Comments on: Users say Microsoft's Money is broke

Glitches in the new edition of the personal finance software keep some folks from paying their bills.

No problems

Upgraded earlier this week and have not had any issues with MSN Bill Pay or my file being converted from Money 2004.

So what?

Money doesn't function as desired for other folks and this is the
issue. Consider this, if Microsoft can't fix the problem and
decides it's not worth the trouble to repair. (Consider Microsoft?s
failure to deliver on service packs for non-XP users and the
decade-old wait for Microsoft vaporware, Longhorn.) Well,
you?ve lost money. Feeling smug now?

Microsoft has an amazing capacity to deliver less than optimized
software and not to deliver promised goods on time. But, like
most Windows users, you consider Microsoft's antics and failures
the cost of business. At least you can take that to the bank ? for
now.

[ChrisHughes]

Money 2005 has problems

I upgraded to Money 2005 on Tuesday to find many problems. Problem #1: couldn't log into my money file b/c an error occurred stating my money file only worked with the business edition on money. Problem #2: After restoring a back-up, all my account showed extremely higd dollar balances such as $7,998,777,666,333.00...I only wish. Problems #3: Cannot connect to MSN server. Each time I open money an error dialog box appears stating that my file and the one located on MSN are in conflict, do I wish to use the data on MSN? When updating online banks, a new account is created forcing me to merge my old account into the new one. Tech support states the problem is with the MSN server. As of 9/30/04, the server still isn't functioning. This has been the worse upgrade to Money I have experienced since switching from Quicken in 1995.

Also note that the latest version of Money for Pocket PC does NOT work with Money 2005. Microsoft states that the new version of Money for Pocket PC will be released soon. Until then, I'm S.O.O.L.

My advice, wait a month or two before upgrading. Maybe by then, the software will be ready.

Money 2005 Portfolio Crashes

I have been using Money since its inception and always had issues with each version. This last upgrade from 2004 to 2005 is the worst. Everytime I try to click on Investing or Portfolio, it crashes. The same file worked fined in 2004. Microsoft support said I had a corrupted file. They told me to close each investment account. Even after I closed all my investment accounts and when I opened a new investment account, the program crashed. No one has returned my calls to help me. Needless to say, my entire retired net worth is hung up in never never land and I can't trade or make a living because of this.
Talk about corrupted files. They have a corrupted program.

[ordaj]

Holy hell, this crap has got to stop...

The spin and excuses are unacceptable. We are not your beta test group. I'm sick and tired of technology...it's too fragile and way too difficult.,,and I work with it every day. It's become a full-time job to babysit this crap.

At the end of the day, Microsoft (and others), your crap doesn't work right and I don't want to hear your spin. It's one giant headache.

ARRRRGGGHHHH.

Informed consent.

In medical research subjects must be given enough information
before the clinical trial to be able to make an informed decision
to participate. Since Microsoft is currently running the world?s
largest and longest ongoing set of beta projects I would have
thought that you were given adequate informed consent to be a
test subject for Microsoft.

Common side effects to Microsoft products include headache,
nausea, vomiting, tremors, increased blood pressure, blurred
vision, tearing, anxiety, depression, and nervousness. Please,
report all side effects to FDA MedWatch.

[trot33]

Not isolated incidents

The problem with Money is that Microsoft decided to convert it from smart desktop application into effectively an MSN add-on. The features users were requesting for years, were consistently ignored, while developers were working on ads' integration to generate revenue for MSN and its sponsors.

As for "Microsoft representative said such problems are isolated incidents", this is simply a lie. The way online setup is integrated in Money 2005 makes inevitable scenarios when Money shows incorrect dollars. For instance, if two Money users have a joint bank account, Money will download it twice, with twice all transactions. This was not the case in Money 2004, and there's no way to fix that in 2005, it's by new design.

[dnpolister]

It is broken...

I've experienced the same problems mentioned here, though I don't have a large portfolio and have had no problems in that area.
I agree that this is the worst upgrade process I have seen from any MS product. I've been a user since '99.
The whole upgrade process is poorly documented IMO. It gives you a window of what to do next, but you have to close it to do the actions. The new features of downloading statements from many location is nice... But hasn't been working yet. I've worked with tech support - haven't had any success there.
I've rebuilt my linked account with MSN a couple times which result in duplicate transaction from billpay. My main account go so messed up that I had to wait till I got my new statement to try and rebalance the account - so I am somewhat confident in the current balance now.
My recomendation is for previous users - don't upgrade yet. For new users, it probably will work great!
The other minus on this upgrade is you only get 3 months billpay paid while in the 2004 version you got a whole year.