The New Microsoft Planner: What does this mean for To Do and Project for the web?

Introducing the New Microsoft Planner 

With the new Microsoft Planner announced at Microsoft Ignite on the 15th of November, we will now see Microsoft To Do and Microsoft Project for the web functionality all combined into one experience, and directly available from Microsoft Teams in the new Planner App.  

So, what does this mean for To Do and Project for the web? We can let out a sigh of relief as most To Do capabilities will be found in the Planner app, and the real changes are mostly in the names. Project for the web is also being overhauled and there will be new EWM (Enterprise Work Management) features coming to Planner that will complement existing Project for the web capabilities. What we can see is that Microsoft is scaling the whole experience from individual task management to enterprise wide project management.  

Some key things to note: 

• You will be able to manage all tasks, to-do lists, plans and projects from the one app 

• The new Planner app will be AI driven using Copilot: with the power of generative AI 

• Tasks and To Do will be renamed in Teams, and Project for the web will be renamed to Microsoft Planner in Spring 2024 (around March/June for the Southern Hemisphere) 

• Project desktop, Project Online and Project Server will continue to be available and supported, with no end of service date for Project Online 

• Pricing details to be shared over the next few months 
  
  

From the Microsoft Planner FAQ, the company expresses that they are wanting to “bring together our expertise in task management, collaborative work management, and enterprise work management into a single experience.”  The emphasis is clear – ensuring that the current functionality of all applications remains consistent across the board. This means that a new way of working is coming with M365 collaboration and integration, and us as the user, will still have access to all the familiar capabilities of each app but just in a new central UI. 

Further information from Microsoft 

• Watch the official Ignite video here: The new Microsoft Planner: Bring together to-dos, plans and projects  

• More detail around the release: Microsoft Planner FAQ

• Still confused? When to use Microsoft Project, Planner, To Do or the Tasks app in Teams