I don't really like MS Project, and I don't have a lot of time to wait for a copy of it to get to me besides. So I'm looking for an alternate solution to develop a timeline that's not some manual ...

A Gantt chart is a visual description of a project’s timeline. The chart shows the start and end dates of a project’s components, such as resources and planning.

Those new features include organizational charts, annotated timelines, and a motion chart for visualizing data over time. They've also given an all-around facelift to their regular old charts.