From:   CONRAD_GEIGER@NEXT.COM@INTERNET#
Subject: Announcing TaskMaster: Project Management Software from Lighthouse

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

For more information, contact
Wiley Hodges
415/570-7736

Lighthouse Design Broadens NEXTSTEP Product Line with TaskMaster
Project Management Software.

Provides Filters to Read Microsoft Project & Claris MacProject


SAN MATEO, Calif., October 31, 1993 - Lighthouse Design, Ltd. today
shipped TaskMaster version 1.5, an integrated project management
application for the NEXTSTEP environment. TaskMaster provides
sophisticated project planning and analysis capabilities to
professional project managers. Filters shipped with TaskMaster
provide data compatibility with Microsoft''s Project, Claris
Corporation's MacProject, and data exported in the "mpx" (Microsoft
Project Exchange) format by UNIX project management applications.

These filters drastically simplify the transition to NEXTSTEP from
Windows, Macintosh and many workstation environments.

"TaskMaster is the first tool that allows me to manage project
planning details as quickly as our object oriented (OO) development
moves," remarked Mark Thomsen, TRW Project Manager for the Los
Angeles County Sheriff Department's Personnel Performance Index.
"Before switching to TaskMaster, we tried a variety of project
planning tools, including Microsoft Project. We were especially
impressed with how many things TaskMaster does well-we rarely find
sophisticated packages done right on the first try."

TaskMaster provides an innovative decomposition approach to the
discipline of project management. Integrated outlines and
spreadsheets are used to describe task and resource information,
joining two user interface elements familiar to novice and expert
users alike. Graphical "drag and drop" motions are used to assign
resources to tasks and describe task dependencies (the order in
which tasks must be completed), building on interface technology
proven in Lighthouse Design's earlier Diagram! and Concurrence
applications. This interface drastically reduces training and
education costs by making the product's features more accessible to
everyday users.

"Project management has become a necessity for businesses and
technical organizations striving for greater efficiency," said
Jonathan Schwartz, president and CEO of Lighthouse Design. "In
environments as diverse as telecommunications and financial
services, NEXTSTEP's momentum in the PC marketplace has created a
demand for native solutions to a broad range of project management
problems. TaskMaster takes advantage of the NEXTSTEP environment to
provide a complete and accessible project management solution,
while the filters for Microsoft Project and MacProject address the
transition requirements faced by many of our new PC customers."

TaskMaster represents the third product in Lighthouse Design's line
of NEXTSTEP productivity applications, which now includes Diagram!,
an innovative "information graphics" program, and Concurrence, a
multi-media presentation program.

TaskMaster's integration with Diagram! allows it to display
projects as work flow diagrams, known as PERT charts. TaskMaster
documents opened in Diagram! display task information graphically,
accompanied by resource assignments, start and end date
information, and critical path coloration. Project flows are drawn
using Diagram!'s rubberbanding lines, allowing tasks and groups to
be moved without disturbing the graphical network of task
dependencies.

TaskMaster's extensive features include:

- Task Outliner for fast project decomposition
- Drag-and-drop task dependency creation
- User configurable Gantt charts
- "Critical path" calculation and color display
- Hierarchical or departmental resource breakdown
- Individualized and inherited resource calendars
- Drag-and-drop resource assignments
- Priority based resource levellin
- Auto-assignment from resource "pools" or departments
- Expense tracking by task, resource and assignment
- Eight constraint/target date types
- Unlimited number of project "scenarios"
- Import compatibility with Microsoft Project, MacProject and
".mpx" formats
- Export compatibility with spreadsheets, word processors
- PERT graphics generated through Diagram!

NeXT develops and markets the award-winning NEXTSTEP
object-oriented software for industry-standard computer
architectures. Customers use NEXTSTEP to develop and deploy custom
client/server applications, using both custom and shrink-wrapped
software. Headquartered in Redwood City, California, and with
offices throughout the world, NeXT serves customers requiring
enterprise-wide, object-oriented productivity environments.

Lighthouse Design is a privately-held software firm based in San
Mateo, California, dedicated since 1989 to providing innovative and
useful productivity applications for object-oriented environments.



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Lighthouse Design, Ltd., TaskMaster, Diagram!, and Concurrence are
trademarks of Lighthouse Design, Ltd. NEXTSTEP is a registered
trademark of NeXT Computer, Inc. All other trademarks are the
exclusive property of their respective owners.




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