MicrosoftThis change is a complete failure. The fact that we’re losing basic, critical functionality — like the ability to print a project properly — is unacceptable. Last year we could upload MPP files directly into Project for the Web. Now, with this forced Planner direction, that capability is gone. It’s a downgrade disguised as an “improvement.”
There’s still no real newsfeed, no effective communication tool, nothing that replaces what Project Online already did well. Slapping Whiteboard on top of this mess doesn’t fix the gap.
Our field teams depend on printed project plans because they don’t have online access. Instead of the clean, direct printouts we used to get from Project Online and Project Desktop, I’m now forced to export everything to Excel, reformat entire pages just to make them look halfway professional, and manually patch together something readable. This is an incredible waste of time and a major backward step in productivity.
Even worse: I used to be able to paste entire documents and instantly generate tasks. Now I have to enter every single task manually, one at a time. That’s not a workflow — that’s an obstacle. It destroys efficiency and makes the new system feel like a blatant regression instead of any kind of advancement.
This “retirement” doesn’t feel like progress. It feels like the removal of essential tools we relied on every single day.
You are correct! There is no direct replacement for Project Online in the Microsoft stable of offerings right now, so you need to look outside of Microsoft - e.g. Altus.Pro which offers bi driectional updates between project files and you can continue to use the Project Desktop Client with this product in the same way as you do with Project Online. Migration to Altus is straightforward, and the web inteface is better than Project Online offering integrated AI enabled PPM and over 200 Power BI reports out of the box. The most direct replacement for Project Online with additional enhancements.
