instal
Cons
Erratic behavior, inputing data in one place changes totally unrelated data in another place. Terrible experience
Summary
waste of time
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Pros
It has the core functions that you need to build a project plan.
Cons
The only person that gets to view the plan is the plan author: it's impossible to print the whole project or sub projects on a single page or in a format that is easy for others to read.
Summary
It's hard to hold people accountable when they can't see their bit of the project plan in an easy-to-read format. It's pretty but it's not very useful.
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Pros
gantt charting allowed complexity and moving things around without any weirdness. other freewares i've tried were not as forgiving.
Cons
you have to upgrade before you can output reports to PDF, which is silly because it's a restriction that's so easily worked around...
Summary
free and useful for very important projects. i haven't used all of the features, but if they all work as well as the Gantt charts, i'd recommend this over any other project management tool.
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Pros
Simple interface. Easy to learn. Fine for basic to moderately complex projects.
Cons
Financial elements are weak. GUI is a bit bland.
Summary
Good tool. Does the job. For freeware this is highly recommended. Great alternative to MS Project if you don't really need all the bells and whistles. Who uses more than the core functionality of MSP anyway?
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Pros
Intuitive. Mimics MS Project well enough that my students can learn Gantt, PERT, and CPM
Cons
Some parts are for use with premium members
Summary
Like it ... easy to use. I will allow my students to use this ILO MS Project on their assignments.
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Pros
loads of features compared to other freeware in this field
Cons
Many options that make it confusing and would require some time to get used to
Summary
It is hard to find the balance between complexity and simplicity.
In this case I feel that the UI is not capeable of making complex features simple to use.
Some features not even that advanced you know are there, but you just don't know how to get there:
I was trying to plan a 3 Week period within which a workload of 10 hours should be accomplished... didn't get it working propperly. Manualy changing one Property lead to unexpected automatic change of another Property...
Updated on Nov 16, 2009
Think I remember also having problems printing
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Pros
Works well and it's free! The next best thing to the real MS Project.
Cons
User-friendliness can be improved. Can't expect too much from a freeware.
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