[diggeryo]

Let me preface this by saying that, though most people bad mouth Microsoft, until recently, I've never had a problem with them. People complain that their software is too expensive, it contains too many security bugs, etc. Personally, I don't mind paying a lot of money for software that I know I am going to use. It's the American way to charge a lot of money for something if you know people are going to pay for it. Also, Microsoft's security bugs aren't entirely their fault. The age of the Internet has changed how software is used and the access to which people other than the purchaser have to it. Also, a lot of Microsoft software is used by a huge amount of people, which makes it a good target for hackers, rather than them trying to go after a similar application made by another company which has less users.

With all that being said, I now HATE Microsoft. The reason for this turn in opinion is due to a recent development in their finance software, Microsoft Money (MSM). I have been using MSM for over 10 years to handle my finances. I can honestly say that if it weren't for MSM, and the information I can extract from my finances with it, I would probably be in debt up to my ears. But because of MSM, my wife and I have no debt (save for our mortgage) and are well on our way to retiring early--shooting for the age of 50..only 19 years to go before I can tell my boss off!

Anyway, as I said, I've been using MSM for over 10 years. I have all my financial transactions for the past 10 years in there. Well, last week, Microsoft decided to discontinue MSM. That in and of itself isn't a huge deal--I can understand Microsoft wanted to stop making new versions of MSM if it's not financially beneficial for them. The problem is that when you install MSM, it requires activation. Well, after January 2011, Microsoft will stop activating MSM. This means that if I have a computer problem and have to reinstall all of my software, after January 2011, I won't be able to install MSM, even though I own a legitimate copy of the software and paid good money for it.

This is unacceptable. How would most people feel if a certain brand of car was no longer produced, and someone who had previously bought and paid for that brand of car was told by the car maker that since they stopped making new cars, the old cars would no longer start?!! It's unethical, and it's wrong! I paid money for this software, not to use for only a short period of time, but so that I could use it on my computer whenever I wanted. I've gone through many different version: starting with Money 99 and currently using Money 2007 Deluxe. Microsoft got money from me for each version I upgraded to.

If Microsoft doesn't release a no-activation patch for my version of MSM, I will be completely screwed when I have to reinstall at a later date. I've tried similar applications made by other companies, and they don't offer the features that makes MSM so useful to me. I don't care that Microsoft is stopping making new versions of MSM; I care that they will no longer activate the version that I already paid for.

Screw Microsoft! And screw Steve Ballmer! And screw them all. If I have to do my finances without MSM, my finances are going to be in very poor shape very soon.

That's it. Thanks for letting me rant!

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that's a bit strong for one product reaching the end of it's lifecycle... i don't know the stats on your product as far as the "stop activating" but in general when MS "stops activating" they mean that they're not selling new versions and they're not going to activate new versions.....often times the old keys that have already been activated will still re-activate because the system knows they were already activated once and thus...in use.... but any key that wasn't activated before the cut off won't activate...if that makes sense

of course i can't say that this is fact as i'm not an msm user and i don't work for MS but this is usually how they do things...

a quick google search suggests that the product will continue to work indefinitely...just not automatically...you'll have to download your balance sheets and import them manually instead of doing the "download to MS money" deal

[dsenette]

that's a bit strong for one product reaching the end of it's lifecycle... i don't know the stats on your product as far as the "stop activating" but in general when MS "stops activating" they mean that they're not selling new versions and they're not going to activate new versions.....often times the old keys that have already been activated will still re-activate because the system knows they were already activated once and thus...in use.... but any key that wasn't activated before the cut off won't activate...if that makes sense

of course i can't say that this is fact as i'm not an msm user and i don't work for MS but this is usually how they do things...

a quick google search suggests that the product will continue to work indefinitely...just not automatically...you'll have to download your balance sheets and import them manually instead of doing the "download to MS money" deal

[diabillic]

http://www.mint.com/...ft-money-users/

Its free and secure, much less of a hassle then Money.

You should ask people that purchase Cisco equipment how they feel when their products go EOL

[diggeryo]

Thanks for the reply, dsenette.

The thing that gets my goat here is that the version of Money that I have (Money 2007 Deluxe) shouldn't require activation. Activation wasn't brought into Money until the version after mine: Money Plus (2008). Yet when I went to reinstall a few months ago after a hard drive crash, I wasn't able to. I had to call and speak with someone to send me a new key. Well, after January 2011, Microsoft isn't going to be sending new keys out, so I'll be screwed when I have to reinstall after that.

To test my theory, I took my installation file and tried to install it on a virtual machine. Guess what? I got the same error message I originally got when trying to reintall a few months back.

I don't use any of the online features in Money or even the import features. I just use the program itself, so I just want to be guarunteed by Microsoft that I'll be able to reinstall any time I want.


Thanks for the link, diabillic. I will give the site a try, though I'm not too optomistic, as I've tried over a dozen other programs and websites, and none come close to MSM in my opinion.

[diabillic]

Thanks for the reply, dsenette.

The thing that gets my goat here is that the version of Money that I have (Money 2007 Deluxe) shouldn't require activation. Activation wasn't brought into Money until the version after mine: Money Plus (2008). Yet when I went to reinstall a few months ago after a hard drive crash, I wasn't able to. I had to call and speak with someone to send me a new key. Well, after January 2011, Microsoft isn't going to be sending new keys out, so I'll be screwed when I have to reinstall after that.

To test my theory, I took my installation file and tried to install it on a virtual machine. Guess what? I got the same error message I originally got when trying to reintall a few months back.

I don't use any of the online features in Money or even the import features. I just use the program itself, so I just want to be guarunteed by Microsoft that I'll be able to reinstall any time I want.


Thanks for the link, diabillic. I will give the site a try, though I'm not too optomistic, as I've tried over a dozen other programs and websites, and none come close to MSM in my opinion.

I've used it for a long time, and I think its great. It has gotten excellent reviews and comments from Lifehacker and Consumerist many times over.