Deadline: A date associated with a task’s finish date, after which an indicator appears in the ‘Information’ column of Microsoft Project.
Microsoft Project allows you to set a deadline date for each task in an MPP project file. This date is closely linked to the task’s finish date. See the link below to set a deadline for a task.
http://www.projectteamblog.com/?p=43
I prefer deadline dates to task constraints. They are simple and informal, and do not affect downline task dependancies. In other words, they simply show a red symbol next to the task rather than affecting the starting dates of other tasks.
But honestly, Microsoft Project® is not as elegant as Standard Time® when it comes to time-related things. It has no timesheet, and cannot accurately track employee hours for tasks. Obviously, there is an ‘Actual Work’ column, but has no effective way to fill it. Standard Time® is much better suited for that purpose, and it has a task deadline feature as well.
–ray