Published: September 29, 2003
Find answers to frequently asked questions (FAQ) about Project 2003 and the Microsoft Office Enterprise Project Management (EPM) Solution.
| Q. | What is Project 2003? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| A. | Project 2003 is a family of products designed to address the work and people management needs of today's organizations. Products in the Project 2003 family include Microsoft Office Project Standard 2003, Microsoft Office Project Professional 2003, Microsoft Office Project Server 2003, and Microsoft Office Project Web Access. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Q. | How do the products in the Project 2003 family work together? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| A. |
Project 2003 has two offerings designed for different
needs:
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| Q. | What languages is Project 2003 available in? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| A. |
Project Standard 2003, Project Professional 2003, and
Project Server 2003 are available in the following
languages:
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| Q. | What is Project Standard 2003? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| A. | Project Standard 2003 is the latest version of the core Microsoft desktop project management program. It's a stand-alone program that helps enable project managers, business managers, and planners to manage and plan projects independently with familiar, easy-to-use tools. Project Standard 2003 is not designed to exchange data with Project Server 2003. To connect to Project Server 2003 from a desktop application, you need Project Professional 2003. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Q. | What is the Microsoft Office Enterprise Project Management (EPM) Solution? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| A. |
The EPM Solution brings together client, server, and
Web-based technologies to enable your organization,
department, or team to manage company-wide projects and
align business initiatives for better results. Project
Professional 2003, Project Server 2003, and Project Web
Access are designed to work together to make up the EPM
Solution.
Read the EPM Solution overview to learn more. |
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| Q. | How do I determine which Project 2003 offering is right for me? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| A. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Q. | What is Project Professional 2003? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| A. |
Project Professional 2003 is the desktop enterprise
project management program that is used with Project
Server 2003 and Project Web Access to form the EPM
Solution.
Project Professional 2003 provides all the core project management tools found in Project Standard 2003, but also works with Project Server 2003 and Project Web Access to provide portfolio management and modeling, skill-based resource assignment, and project collaboration. Project managers can publish information from Project Professional 2003 to Project Server 2003 to share and track project plans centrally. |
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| Q. | What is Project Server 2003? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| A. |
Project Server 2003 is the flexible platform that
supports the portfolio management, resource management,
and collaboration capabilities in the EPM Solution.
Project Server 2003 enables organizations to store
project and resource information centrally and
consistently. It also integrates with Microsoft
Windows® SharePoint™ Services for file
management and collaboration capabilities, helping team
members to work together more effectively.
Users can connect to Project Server 2003 using Project Professional 2003 (desktop program) or Project Web Access (Web portal) to save, retrieve, and interact with Project Server data. Users can also use Microsoft Office Outlook® 2003 to download their tasks from Project Server 2003 and view and report progress on their project tasks from Outlook. |
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| Q. | What is Microsoft Office Project Web Access? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| A. |
Project Web Access is the Web portal that enables you
to connect to the project and resource information that
is stored in Project Server and collaborate on
projects. Team members, executives, and resource
managers—in other words, anyone who needs access
to Project Server 2003 information but does not require
the scheduling capabilities of Project
Professional—can use Project Web Access through a
Web browser to view, update, and analyze information.
Note Project Web Access is not a separate product. Rather, it is enabled by Project Server 2003 and acts as the Web portal in the EPM Solution. You must have a Project Server 2003 Client Access License (CAL) to use Project Web Access. |
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| Q. | What are the system requirements for Project Web Access? Do I need Project Professional 2003 or Project Server 2003 on my machine to use Project Web Access? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| A. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Q. | What are some of the new features in Project Standard 2003? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| A. |
Some new features in Project Standard 2003 include:
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| Q. | I already create to-do lists in a spreadsheet. Why do I need Project Standard 2003? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| A. |
Some spreadsheet programs offer templates for creating
schedules, but schedules in spreadsheets are static.
Project Standard 2003, though, has a scheduling engine
that enables you to see how a change in one work item
affects the rest of the project. If you need a program
to handle dynamic scheduling, manage multiple projects
and resources, and support better communication,
Project Standard 2003 is the tool for you.
In addition, Project Standard 2003 includes an Excel template, making it easy to get started in Excel and then move data easily into Project 2003. You can also export data to Excel for reporting. |
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| Q. | Can I save Project Standard 2003 projects to Project Server 2003? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| A. | Unlike Project Professional 2003, Project Standard 2003 is not designed to save or "publish" projects to Project Server 2003. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Q. | What are some of the new features in the Microsoft Office EPM Solution? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| A. |
Some new features in the EPM Solution include:
Read the EPM Solution overview to learn more. |
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| Q. | Do I need an Office 2003 Edition to use Outlook integration in Project 2003? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| A. | No, you do not need to have an Office 2003 Edition to use the Outlook integration capabilities. In addition to Outlook 2003, you can use Outlook version 2002 and Outlook 2000 to import tasks from Project Server 2003 to your Outlook calendar. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Q. | Is the EPM Solution packaged as a single product? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| A. |
No. The EPM Solution consists of the following Project
2003 products, each of which is sold separately:
Note The solution also requires:
For more information, review the EPM Solution technologies |
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| Q. | What is Windows SharePoint Services? |
| A. |
Windows SharePoint Services, a component technology of
Windows Server 2003, enables users to create Web sites
for information-sharing and file collaboration. Project
Server 2003 integrates with Windows SharePoint Services
for file management and project-related issue and risk
tracking.
To enable Windows SharePoint Services capabilities—including file versioning and check-in/check-out—Project Server 2003 requires Windows Server 2003. |
| Q. | Does SharePoint Team Services from Microsoft work with Project 2003? |
| A. | No, Project Server 2003 is not designed to work with SharePoint Team Services. Project Server 2003 is designed to work with Windows SharePoint Services, a component technology of Windows Server 2003. |
| Q. | Does Windows SharePoint Services (formerly SharePoint Team Services from Microsoft) work with Microsoft Project Server 2002? |
| A. |
A patch needs to be applied to Project Server 2002
installations to enable Project Server 2002 to run on
Windows Server 2003.
Note Windows SharePoint Services is a component technology of Windows Server 2003. To enable Windows SharePoint Services, Windows Server 2003 is required. |
| Q. | What does the Project Standard 2003 Evaluation Kit include? |
| A. |
The Project Standard 2003 Evaluation Kit includes an
evaluation version of Project Standard 2003, a Resource
& Information CD, and a Getting Started guide.
The evaluation version gives you a license to use a fully functional version of Project Standard 2003 for 60 days. |
| Q. | How do I get the Project Standard 2003 Evaluation Kit and how much does it cost? |
| A. | The evaluation kit is available worldwide (in English only) for the cost of shipping and handling: $7.95 US for the first kit and $4.95 for each additional kit. Express delivery costs more. |
| Q. | Is the Project Standard 2003 Evaluation Kit available worldwide? |
| A. | Yes, the Project Standard 2003 Evaluation Kit is available worldwide, in English only. |
| Q. | Can I order Project Standard 2003 Evaluation Kit in different languages? |
| A. | No, not at this time. |
| Q. | How soon will the kit or kits arrive after I place my order online? |
| A. | The evaluation kit will begin shipping in late October. After the kit is available for shipment, please expect three to five weeks for standard delivery. When you place your order you can choose to pay more for express shipping (delivery within three to seven days of product availability). |
| Q. | Is technical support available for the Project Standard 2003 Evaluation Kit? |
| A. | Microsoft Product Support Services are not available for this evaluation kit. |
| Q. | What happens when the trial period expires? |
| A. | The evaluation copy of Project Standard 2003 expires 60 days after it is first started. If you try to use your evaluation copy of Project Standard 2003 after the expiration date has passed, a message will indicate that the evaluation period has ended, and the program will immediately quit. |
| Q. | Can I open or modify files created in the Project Standard 2003 Evaluation Kit in previous versions of Microsoft Office programs? |
| A. |
You can open Project Standard 2003 files in both
Microsoft Project Standard 2002 and Microsoft Project
2000. You can also save Project Standard 2003 files in
the Microsoft Project 98 format and then open them in
Microsoft Project 98. For compatibility with Microsoft
Project 98, save files created with this evaluation
copy in the Microsoft Project 98 file format. Files
created with Project Standard 2003 are not compatible
with versions of Project earlier than Microsoft Project
98. Project Standard 2003 does not save to the .mpx
format and does not open .mpp files that were saved in
versions earlier than Microsoft Project 98.
Project Standard 2003 can read .mpp files created in Microsoft Project Standard 2002, Microsoft Project 2000, and Microsoft Project 98. Project Standard 2003 can read the .mpx file format for versions prior to Microsoft Project 98. Project Standard 2003 does not save to the .mpx file format. Files exported to the new Extensible Markup Language (XML)-based file format in Project 2003 can be opened only in Project Standard 2003, Project Professional 2003, and Microsoft Project Standard 2002. Data relating to the features in Microsoft Project Standard 2002 files will be saved (invisibly) along with the rest of the data when saving in Microsoft Project 2002 and the file can be opened and saved in Microsoft Project 2000. However, if you use the File, Save As options in Project 2000, this invisible data will be lost. You should always use the Save option. |
| Q. | How do I uninstall the Project Standard 2003 Evaluation Kit? |
| A. | From the control panel, select Add/Remove Programs, and then choose Project Standard 2003 Trial to uninstall. |