Rating: 
Summary: Don't get this if you're a Quicken user
Review: I downloaded the trial version from Microsoft's Web site, and imported all my Quicken data. I started using the program, but soon noticed that numbers were subtly wrong. Some odd transactions (ones that were in Quicken, simple check payments) were missed; and the loans were so screwed up that some of the payments were showing negative principal payment.I can't trust the data I imported or anything I've done since then, which means that I wasted a half dozen hours on this. Save yourself the time, and don't do the same. If you want to use this (and it seems okay, except for its insane handling of "matching" transactions that are months apart to different payees for different amounts), start from scratch and don't import your Quicken data.
Rating: 
Summary: It's decent
Review: I finally broke down and switched to Microsoft Money recently. It works well enough to manage my personal finances. I think the budget function could use a little work. I've got to manually download my credit card statement for some reason it doesn't catch it when it gets the checking and savings information from the same bank website and page. Over-all it has met my needs and no major complaints. I definitely like it better than Quicken.
Rating: 
Summary: Upgrading was a breeze...
Review: I had been a steady user of Money 2000 first and then, Money 2003. I popped the environmentally-friendly-packaged CD in my computer (minimal packaging, truly) and 5 minutes later, I was looking at my previous data, in the new environment of Money 2004 Deluxe. As for the advantages that it has to offer, I have yet to comment on that: most likely I will write a review about them, when I have enjoyed them for a while. Now, as for the reason I upgraded, that's something else. I had gotten myself a copy of Microsoft Money Deluxe 2003 for Bank One: bad idea, terrible mistake -don't let your banking institution talk you into it! After a few months of using it, I started encountering a super-annoying bug that would cause every single point and click of my mouse in the interface to popup a notice saying that the operation could not be completed. Needless to say that Bank One's tech support was most unhelpful and I ended up dropping the piece of software off of my computer. I was seriously going to switch over to Quicken, but I read a consistent number of very negative reviews about their new version, so I decided to stick with MS Money, plus they were offering an incredible Mail-In rebate that made it almost a no-brainer. So far, no complaints... I will report back in a few months with more comments.
Rating:
Summary: Awful product. Cannot connect to accounts. Over-complex.
Review: I have been using checkbook software for over fifteen years, starting with the Mac and Quicken, moving on to various versions of Quicken on the PC. I switched to Money from Quicken at the turn of the year for three reasons: frustration with Quickens bloating features and pop-ups (too much getting in the way), Intuit's policies with Turbo Tax (a protest), and Quicken BillPays interfaces and clunky operation. Big mistake. Money 2004 was even worse. I download my statements from my bank using a web and .qif file interface. Money is abysmal at this - it makes almost random matches, it tries to match electronic downloads with DIFFERENT amounts, it does not read or use the information in the .qif file such as payee, and more. It makes more work trying to clean it up than it saves. Not using the data in the .qif file (like payee name) is TOTALLY INEXCUSABLE. Reconciling is also tons of fun. Reconciling is an important task, since Money's statement download is so prone to errors. First, it tries to clear everything Ihave downloaded for me - have to go through and manually unreconcile everything then start over. The Help file does not appear to be written for this version of Money - the information just does not match what I see on the screen. The Payee list gets unweildy and there is no efficient way to prune it - deleting payees you have used only once more than a year ago, for instance. The list goes on. In a nutshell, Microsoft has ignored the basics of good design needed to maintaining a number of accounts in favor of useless features, strange sound effects and confusing glitz. I am looking for a replacement ....
Rating:
Summary: Frustrating and poorly designed
Review: I have been using checkbook software for over fifteen years, starting with the Mac and Quicken, moving on to various versions of Quicken on the PC. I switched to Money from Quicken at the turn of the year for three reasons: frustration with Quickens bloating features and pop-ups (too much getting in the way), Intuit's policies with Turbo Tax (a protest), and Quicken BillPays interfaces and clunky operation. Big mistake. Money 2004 was even worse. I download my statements from my bank using a web and .qif file interface. Money is abysmal at this - it makes almost random matches, it tries to match electronic downloads with DIFFERENT amounts, it does not read or use the information in the .qif file such as payee, and more. It makes more work trying to clean it up than it saves. Not using the data in the .qif file (like payee name) is TOTALLY INEXCUSABLE. Reconciling is also tons of fun. Reconciling is an important task, since Money's statement download is so prone to errors. First, it tries to clear everything Ihave downloaded for me - have to go through and manually unreconcile everything then start over. The Help file does not appear to be written for this version of Money - the information just does not match what I see on the screen. The Payee list gets unweildy and there is no efficient way to prune it - deleting payees you have used only once more than a year ago, for instance. The list goes on. In a nutshell, Microsoft has ignored the basics of good design needed to maintaining a number of accounts in favor of useless features, strange sound effects and confusing glitz. I am looking for a replacement ....
Rating:
Summary: Unhappy with Product
Review: I have been using Money 2003 Deluxe for almost two years and found it to be a very helpful program. Because I was so happy with this program I decided to upgrade to the 2004 edition.
This is where I get unhappy with the product. Unlike the 2003 version I couldn't get the 2004 version to update my stock prices. I contacted Microsoft's technical services which told me that if the portfolio you are trying to update contains American Depository Receipts (ADRs), because of some bug your portfolio will not update. BTW, I don't think all ADRs are effected, just the ones that trade Over-The-Counter or on the Pink Sheets.
This astounds me. How could a previous edition do something perfectly and the updated version not? This is also not a small bug, since I can't be the only one trying to use this program with ADRs in my portfolio. In any event,I uninstalled 2004 Deluxe and reinstalled 2003 Deluxe. Now all fine, but for the fact I am out of the money for costs of Money 2004.
Go ahead, ask me if I'm going to buy the 2005 version?!?!
Rating:
Summary: Maybe I am wrong
Review: I have been using Quicken for a number of years. Believe me, I am not a real Intuit fan, especially after that "Safecast" number they pulled on Turbotax users last year. However, compared to Quicken, I think Money 2004 runs very slowly. I mean 25 seconds to show an account vs. about five on Quicken. Perhaps it calls for more RAM than my Quicken 2002. Or maybe those annoying smiling faces in the photos use up more memory and slow the computer down. And the Money interface is drab and hard to read. Not enough color to offset the entries and make the page readable. It gave me a blue screen and crashed the computer the first time I used it. That was enough.
Rating:
Summary: Existing Quicken user not satisied with switch; going back
Review: I have been using Quicken for several years, and currenty using Quicken 2002 (I did not update after reading the reviews...THANKS for the customer reviews!). I use Q for investments and keeping up where I spend my money. I took a chance with Money 2004 Delux to see if it was any better, since Q was 2 yrs old. BAD MOVE! After using M for 2 weeks, I am going to return it ( 30 day money back guarantee....first I have to figure out where to send it). Since I use Q mainly for investments, Q has MUCH superior report capabilities. One click on Portfolio brings me right to the screen that has all the data I need......plus the capability to modify the colums for different data. To get to the same screen with M, I have to run a report, and the options for modifying the columns for data I want (e.g. daily profit, etc) are non existant. In Q, to view a list of all the securities (investments) you have, 2 clicks and you are there. In spite of going all thru the help screens, including the on-line help (which is a task itself), I followed the instructions to the T and never did find the way to show all the names of the different securities that I had in my portfolio. To top it off, I use Turbotax and I tried to download all my investment data (dividends, etc) to keep from re-entering it in Turbotax. Well, it didn't work! Only one account showed up. BUMMER!! That was the last straw. M has some good features...sorta bells and whistles....like biggest winners and losers in my portfolio for the day and some other stuff. But the basics of what I need and use are inferior to Q 2002. I sure hope the folks at Q step up to the plate and get Q 2004 fixed so that I can upgrade and stay with Q.
Rating: 
Summary: What's new?
Review: I have Microsoft Money 2003 Deluxe so I was looking forard to Microsoft Premium to optimize my finances. At the store, I scrutinized the features on the Microsoft Money Premium Edition box and thought paying the extra [money amount]for "capital gains" and "tax information" was superfluous. Mind you, it was a difficult decision. First, Money 2004 Deluxe is simple to install and seamless to update from previous editions of Money. This may sound confusing to the layman, but the product was so seamless to update from my Microsoft Money 2003 information, that after my update was complete, I thought I was still running Microsoft Money 2003! I closed the application down and restarting it thinking there must be an error. Then realizing it wasn't, I recall saying to myself optimistically, "okay...they must have changed something". I proceded to attempt to ascertain the upgrades from 2003 Deluxe to make myself feel better for having spent [money amount] on 2004 Deluxe. There are some changes I discovered, although you would really have to search for them and I can honestly say it is nothing noteworthy at all. Just my opinion. No easier to use budget setup or dramatic enhancements to the investment portfolio. In fact, the interface is pretty much a replica of Microsoft Money Deluxe 2003. I guess I should not have expected much since it had only been a year but I admit, I am a sucker for these products. One thing I was happy about was that there is some financial service products available to buyers of Microsoft Money 2004. Good services too. I opened an ING Direct savings account yesterday and today I have already received [money amount]credited for free to my account (and there are no minimums/fees attached); established Experian's credit manager and was able to obtain my credit report; checked out a handy Bank One credit card advertised in the packet of information that boasts 1 mile for every [money amount]spent going to any airline; and mailed in my [money amount]Microsoft Money 2004 Deluxe rebate to New Jersey. I felt the financial services were the best part of the package which goes to tell you that the product, at least as an upgrade to Microsoft Money 2003 Deluxe, isn't all that great.
Rating:
Summary: What's new?
Review: I have Microsoft Money 2003 Deluxe so I was looking forward to Microsoft Premium to optimize my finances. At the store, I scrutinized the features on the Microsoft Money Premium Edition box and thought paying the extra [money] for "capital gains" and "tax information" was superfluous. Mind you, it was a difficult decision. First, Money 2004 Deluxe is simple to install and seamless to update from previous editions of Money. This may sound confusing to the layman, but the product was so seamless to update from my Microsoft Money 2003 information, that after my update was complete, I thought I was still running Microsoft Money 2003! I closed the application down and restarting it thinking there must be an error. Then realizing it wasn't, I recall saying to myself optimistically, "okay...they must have changed something". I proceded to attempt to ascertain the upgrades from 2003 Deluxe to make myself feel better for having spent [money] on 2004 Deluxe. There are some changes I discovered, although you would really have to search for them and I can honestly say it is nothing noteworthy at all. Just my opinion. No easier to use budget setup or dramatic enhancements to the investment portfolio. In fact, the interface is pretty much a replica of Microsoft Money Deluxe 2003. I guess I should not have expected much since it had only been a year but I admit, I am a sucker for these products. One thing I was happy about was that there is some financial service products available to buyers of Microsoft Money 2004. Good services too. I opened an ING Direct savings account yesterday and today I have already received [money] credited for free to my account (and there are no minimums/fees attached); established Experian's credit manager and was able to obtain my credit report; checked out a handy Bank One credit card advertised in the packet of information that boasts 1 mile for every [dollar] spent going to any airline; and mailed in my [] Microsoft Money 2004 Deluxe rebate to New Jersey. I felt the financial services were the best part of the package which goes to tell you that the product, at least as an upgrade to Microsoft Money 2003 Deluxe, isn't all that great.
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