MS Project Online requires an active subscription and charges monthly fees for each user. From a cost perspective, Microsoft Project Professional is a one-time purchase, and your software license never expires. However, its features may not be as comprehensive or customizable as the desktop version. Microsoft Project Online is a lighter, web-based version that offers collaborative capabilities and multiple workflow options-including Kanban boards-for team members who don’t like working with gantt charts. Because you install MS Project Professional directly on your desktop, you have to find other solutions for keeping team members and external stakeholders up-to-date on the plan and progress. Follow the instructions in the Gantt Chart Wizard to format the critical path. On the View menu, choose Gantt Chart, and then choose Gantt Chart Wizard on the Formatting toolbar. Show the critical path by using the Gantt Chart Wizard.

It’s currently only available for PC computers. On the Project menu, point to Group by, and then select Critical. Microsoft Project Professional is the desktop version most often used by project managers because it provides the full set of project management, resourcing, and costing features. The layout of Microsoft Project is simple and intuitive, making this solution one of the easiest for creating and managing Gantt charts (Figure D).

While teams of all sizes and industries use MS Project to schedule and manage project work and resources, enterprise organizations with an established Microsoft 365 infrastructure will face fewer barriers when it comes to access and setup.

It’s available as a stand-alone solution for desktop PCs (Microsoft Project Professional) or as a cloud-based app (Microsoft Project Online). This cloud-based solution comes with project collaboration functions with collaborative Gantt charts, time tracking tools, and task-level communication features. Microsoft Project is project management software used for planning and tracking projects with a gantt chart. TeamGantt is an online project scheduling software solution with a top-rated Gantt chart maker.

Gantt chart software ms project