Microsoft Project Professional 2024 is a desktop project management application for planning tasks, assigning resources, tracking progress, and reporting results. A lifetime license for one Windows PC is $44.97 instead of $1,129.99 through Aug. 16.

Pre-built templates provide starting structures for new projects. Users can define tasks and dependencies, and the software automatically calculates start and finish dates based on those relationships. Multiple built-in timelines provide visual summaries of complex schedules.

Gantt chart task-path highlighting shows how individual tasks relate to one another. What-if scenarios allow project managers to test different assignments before committing resources. Baselines preserve the original plan, so actual progress can be measured against initial schedules.

Microsoft Project also includes built-in reports such as Burndown and Resource Overview. These reports help communicate schedule, workload, and progress information to executives, clients, and other stakeholders.

Timesheets record hours spent on project and non-project work. That information can support payroll, invoicing, and internal resource management. The application can also synchronize with Project Online and Project Server.

Microsoft Teams for Business integration allows users to check a team member's online presence and begin chats or calls from a project plan. Teams for Business must be licensed separately.

The licensing terms are specific: The lifetime license covers one PC and connects to that device rather than a Microsoft account. Buyers should select the installation computer carefully.

Microsoft Project Professional 2024 is available for $44.97 through Aug. 16.