XL-EasyGantt

A very useful free project scheduling and gantt chart product that runs within Excel.
We give it a cool category rating of 4.5/5

XL-EasyGantt by www.xleasygantt.com is by far the best free Microsoft Excel based project project scheduling and gantt chart tool that we have come across. Its strength lies in that there is no installation required and the schedule created by XL-EasyGantt is very easy to distribute.

It has a very user friendly design, easy to use and comes with useful common functions that allows a PM to create a project schedule quickly and easily. The Gantt Charts are plotted in real time as you enter the start and end dates of the project tasks using a date-picker.

Though already very easy to use, there is also help pages available by clicking on the help button.

It also allows you to track your non-working days and you can even download the holiday calender from www.xleasygantt.com website.

It is one of the tool that has caught much attention and has gained a lot of popularity in the short few months since its first release.

The current version is version 3. Follow the link to download.http://www.xleasygantt.com/default.asp

jxProject

http://www.jxproject.com

Rating 3.5/5

jxProject is a Java application that comes with an adverstisement supported free version and a commercial version. It is a simple project / gantt chart tool. This software requires the latest JRE from Sun Microsystems.

Main features include:

• Supported task link types: Finish to Start, Finish to Finish, Start to Finish, Start to Start,
• Resource User with positive/negative lag.
• Arbitrary constraints: Start After, Finish After, Start Before, Finish Before.
• Full Undo/Redo and Cut/Copy/Paste functionality.
• Full time resource leveling with user ability to enable/disable.
• A resource optimizer which automatically identifies gaps in resource schedules and moves tasks into those gaps.
• Tasks may be of fixed work, fixed duration, or fixed span. Task schedule driver is clearly indicated in the table.
• Familiar hierarchical parent/child task structure: summary task/task
  No limit to the number of links per task.
• Resource Assignments: Any combination from none, one, multiple or partial resources.
  Clear and traceable circular constraint violation messages allows user to locate dependency problems.
• Drag and Drop to move/copy tasks in the table/chart.
• Drag and Drop resources onto assigned tasks. [Multiple resources to multiple tasks in a single operation]
• Fully supports shift work scheduling such as first, second, third and/or swing shifts. Four day, ten hour days 4x10s.
• Resources inherit schedules from their parent calendars, overriding of parent schedules is fully supported.
• Each calendar has a timezone which is used consistently throughout all scheduling calculations.
• Supports scheduling of work time, time off, or paid time off.
• The user can define Full Time Equivalent (FTE) work hours for display/edit of actual work of resources.

AccuPlan

It seems that the developer has discontinued the software. However, you can still download a copy from

http://download.cnet.com/AccuPlan/3000-2076_4-10338223.html

Accuplan is a straight forward project planner that provides standard features like tasks, resources, budgets and timelines. It also allows you to view graphs, calendars, WBS view and reports.

It is a commercial product but quite affordable. However, as a commercial project, probably Accuplan should include more unique features to make it stand out from the rest.

We rate it 3.5/5

Accuplan is quite easy to learn and it is useful for experienced and new project managers.
Some features:

• Share project data among all stakeholders on any network.
• Build your project in Gantt view or as a spread sheet like grid.
• Free WBS (Work breakdown structure) view lets you visually create Task Hierarchies
• New Free integration with Ms Outlook mail and Reminder/Calendar
• Visually track of budgets and costs.
• Drag and drop to easily create task dependencies in any direction
• Automatically reschedule dependent tasks.
• See on-screen constraints, milestones, and deadlines that give a clear picture at a glance.
• Automatically calculate task and project durations based on number and availability of associated resources.
• Automatically adjust to skip holidays, weekends, and other downtime.
• View graphs of your resource allocations to identify under- and over-allocations.
• Resolve allocation conflicts with a "Resource Gantt View."
• Get up to speed fast with an intuitive interface that makes Accu Plan quick and easy to learn.
• Exchange data with other Windows applications.
• Import schedule data generated by other project management software, including MS Project.
• Print out presentation-quality reports to any Widows-supported printer or plotter.
• Output to a large selection of formats, including XML, Excel, MS Access, MS. Word, and HTML.

You can read more of the feature comparison at their web site:
http://download.cnet.com/AccuPlan/3000-2076_4-10338223.html

FreeMind

Freemind (freemind.sourceforge.net) is an open source Mind Mapping software. It is easy to use, and comes with a whole load of functions.

We rate it 4/5.

At times, Gantt Charts may not be the best way to map out the project tasks and some project managers like to view their activities in the form of mind maps. This is useful for high level initial project planning when the PM just want to sketch down his plans and key tasks and activities. Free mind is espcially useful for this aspect.

You can create multiple branches, link within the mindmap and create external URL or document links. You can also add in icons and even put the mind map up as Flash on your web site.

Personally I like this tool very much. I wish they have a Windows Mobile or Symbian version.

Cool.