Project 2007

[bugundy]

I am evaluating a free trial download of Project 2007 Standard. Part of the
evaluation is to share a sample Gantt chart with my customer for
compatability. My customer uses Project 2000-2003. I have saved the project
down as a 2003 version and also as .xml but my customer is unable to open any
version sent. Is the trial version encrypted to prevent sharing? Not having
the ability to share this chart defeats the purpose of the evaluation and
makes it doubtful that we will purchase MS-Project.

 

[Dharmesh Patel]

Hi,

I don't think this would work. you would need to save the file as a 2003
file (from the drop down list when you are in the save as dialog box)

HTH

 

[bugundy]

Hi,
I did exactly that but my customer was unable to open.

 

[Dave]

Notwithstanding the practical problems you are currently encountering,
many people on this newsgroup will testify that it is possible to share
files created with Project 2007 with those who still use Project 2003.
If that is your only concern, then it is unfounded.

 

[bugundy]

I appreciate the responses but we are not getting to the root of the matter.
Does anyone know if Microsoft encrypts their trial downloads to prevent
sharing? The compatability is still a concern as different divisions of my
customer in different locations cannot open any of the versions in which
Project 2007 can be saved. If not encrypted, I have a real problem trying to
use this with my customer. I ran into this same problem using Project 2007
with a previous employer where we couldn't share projects with different
divisions within the same company.

 

[Steve House]

I won't swear to it but I seem to recall that project files saved in the
evaluation versions can't be opened in the regular retail versions. My
cohorts may correct me - it's been quite a while since I used an eval copy -
but I seem to recall that when you have been using the evaluation version
and decide to install the regular retail package, you need to uninstall the
eval copy first. Microsoft is very clear that evaluation software is only
intended for you to use to preview and evaluate the functionality of the
software within your organization and is not to be used for live production
work. Sharing files with customers would not usually fall into the sorts of
things you'd do with the software you're evaluating to see if its features
will be useful for the kinds of projects you work with. If you concern is
whether files can be shared between two installations of Project 2007, two
installations of 2003, or a mix of 2003 and 2007, rest assured that they
certainly can. Us regular users do it every day. But if you're trying to
use the evaluation software to do real, production, project scheduling with
a real project that you or your customers are managing prior to purchasing
the full package you may be out of luck.

 

[bugundy]

Thanks for your response. That is what I am thinking the problem is. We set
up a sample project to see what sharing would be like but once we encountered
the problems I had concerns that Micro Soft had it set up this way. Since
everyone is assuring me that this will work OK with a purchased version, we
will probably proceed; my only hesitation is the problem I had with my
previous employer. We all had licensed versions but we could not open
different projects. If I remember correctly we had to uninstall all the
Project software and re-install at all the divisions.

 

[JulieS]

Bugundy,

You will also want to make sure you 2003 users have Service Pack 3
installed to Project. SP-3 is what provides the "reader" to allow
2003 users to read files created in 2007.

Even though you are working with a trial version, also make sure you
download and install service pack 1 and the infrastructure update
for Project 2007.

I hope this helps. Let us know how you get along.

Julie
Project MVP

Visit http://project.mvps.org/ for the FAQs and additional
information about Microsoft Project

 

[bugundy]

Will do. Thanks.

Bugundy,

You will also want to make sure you 2003 users have Service Pack 3
installed to Project. SP-3 is what provides the "reader" to allow
2003 users to read files created in 2007.

Even though you are working with a trial version, also make sure you
download and install service pack 1 and the infrastructure update
for Project 2007.

I hope this helps. Let us know how you get along.

Julie
Project MVP

Visit http://project.mvps.org/ for the FAQs and additional
information about Microsoft Project

 

[Jim Aksel]

Project 2007 does not promise interoperability with P2000. However, P2003
should be no problem. Your customer can than open the file in 2003 and save
down to 2000 from there. Just to be safe, make sure all users of all
versions have the latest service packs and all other updates installed. For
example, SP3 for P2003 allows P2003 users to open P2007 files directly.