Rating: 
Summary: Good Software (especially with the Rebates).
Review: 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.
Rating: 
Summary: Microsoft Money is both hugely useful, and a huge pain...
Review: I've been using Money for over six years (Deluxe & Business for four), and am probably what you would call a "power user", so I'm not sure how applicable my experience is to the casual user. If you're interested in keeping track of *everything* with Money, like me, then you'll probably find it a double-edged sword. On one hand, it does a good job as a computerized account register & invoice tracker, and automatic statement downloads (from institutions that support it) can save a lot of time. But the more data you keep track of, the slower it gets. My PCs have gotten faster at about the rate of Moore's Law over the past five years, and Money has actually gotten slower to use -- that says something. Most frustrating, the budgeting functionality has gone from useful to useless, IMHO. It was better four years ago than it is now. It's next to impossible to generate a useful report on how you're doing so far this month or year unless you like doing lots of math in your head. I'm the odd position of disliking MS-Money for lots of reasons, while finding it indispensible for managing my money. You might say it ..., but it's better than the alternative.
Rating:
Summary: Bit of a learning curve, but ultimately great software suite
Review: I'm a regular user of Pocket Money for my Palm Vx and I've used versions of Quicken Mac in the past but never really used the more advanced features due to lack of time and lack of interest in learning the ins and outs of the Quicken suite. I had heard great things about MS Money and decided to give this a shot since my finances have gotten a little more complex lately due to a better job, etc. I bought it and installed it. Installation is simple and setting up your initial accounts is WAY more easier than in Quicken. Quicken is OK, but tends to be on the ambiguous side at times. Not so with MS Money...there are tons of movie clips and spoken advice bits when you do something for the first time. The online help is pretty good as well. Plus, I LOVE the integration of your MSN Passport with this suite...to truly get the most out of Money 2003, you'll want to have a good internet connection and an MS Passport. You'll be able to upload your data to your My Money page on www.msn.com for the ability to access your financial data when you're not at your normal PC! There is a bit of a learning curve when it comes to classing and setting up your investment data, but to its credit, MS Money does a pretty good job clarifying things and making it as simple as possible for most novice users. While I am not a novice user by any stretch, it took me a few tries to get the web services working with some of my bank accounts. Many banks are supported, but some (like Chase Manhattan credit cards for some reason) are not. Overall, MS Money 2003 Deluxe has enabled me to set up my finances in a way in which I maintain them religiously and always know what my cash flow and bills are at a glance. Investments are now automatically tracked which helps in my analysis. You may want to invest in a dedicated book on Money 2003 if you're new to this sort of stuff, but old Quicken users will feel right at home. You have nothing to lose...spend the (money)and see how much easier your financial life becomes!!
Rating: 
Summary: Better than Quicken
Review: I've been using Quicken since 1995, and most recently upgraded to Quicken 2001. I never tried MS Money until recently, and was highly impressed! My hard disk died and my most recent quicken back-up was a month and a half old, so I thought after 7 years and some lost data, it was time to start fresh. So I downloaded the demo from microsoft to give it a try. Now I will never go back Quicken.
Money and Quicken are functionally equivalent, but Money is MUCH more customizable. Money is a bit annoying at first with asking for a Passport Id, and links to MSN, but these can be easilly turned off, deleted, or ignored. Money also has more reporting, charts and graphs than Quicken, as well as many more options. Money's interface is also cleaner, and simpler to use.
Rating:
Summary: Good product
Review: Upgraded from 99 to 2003 and have not regretted it. Plus points:
1) nice reconciliation system that is much easier to use than it has been in the past
2) QIF import that does not duplicate transactions left right and center
3) nice GUI, with suitably toned down look and feel
4) good set of standard reports
5) nice integration with online services
6) great upgrade path/data take on from 99 Minus points:
1) sponsorship/logos
2) sometimes complains of an error with online downloading but does not seem to have lost/missed any data In addition YOU DO NOT NEED A PASSPORT to use the online services. I use online services and do not use a passport. I secure my money file with username and password as always. All in all a robust product from MS and good value for money with the rebate. Definitely upgrade if you have a really old version of Money.
Rating:
Summary: It's a good product
Review: I upgraded from Money 2001 and this really worth the change. Now your accounts are in a more intelligent interface and you can see quickly your last puts.
The investment section is also the best part. Now you can arrange many details and see exactly what do you want from your stocks and investments. The only deception is that it's too slow to download quotes and sometimes the software gets halted.
The planner are a little simple and need a little customization but in general they are good and useful.
If you need to have control of your money, to see how you owe, what you have and how does the flow of your money goes you must try a financial software and Money is a good shot.
If you are happy with Money 2002, don't upgrade. And if you are with Quicken 2003, stay where you are.
Rating:
Summary: A worthy upgrade
Review: I agree with the earlier reviewers about the myriad positive features this upgrade brought. Faster operations, better stability, exciting new features (e.g., batch bill pay, ability to handle options - finally! - auto balancing, better portfolio views, etc. etc.), and still a great price. Even without the rebate, this is a worthy upgrade. BTW, CompUSA has the lowest price I've seen. The only gripe I have with Money is the still confusing interface, esp. for the new Money user. I've used it for 3 years now and sometimes I still can't find what I'm looking for. Luckily, the Help's search function is VERY useful and always locates the functionality I need. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent upgrade -- Finally!
Review: I've used Money since Money98, and Money 2003 is (finally!) a very good product/upgrade solution. What I like: Money 2003 is much more code-efficient than Money 2002 (which was a terrible performer -- even on a fast 2 gig Pentium), so everything is quicker: reports run quickly, data entry is quick, and budget changes are quick. Secondly, Money 2003 didn't remove key functionality that its predecessors sometime did -- so if you use an older version of Money, the features you like are still there. Thirdly, you can batch epayments together and send them all at once (conversely, Money 2002 sent a payment by piecemeal, which was extremely slow and frustrating). Fourthly, a good product has been tweaked to iron-out some of the frustrations of earlier versions. In all -- it's a nice piece of software. What I don't like: So far, I like everything I've seen. If there is something you don't like about Money, in all likelihood, there is an Options setting that will correct the problem. For example, to remove "sponsor" ads from within Money, find the option setting to stop displaying all sponsor's ads (by default, they'll show up). Also, when upgrading from an earlier version of Money, the newly-installed Money 2003 installation isn't smart enough to know that you already have a Money file that you want to just pick-up and use. You have to exit out of the set-up prompts, click File, Open and go from there. Not a big problem, but if you're not confident with upgrades, this might raise your stress level a notch.
Rating:
Summary: A Big Performance Gain Over Money 2002
Review: My favorite version of Money to date has been 2000. It had a clean user interface with lots of useful features that didn't seem to go overboard. Subsequent releases of Money have been plagued with "featuritis", as the war with Quicken continues. Money 2002 is by far the worst victim of this disease. Microsoft added so many new features with little concern for their cost on performance. It got so bad that entering and editing data become almost as slow as handwriting it in a checkbook and using an abacus to calculate the results. Finally, with Money 2003, Microsoft has begun to marry features with performance that returns to the speeds we loved in Money 2000. The interface and bells and whistles are similar to 2002, but the performance gain is exhilarating. If you've waited to upgrade and passed over previous versions, but have been itching to use some of Money's sophisticated online banking features, Money 2003 will be worth the leap.
Rating:
Summary: Don't throw your Quicken away
Review: 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.
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