It’s amazing what the concept of Open Source has done to the software industry.  Realize, my friends, that "Open Source" is another way of saying "no support" — if you feel that your team needs project management software that works perfectly all of the time and that you should be able to call the vendor and complain to them every time you get stuck or it does something stupid.

1. Microsoft Project is not for you.
2. Open Source is not for you.

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As you all know, I abhor MS Project  because of its lack of intuitiveness as well as stove piping a certain way of doing work.  I checked out Merlin 2 to see if there was Gantt Chart software for the Mac that might use instead.

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Here’s how Merlin is Awesome — especially in comparison to MS Project:

• You can zoom in to days and zoom out to weeks/months quite easily. Scaling seems like a really awesome feature that Project is just way behind in presentation-wise.
• Merlin provides a library of frequently used Gantt Chart templates to get you started.  When importing Gantt charts from one project into another projects in MS Project, it just hurts.  Bad, BAD things happen.
• Gantt Chart presentation in Merlin is just splendid.  Simply right off the charts.  Drop-shadows, anti-aliasing, soft edges — it’s just gorgeous.  With this Gantt chart tool for the Mac, my project documentation now has substance and style.
• Merlin’s representation of task completion is incredibly intuitive.  The shading of the entire bar just makes so much more sense than how it’s done in Project.
• Task names are printed on the bars in the Gantt chart.  You can print the Gantt chart without the WBS, and convey nearly the entire project plan in so much less space.
• Merlin has a well thought-out Print dialog with tons of helpful options which allow you to quickly print exactly what you want of the Gantt chart.
• Merlin’s help system is remarkable – it provides a thoughtful and well presented introductory course in Project Management concepts mapped to the part of the software to which that lesson applies.
• Merlin is completely compatible with Microsoft Project – but MS Project is not Project Management software for the Mac – so, no Gantt charts on the Mac from MS Project.
• Merlin is scads cheaper.  In fact, if you want to get the beta of Merlin 2.5, it’s FREE!  Yes, you heard me right, free.  Have at it.

If you’re looking for a Gantt Charting tool for the Mac or for Project Management Software for the Mac — Merlin is a serious contender.  Give ‘er a peek.

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You are presented with a drop-down list, and the tallest selection available is 24.  So, how do you make one bigger so that you can make it stand out from the rest or fill the page for a presentation?

Well, depending upon what you’re trying to do there are a few workarounds:

You could make another bar on the next row, and butt the two of them together through the Format -> Bar Styles dialog.

Then again, if you’re just trying to make the whole thing look bigger when you print it out, the Page Setup functionality will let you scale the whole thing up to fill the page.

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I’ve learned to despise all of the idiosyncracies of Micro$oft Project, and am always on the lookout for a management software.  I need something that lets me easily add tasks, resources, baseline, compare schedules vs. actuals and as so frequently happens — allow people to book more time in a single work day than an 8 hour shift without rearranging my entire project plan for me.  Jeez, that annoys the living crap out of me. </rant>

Okay, so I’m definitely going to pick up the demo version.  I use a Wintel machine, but I also work with graphic artists who almost always work on their Mac.  So, another great thing about OmniPlan is that there’s a Mac version available.  I’ll keep you posted on how exciting the OmniPlan 1.51 release is, but let me tell ya… from the screenshots online, this is one super-sexy piece of project management software.

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Since 50% of FastTrack Schedule’s users are not very experienced with project management software , they designed their project management software with ease-of-use as a paramount concern.  Since every project manager, whether one by training or by task, needs to show project estimates and project completion to the stakeholders and project sponsors. AEC’s FastTrack has a reporting module that works perfectly for this.  It also integrates with other mainstream project management tools like Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Project.

Their project management software handles project consolidation as well – empowering you to manage several projects within a single project file.  The resources layout tool enables you to track the contributions of project participants over time, including scheduling project personnel and resolving conflicts which undoubtedly arise when you have someone who’s 250% allocated.  The reporting piece allows you to archive a snapshot of the project and drop it into a PowerPoint presentation so you can mail that off to all of the stakeholders..

But here’s something you don’t frequently get with other project management software — It’s cross-platform.  This means that your back-office team can see the share project files with the creative team so devoted to their Macs.  Now, finding Mac Project Management Software is frequently hard enough, but here you get a solution that works all around.  I know people will be excited to hear that there are more choices when looking for Project Management Software for the Mac.

The price of FastTrack Schedule is $350 per license. You can learn more about their product at AEC Software .

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