MS Project 2007, Gantt Project or Open Workbench???

[robert213]

Does anyone here manage software development projects? If so, what project management software do you use?

I am considering:
1) Gantt Project
http://www.ganttproject.biz/

2) Open Workbench
http://www.openworkbench.org/

How do these software products compare against MS Project 2007?

[ausmike]

Hi robert,
instresting post / question.....
I have been a long term "project" user - major part of my prof life is spent in working with these apps...
Have been a long term user of MS Project - think their version 2010 is latest - which in the ENTERPRISE VERSION is 'kinda' bundled all together nicelyenough! I cannot comment on the STAND ALONE VERSION. Also MSP 2007 is like way older version and lots has changed since that release ( no I not a hater nor lover of MS apps)

Since most of the WB(from opensource.org) is free thats a GREAT PLUS - i think. But I often find 'bug fixes' are often like pulling tooth! Not that MS apps are any better in big fixes!

But over all I would go with MS Apps for now ; untill most of OpenSource items mature but more - but they might say "its mature enough now' ,,,,,YOU can read all their 'differance' Blabs on eeach others website - which seems to point to few/minor advantages. For me = 'integrated apps' kinda is nice in a very LARGE ENTERPRISE (company has 8000+ PROJECT MANAGERS all over the world!

Hope this help
cheers

[robert213]

To anyone who "googles" this topic and stumbles upon this thread...

I have been using Open Workbench with much success. It comes with documentation on two *.PDF files -- One is a quick reference guide and the other is a lengthly detailed reference manual.

Tasks are listed under phases.

It has the ability to assign tasks to prededessor/successor task dependences and it easily identifies the critical path.

The parameters of the calendar (e.g. months/weeks/days; # of weeks; etc) of the Gantt chart report is easily changed.

I have just started adding resources to each task.

So far, it has more features than I will ever use.

[BillMorrow]

just FWIW, openworkbench.org is not online..
4:06am, tues. 25-jan..

[pkiff]

About 3 years ago, I evaluated various open source and/or free Project Management software packages with an eye to finding one that could produce project plans and Gantt charts for free. At the time, the two leading contenders were Gantt Project and something called OpenProj. I chose GanttProject as the most mature product at that time. I also liked the fact that it was cross-platform since I was working in both Windows and OSX, and I hoped to move into Linux eventually. I suspect that in the intervening several years, GanttProject has only gotten better. A quick look into the status of both OpenProj and Workbench suggests that the current status of both of those is unclear or stagnated. By contrast, GanttProject seems to be in for the long haul, and so may be worth checking out.

Note that I didn't actually use GanttProject for ongoing project management: I just used it to create a Gantt chart for my team and supervisors, and then again to produce updated versions of the workplan and an accompanying Gantt chart every 3 months or so. For those purposes it was pretty good: I was using a beta version, and there were a couple bugs but I found workarounds for those at the time. It looks like they have an official release out now. I can't speak to whether it would be any good at whatever you may need for ongoing day-to-day project management, as I don't know what that set of needs entails.

I've just spent a few minutes on the GanttProject website now, and I see that they are in the midst of beta/alpha-testing a new version (a major update, not an incremental update). If you are just getting started on your projects right now, then I would be inclined to investigate the latest alpha/beta version instead of using the latest stable version. I'm going to download and install it myself now just to check it out. Links to that alpha/beta version are available here:
http://ganttproject.blogspot.com/2011/0 ... d-306.html

[Later: I installed the alpha version of the "praha" build, and I must say that it is not really very user-friendly. If you are okay with that (as I am) then that will be fine for you, but if not, then you're probably best to stick with the latest stable version. If you go for the alpha version I linked to, then you may want to download the stable version anyways, if only so you can extract the icon files from the exe, since the alpha version doesn't include any icons. If all that seems like an awful lot of work just to test something out, then the alpha version is not for you, just use the regular version and I'm sure it installs just fine like any other Windows software.]

Phil.

[Conner]

I have used basecamp which is great since I find it easy and simple to use. Though sometimes it's just time consuming to go around your projects or tabbing into projects.

You can take a look at some of the project management software alternatives here: http://www.timedoctor.com/blog/2011/02/ ... ternatives You can open the spreadsheet and take a look at the features of the software packages that are listed and compare them with each other. It would really help you choose which software is best for you.