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Microsoft Project to RTM Aug. 18

Microsoft Project 2003 will be released to manufacturing on Aug. 18, the company said Wednesday in an announcement that included the pricing for the component of the Office 2003 family.

Formally called Microsoft Office Project 2003, the versions are Project Server 2003, Projection Professional 2003 and Project Standard 2003. Current beta customers include REI and AXA Financial Inc.

Project originally came out as desktop software for project managers, business managers and planners to manage projects. Project Standard is the direct follow-on to previous versions of project. It is stand-alone desktop project management software that does not connect to the other pieces of the Project suite.

The professional edition has the same capabilities as the standard edition, but it also connects with the server to allow project portfolio management, skill-based resource management and project collaboration. Microsoft says there is a further value add in using the professional and server editions with a portal component called Project Web Access to create a Microsoft Enterprise Project Management Solution.

he server will cost $1,500, the professional edition will cost $1,000 and the standard version will cost $600. Customers who buy an earlier version of Microsoft Project between Aug. 15 and Nov. 30 will have an option to upgrade to Project 2003, the company said.

About the Author

Scott Bekker is editor in chief of Redmond Channel Partner magazine.

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