MacProject

Infobox Software
name = MacProject
logo =


caption = Screenshot of MacProject 1.0.
developer = Solosoft, Claris
released = 1984
latest release version = Pro 1.5
latest release date = 1993
operating system = System Software 6, System 7
genre = project management
license = Proprietary
website =

MacProject was a project management and scheduling business application released along with the first Apple Macintosh systems in 1984. MacProject was one of the first major business tools for the Macintosh which enabled users to calculate the "critical path" to completion and estimate costs in money and time. If a project deadline is missed or if your available resources changed, MacProject recalculated everything automatically.

MacProject was written by Debra Willrett at Solosoft, and was published and distributed by Apple Computer to promote the original Macintosh personal computer. It was developed from an earlier application written by Debra Willrett for Apple's Lisa computer, LisaProject. This was the first GUI for project management. There were many other project management applications on the market at the time, but LisaProject was the first to simplify the process by allowing the user to interactively draw their project on the computer in the form of a PERT chart. Constraints could be entered for each task, and the relationships between tasks would show which ones had to be completed before a task could begin. Given the task constraints and relationships, a "critical path", schedule and budget could be calculated dynamically using heuristic methods.

MacProject's main competitor included Microsoft Project which was also made for the Macintosh and also Microsoft Windows. Microsoft eventually dropped support for the Macintosh version of their project management software.

MacProject as well as MacWrite, MacPaint and MacDraw were all adapted by Claris in the move to update the applications to new versions. MacProject II was introduced in December, 1987.

One of the early proponents of MacProject was James Halcomb, a well known expert in the use of the Critical Path Method. Having supervised hand drawn network diagrams for countless complex projects, Halcomb immediately recognized the promise of the WYSIWYG graphical interface and computerized calculation of the critical path. Using a Lisa computer housed in a case designed to fit under an airplane seat, Mr. Halcomb traveled the United States demonstrating this new technology in his CPM Courses. In consultation with the software's developers he authored the book "Planning Big with MacProject" which introduced a generation of Mac users to PERT and CPM. The later development of the Windows graphical interface enabled Microsoft to introduce its version of graphical project planning software, Microsoft Project.

ee also

* MacPaint
* MacWrite
* MacDraw

References

* [http://www.tidbits.com/tb-issues/TidBITS-194.html#lnk6 TidBits reviews september 1993]

External links

* [http://mac512.com/macproje.htm MacProject on Mac512.com]
* [http://www.twilightice.net/~joshuacoventry/machut/macproject.html MacProject on MacHut]