Franklin Covey Planning Software 8.0 Review

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(More customer reviews)The most annoying bug in my experience of running this software under Windows 2000 is that every time I open it, the toolbars have each moved down to a separate line, and I must realign them all in one row. Frequently and inexplicably, the work panes have all shrunk, and I must resize them all manually (this is not simply done with one click of a Restore button). So, for a software package that advertises that it's going to help you organize your time, it fails from the start. The interface is clumsy--it's still operating in the Windows 3.1 days and struggling to keep up with the current Microsoft interface. Clearly, Franklin Covey has not invested in software design and maintenance. The product is loaded with bugs. There is no added advantage to using this product over Microsoft Outlook. Scheduling is a joke.

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Sync all your information and view it from virtually anywhere with FranklinCovey Planning Software 8.0. Whether you use a wireless phone, handheld, online calendar, corporate scheduling software, or FranklinCovey Planning Pages, FranklinCovey Planning Software 8.0 keeps all your information in one system and in sync. Simply enter your appointment schedule, address/phone lists, contacts, task list, notes, and more into one device, such as your handheld or wireless phone. You can then sync it to the rest of your productivity tools, like your desktop software applications, Web calendars, and more. FranklinCovey Planning Software 8.0 allows you to always have the most current information at your fingertips.
This quick process will allow you to sync your data with Microsoft Outlook 97, 98, or 2000; Lotus Notes; Lotus Organizer 4.1/5.0/6.0, 95, or 97; ACT!; Palm OS Handhelds; Pocket PC Devices; and more. Intuitive, customizable views provide a clean planning environment that puts everything at your fingertips and includes powerful new weekly task and appointment views. Switch easily between My Planner, Info Manager, and What Matters Most views and their associated applications. TrueSync technology provides users a one-click, multi-point synchronization of all the changes in information among every supported device and application simultaneously.

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Primavera SureTrak Project Manager 3.0 Review

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(More customer reviews)SureTrak was designed with features that practicing project managers need, not glitzy fluff. Although the two previous reviewers have made strong cases for SureTrak there are a few details that I'd like to add.
(1) Multiple calendars - you can have up to 31 base calanders per project, giving you absolute control that is not possible with other PM applications in this price range. This feature allows you to model different resource baselines, which is powerful. Also, unlike MS Project, SureTrak does not assume it knows better than you and change the project in strange and mysterious ways after you've made an adjustment. This alone makes SureTrak worth using.
(2) Earned Value project management is built in and works correctly. If you're a PMP you'll not only appreciate the solid implementation of earned value, but should also know that the earned value portions of the PMBOK were developed by members of the Primavera team--Quentin Fleming and Joel Koppelman--who also authored Earned Value Project Management, second edition. This adds a high level of trust in the way SureTrak works.
(3) Project resource leveling works (it's somewhat 'challenged' in MS Project), and the ability to automatically forecast resource shortages, trace PERT logic, use precedence diagramming method if you so choose, and the ability to jump from WBS, resource, activity or PERT views with a mouse click shows your project from any perspective. Another nice feature is the 'cosmic' view of the PERT view that shows the entire network in one window and details in another.
(4) The reports, profiling and analysis options are too many to list. Suffice it to say that if there is a view or report that isn't shipped with SureTrak (and I cannot think of any), you can easily create one.
Although it has serious features, it also has glitz: publish in HTML, add graphics to your schedule and customize bar legends. It also has team features, such as email management, the ability to manage multiple related projects simultaneously, and the ability to exchange files with MS Project via MPX files. Note that there are some losses when you exchange MPX files because SureTrak has features that Project doesn't have and they will not import correctly into MS Project.
If you make the leap from MS Project to SureTrak I strongly recommend investing in Planning Using Primavera SureTrak Project Manager Version 3.0 by Paul E. Harris, which will get you quickly started.

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Communicate with professional-quality reports and graphics. SureTrak Project Manager combines ease of use, power, and affordability. With SureTrak, you can create schedules graphically, as well as point and click to create relationships between activities. It is ideal for resource planning and control on small- to medium-sized projects.

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Microsoft Project 2000 Review

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(More customer reviews)It's a shame Microsoft doesn't trust it's customers. This product requires one to eMail, call, or connect to Microsoft through the Internet to register. If you don't, you can't use the product after starting it 49 more times. If that's not bad enough, I wasn't able to register this product because the software key was outside the range Microsoft had in their database and because "I purchased it through an Internet store" (I purchased it from Amazon), they refused to assist me in any way. This is a new directive from Microsoft I confirmed after escillation. Apparently Microsoft doesn't trust any internet store as well as it's customers.

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Project 2000 allows users to create a database of easilysortable information about a group undertaking. It's become an invaluable application, and the 2000 edition provides a level of Web interactivity users have been clamoring for. A strong product with a great series of tools, Project 2000 should quickly become a standard product in the business person's library. Technically, there weren't too many surprises. While we did have to restart more than once in order to make it through the full installation, in the end, it wasn't too problematic. (In typical heavy-handed fashion, though, the installation resulted in having Internet Explorer reinstalled as a desktopshortcut.) The interface is the same as any product in the MicrosoftOffice suite--a boon to new users. As an added plus, the accompanyinguser's guide is topnotch, presenting beginning- to advanced-level documentation on how to get the most from this product (and in turn, become a truly skilled project manager). For those unfamiliar with Project, here's the general course of events in using the application: in working with the software, you--as the user--have to thoroughly think through the consequences of your priorities. This can have myriad benefits to the people working under you, as you're asked to quantify resources, deadlines, tasks, and costs. At a critical juncture--if, for example, the project just won'tbe finished according to schedule--Project 2000 will provide resourcesand data to decide between tradeoffs: Do you limit the scope? Add moreresources? Push the timeline back? Most importantly, you can cutthrough the veil of darkness surrounding some projects by publicizingyour progress on company intranet space. You can even create circles ofe-mail correspondence with the help of the brand-new Microsoft ProjectCentral.

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Microsoft Project Standard 2010 Review

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(More customer reviews)I HAD NOT BOUGHT A VERSION OF MS PROJECT SINCE 2000 AND WAS DISAPPOINTED TO SEE FEW IMPROVEMENTS AND QUITE A FEW STEPS BACKWARDS. IT SEEMS MICROSOFT IS "DUMBING" DOWN ALL THEIR PRODUCTS BY TAKING AWAY FEATURES THAT MOST PEOPLE DO NOT USE BUT THAT PROS NEED TO MAKE THE PRODUCT DO MORE. THE ADDITION OF MULTIPLE UNDO'S IS GOOD, BUT THERE ARE A LOT OF BUGS AND YOU SHOULD SAVE OFTEN TO AVOID LOSING YOUR WORK. IF MICROSOFT WANTS TO DOMINATE IN THIS MARKET, THEY NEED TO ADD STANDARD IMPORT/EXPORT FEATURES FOR CPM SCHEDULES AS WELL AS ALLOWING FOR A MORE DYNAMIC SCHEDULE UPDATE PROCESS OVER THE LIFE OF A PROJECT.

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With significant updates and visual enhancements, Project Standard 2010 delivers better experiences to simply be more productive and successfully complete all types of projects. User-controlled scheduling puts you in control and brings together the flexibility and ease of a tool like Microsoft® Excel® 2010 and the power of the Project scheduling engine. And, with a completely new and visually-enhanced timeline view, you have an easier, more intuitive way to see and share key dates and deadlines.

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Microsoft Project Professional 2010 Review

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(More customer reviews)I've been using one flavor of Project or another for years. I've never had formal training in the tool, so I'll be the first to admit that my ignorance of the deeper details of the Project package is fairly high. However it's fairly easy to see that this time around, we didn't get what we'd hoped for. While on the one hand we have an interface that finally matches the look and feel of the rest of the Office Suite, on the other we have buggy behavior and difficult processes that were made to accommodate the 2010 facelift.
If you missed out on Office 2007...well, you didn't miss much with Project 2007 - it looked and behaved fairly much the same way Project 2003 did. While the rest of the Office suite were moved to an entirely new design, Project and Visio were given a raincheck, with the promise to be revamped in the 2010 suite. With the 2010 version of Project, we now get the following changes:
The "Ribbon" replaces toolbars (as per the rest of Office 2007)
Instead of dragging this or that toolbar, lining them up how you like them, and adding/removing various toolbars, there is one band across the top of the Office products that is broken into sections. Each section contains categories relevant to the area that you're working in. This concept was introduced in 2007, and in 2010 it's further broken up into tabs: click a tab and the ribbon changes to the items for that tab.
The "Ribbon" also has tabs (new to Office 2010)
For example, the default "Task" tab will show you a ribbon for Clipboard, Schedule, Tasks, Insert, Properties, and Editing. Each has buttons and tools in it, such as Cut/Copy/Paste/Format Painter in "Clipboard", or font size, style, and color in "Font". "View" will toggle the Gantt chart on and off. If you click the top of a column or on a header, "Tasks" and "Insert" might become grayed out because you cannot perform these actions on a column or header. Click the "Resource" tab and you have a new ribbon, of "View" (which will now toggle "Team Planner" on and off), Assignments, Insert (which is now about Inserting people), Properties, and Level.
We use Project Professional fairly simply: keep a timeline, make some estimates, hand in to management on a regular basis. Unfortunately, we have some very particular yet simple features that seem to have been broken going to Project 2010. We have a specific color scheme and the standard colors in Project 2007 are gone...this brings Project 2010 more inline with the default palette for the rest of the suite. We can make custom colors to perfectly match by typing in the correct RGB values...if you like fiddling with graphics concepts that much (isn't that more for a web designer than a Project Manager?). The concept of editing the font has been stripped down to the minimal buttons...and when you need to go further you will need to start using the "Text Styles" feature that also mimics Word.
Which then brings us to the bugs. For reasons I can't figure out, changing one task and clicking Save is causing some individual fields in unrelated tasks to change their font size. Using Print Preview has gone from "What You See is What You Get" to "What You See May or May Not Work You Should Try Re-opening Your File". And the most difficult issue we've had has been with concurrency. You are allowed to install Project 2010 and keep your existing Project 2007 installation. You are prompted during install, and then you're prompted again to ditch the old version when you first launch Project. If you say no to all of these things, you can keep both instances of Project installed...but you can't run them. Whichever version of Project you launch will be the ONLY version that will launch until you reboot. I have 2007 and 2010 on separate hard drives and if I double-click the executable in the 2007 program folder...but I've already opened Project 2010 once today...then 2010 is what will be launched. Unless I reboot.
Project Professional 2010 is the first serious overhaul to Microsoft Project in a while. While the intention was to bring it up to speed with the rest of the suite, I get the impression it wasn't a finished product. If you are considering it, I highly suggest both familiarizing yourself with the basics of the new Office 2010 interface...and starting over from scratch with your older files. If you are considering keeping dual versions installed, you may want to consider taking the leap or staying behind, and not trying to do both.
It is my hope that a service pack or other update will improve Project 2010. Until then, I have to recommend against the new version.

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Microsoft Project Professional 2010 32-bit/x64 English DVD

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Microsoft Visio Professional 2010 Review

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(More customer reviews)I used previous versions of Visio Pro to build ER diagrams and create databases. It was a good tool. However, the 2010 version abandons any attempt to be useful in actual software development. You cannot generate databases from this product, as you can for others. If you just want flowcharts, stick with the standard version. If you want this for other functions, read other reviews. But if you want to use Visio as part of serious software development, do yourself a favor and don't try. Use Erwin instead.

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Visio Professional 2010 takes diagramming to a bold new level with dynamic, data-driven visualization tools and templates, and advanced sharing through the Web. Bring the big-picture and real-time data from multiple sources, including Excel, Microsoft SQL Server, and SharePoint lists, together in one powerful diagram. Then see real-time changes to data right within your diagram, displayed through vibrant graphics such as icons, colors and data bars. Using SharePoint integration, you can now easily share your diagrams in real time with anyone, even those who don't own Visio.

Simplify Complexity With a Diverse Set of Intuitive, Professional Diagramming Tools
Jump-Start Diagramming Meet your diagramming needs for IT, business, process management, and more with modern pre-drawn shapes and intelligent templates.
Find and Access the Tools You Need Quickly Every step in creating a diagram is more intuitive, with logical groupings of features in Ribbon tabs, an enhanced Shapes window for easy access to shapes, and a new status bar that helps you move more efficiently within and between your diagrams.
Draw Diagrams Faster Whether you're creating a diagram from scratch or modifying an existing one, Visio 2010 helps you add and align shapes easily and accurately with features such as the Quick Shapes Mini Toolbar, Page Auto Size, and Auto Align & Space.
Simplify Large and Complex Diagrams Add clarity to diagrams using Subprocesses and Containers to group related shapes visually and logically.
Make Your Diagrams Professional-Looking and Appealing in Seconds Take advantage of a range of formatting tools and design options, including modern shapes and visuals, a rich gallery of themes, and Live Preview.
Model and Monitor Sharepoint Workflows Create and monitor SharePoint workflows more easily with a new, advanced template that contains SharePoint workflow rules, and supports exporting and importing workflows between Microsoft SharePoint Designer 2010 and Visio 2010.
Ensure Consistency and Accuracy With Diagram Validation Check for common errors and support diagramming standards across your organization using diagram validation. With one click, you can validate a diagram against a set of rules to make sure it's logical and properly constructed.
Bring Your Diagrams to Life With Dynamic, Data-Driven VisualsGaining a clear and complete view of information that matters to your business requires both a high-level perspective and detailed data. With just a few clicks, Visio 2010 helps you see the entire picture by showing meaningful information and data graphically in a single, always up-to-date diagram.
Easily connect your diagrams to one or more data sources including Microsoft Excel, SQL Server, and SharePoint Services, using the Data Selector and Automatic Link wizards.
Display real-time data right within diagram shapes, based on conditions you define, using expressive graphics such as color, icons, symbols, and data bars. Then, add a legend to explain the meaning of your data-linked graphics.
Keep the linked data in your diagrams up-to-date effortlessly using Automatic Refresh, which can refresh data automatically at specific time intervals you set.

Share Dynamic, Data-Linked Diagrams With Others Through Their Browser
Share Diagrams With Others on the Web Sharing your interactive, refreshable, data-linked diagrams with others is easier than ever. With just a few clicks, publish your diagram to SharePoint Server. Users can see your real-time information in their browsers at a high level, right on the diagram, or delve into the details--even if they don't own Visio.
They can pan and zoom in the online diagram, follow hyperlinks in shapes, and refresh the data. Diagrams can be rendered in Microsoft Silverlight (high-fidelity) or in PNG format for those who don't have Silverlight.
Create Visual Mashups Using Visio Services Create visually compelling, interactive dashboards for your audience by combining Visio diagrams, real-time data, and different applications in SharePoint Server. Visio Services and SharePoint Server 2010 integration support visual mashups of actionable data and diagrams for an information-rich visual experience.
Which Version of Microsoft Visio 2010 is Right for You?

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Microsoft Visio Professional 2007 Review

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(More customer reviews)I been using Visio Enterprise 2003 for the last 3 years with Sql Server 2000. My only use of visio relates to database modeling. Once the drawing is been approved, I simply used "Update" option to update database. The update option is a time saving feature in a rapid application development environment for changing relationship, keys and constraints. Writing those changes back to Sql Server is a smooth process.
Recently i changed my development environment to SQL Server 2005 and figured out that Visio 2003 Enterprise does not work with SQL Server 2005. So I decided to buy visio professional 2007 to use the single feature of database modeling.
Upon installation, I figured that there is no option for writing changes back to SQL Server 2005 in either version of Visio (2003 Enterprise, 2007 Professional). In simple there is no "update" or "generate" command in visio professional 2007.
Put it simple. If you want to use database modeling and hoping to write those changes back to SQL Server 2005 with visio, DON'T BUT IT......IT WILL NOT WORK

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Office Visio 2007 makes it easy for IT and business professionals to visualize analyze and communicate complex information systems and processes. Using professional-looking Office Visio 2007 diagrams you can improve your understanding of systems and processes gain insight into complex information and use that knowledge to make better decisions for your business. Using Office Visio 2007 visually document design and fully understand the state of your business processes and systems with a wide range of diagrams business process flowcharts network diagrams workflow diagrams database models and software diagrams just to name a few. Make diagrams more useful by linking them with underlying data to provide a more complete picture. Office Visio Professional 2007 will make it easy for IT and business professionals to visualize analyze and communicate complex information systems and processes with clear compelling diagrams. By using Office Visio 2007 people will be able to easily visualize information from multiple data sources to better understand the current state of systems and processes analyze information visually to highlight key trends and exceptions and share diagrams broadly for effective and efficient decision-making.GeneralCategory:Office applicationsSubcategory:Office applications - projects / processLicense Type:Complete packageLicense Qty:1 userLicense Pricing:StandardDistribution Media:CD-ROMPackage Type:RetailPlatform:WINSystem Requirements / OS Required:Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Microsoft Windows XP SP2 or laterUNSPSC CodeUNSPSC Code:43233004Product IDUPC:882224157476Manufacturer Part:D87-02785

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Microsoft Visio Professional 2007 Version Upgrade Review

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(More customer reviews)I upgraded from Visio 2000 Enterprise and was dismayed to discover that the ability to generate a database from a Visio diagram has been removed. It is now only available in the Visio version through an MSDN Subscription - expensive and unreasonable for individual purchasers. Buyer beware....if you want database management functionality get something else.

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VISIO PRO 2007 WIN32 EN WIN32 VUP

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