Average Rating: 
Rating: - Don't throw your Quicken away
I wasn't too sure if I wanted to switch from Quicken to MS Money, so I downloaded the trial from Microsoft's website ...As a recent user of Quicken, I wanted to see if Money was worth shelling out for my new, home-built PC. Being on a LAN, it was a relatively quick download. Installing it was where the interesting stuff began.Money doesn't let you run the first-time-setup wizard more than once. I had two credit cards and one checking account, and I didn't have the latest statements handy when I was installing it. So when I tried to modify my accounts later on, I was completely bemused. In comparison, my Quicken program lets me run a wizard each time I want to add an account--great when I got a new credit card after installing the program. Money also does something I don't like--it adds a lot of shortcuts to your desktop--at least three at last count. It also added a sort of "Live Money" taskbar button. I don't know what other people tend to do, but all I want in a financial program is finance tracking. I want to see where my money went and whether I'll have enough money at the end of the month, without having to log onto 3 different websites and doing some math. I don't want my financial program to link itself to my MSN Passport and connect to MSN Money unless I tell it to, and sadly, Money doesn't tell me that I have a choice in the matter. I suppose if I were more inclined to fiddle around with the settings, sooner or later I would find a way to turn it off. But I would prefer to be asked before it's done. Just a quibble. Money's pretty, and offers a lot of intergration with MSN Money if you like that sort of thing. It's sort of unfamiliar eye candy, but worth a look. And with the rebates [offered], it's much cheaper than Intuit's offering. That said, I still prefer Quicken for quick familiarity and the layout's ease-of-use. Let's not make me take a class just to learn to use my financial software, Microsoft. Good job, but you can do even better.
Rating:  - Upgrade from 2002 - Maybe, Maybe Not
This is one of the most "usable" MS products out there. Complain all you want about their business practices, licensing policies or whatever, someone on the Money team really knows how to design a useful tool and an intelligible UI at the same time. It's hard to say your really excited about an upcoming software release and still keep a straight face. Still, I couldn't wait to pop up the hood and have a look at Money 2003. Perhaps it's a case of expecting a really great product to be somehow greatly better, but I was disapointed to find more or less the same thing. One improvement I noticed is better reconciliation of imported statements - something that still remains a little off. Despite this and a coule other positive tweaks here and there, I'd wait to upgrade to v2003 if you're anticipating something "greatly better". On the other hand, if you really want to keep up with the Gates's, or you can't resist the rebate (both reasons I fell prey to), then by all means have at it. This is a great product from someone who really know what they're doing. * Note: I don't use Money's (MSN) online services, so this review only applies to the desktop app.
Rating:  - Good Software (especially with the Rebates).
I bought Microsoft Money for $5.99 with all the rebates and felt that it is worth more than the money that I spent on it (a Papa John's Pizza costs more than $5.99 for all sakes !). I had some initial frustration with the software when I used it with Online Banking, but I figured out that it was due to my reservations about exchanging financial information online and the fact that I am not used to it.I used to work in Linux for a long time before switching to Windows 2000, and I used GnuCash in Linux for my financial accounting. GnuCash does not support online banking and I had to manually enter and balance each and every one of my transactions, withdrawals etc., Since I am more used to that type of personal finance management, I found Microsoft Money 2003 Standard minus the Online Banking very useful. I really cannot comment on the Online Banking part of Money 2003, since I don't use it (or be comfortable with it). I haven't yet explored the advanced feature of Money 2003, but I am impressed with what I have seen so far. And for $5.99, I think this is a very good deal.
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