Comments about Microsoft Press Microsoft® Project 2010 Inside Out:

This book is your comprehensive Project 2010 reference, in which you can learn not only the essentials, but also the intermediate topics and advanced techniques for using Project 2010 like a power user.

Project 2010 is a specialized database that stores and presents thousands of pieces of data related to your project. Examples of such data include tasks, durations, links, resource names, calendars, assignments, costs, deadlines, and milestones. These pieces of information interrelate and affect each other in a multitude of ways. Underlying this project database is the scheduling engine, which crunches the raw project data you enter and presents the calculated results to you. Project 2010 represents a dramatic step forward in the product's evolution. The way projects are scheduled has made a sizable shift, and in some cases this new approach is much more than just a departure, because it contradicts the way project managers have used previous versions of Microsoft Project. Many new features provide more flexibility and user control, but with that flexibility is needed knowledge of consequences in various aspects throughout the project life cycle.

This book is designed for intermediate to advanced computer users who manage projects. Depending on where you are on the spectrum of project management experience, this book can help you in the following ways:
- If you are completely new to project management and Project 2010, this book will give you a solid grounding in the use of Project 2010 as well as basic project management practices and methodologies. It will help you understand the phases of project management, including the controlling factors in the project life cycle.
- If you're an experienced project manager, this book integrates common project management practices with the use of the software tool.
- If you're already an experienced Microsoft Project user, this book will help you better understand the inner workings of Project 2010 so that you can use it more effectively to do what you need it to do.
This book also extensively covers the striking new features in Project 2010 and provides the necessary guidance and "gotchas" regarding whether, when, and how to use those features.

The content of the book is devide in 9 parts:
Part 1: Project Fundamentals
Part 2: Developing the Project Plan
Part 3: Tracking Progress
Part 4: Reporting and Analyzing Project Information
Part 5: Managing Multiple Projects
Part 6: Integrating Project 2010 with Other Programs
Part 7: Managing Projects Across Your Enterprise
Part 8: Customizing and Managing Project Files
Part 9: Appendixes

First part of the book contains an overview of project management processes and how Project 2010 facilitates those processes. You also find a discussion of the various kinds of people involved in your project, as well as some keys to successful project management.
Part two contains everything you need to know about starting a new project and creating a new project plan. You get details about working with the Project 2010 workspace, scheduling tasks, setting up resources and assigning them to tasks, establishing costs, and adjusting the project plan to be an accurate model of your project's reality.
Part 3 provides details about setting and working with baselines so that you can track and compare your progress toward deadlines. It covers important aspects of updating and tracking costs as well as adjusting the schedule, resource workload, and costs to reflect ongoing changes in your project.
Part 4 describes wide range of options for setting up and printing views and reports.
From simply printing your current view to generating a built-in report to designing and running your own custom report. This part also describes how you can export data to Microsoft Excel or Microsoft Visio to generate visual reports for analysis, as well as how you can use earned value data to analyze progress and costs.
Part 5 explains the concepts and practices of master projects, subprojects, and resource pools. It also explains how you can exchange information between different project plans; copy or link information; and leverage customized views, reports, groups, and other Project 2010 elements you might have created.
Part 6 describes in detail how to work seamlessly with other programs - Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Visio, Microsoft Outlook, and Microsoft SharePoint.
In part 7, you learn how to set up and use the enterprise features to standardize and customize Project 2010 and project management processes throughout your organization. Project managers and resource managers can assign tasks, obtain task progress updates, and receive status reports from team members..
Part 8 covers the details of custom elements – view, tble, groups, reports, forulas, macros etc.. This part also discusses methods for closing a project at the end of its life cycle and continuing to use what you learn by creating templates that can become the basis for the next project of its kind. Along these lines, this part details project file-management issues, including file locations, backups, and multiple versions.
Part 9 - Appendixes - includes ancillary information you'll find useful in your work with Project 2010: installation guidelines and a list of online resources to expand your knowledge of Project 2010 and project management and a handy keyboard shortcut reference.The companion content for this book includes sample files that you can use as the basis for practicing Project 2010 techniques throughout this book.
This book is designed so that you can quickly find the answers you need at the time you have the question. Excellent place to start finding your solution is in one of the two indexes at the end of the book. Use the special Troubleshooting index to solve specific problems. Regardless of your previous experience, this book serves as a facilitator in helping you work with Project 2010 for your project's processes and phases.

Doc. Arnost Katolicky - 13.6.2011.