Rating: 
Summary: Take Me By the Hand!
Review: This software works and it works well. It is a tad annoying that the software keeps asking if you want to upgrade before you get started with your return...It is as though the manufacturer is trying to tell you you made a mistake by going with Basic instead of Deluxe. But once you get rolling, the software holds your hand and it actually is pretty hard to make a mistake. We did our return in less than an hour. Compare that to trying to fill out the forms manually (maybe this can be accomplished in 10-14 hours!!!!). This is solid.
Rating: 
Summary: Tsk, Tsk, Tsk, Intuit. You will never get a $ from me again
Review: Well, the taxes are done and here is my final evaluation of the TurboTax. Next year, I believe I will be buying TaxCut or whatever other program is available out there. The decision really has nothing to do with the functionality of the program, just a deep seeded anger of the hidden program that thing installed on my system.
I have no problem paying and registering for software. What I don't like is the "secret" approach Intuit took by installing this program and making the folder itself hidden from my view. I also don't understand why this C-Dilla was running on my system at startup even when TurboTax was not used.To the person(s) claiming we are fools for talking ... about C-Dilla and looking like ... for doing so: Some of us just don't like programs installed on our system without our knowledge. Especially when the company takes EVERY precaution to hide it from the users; like making the folder hidden. All this makes me want to do is have a huge tax preperation party and print out everyone's taxes I can from my computer just to spite this company for making a very bad public relations decision. All I ask is that the software companies be honest to their consumers.
I probably would have still purchased the program if they had just disclosed what was honestly going to happen to my system, or at least disclose what C-Dilla was and what it was intended to do. Since the company chose not to disclose that information anywhere in the installation process, they have proven themselves to be untrustworthy of my hard earned cash.
So I had to uninstall TurboTax then go to Intuit.com and get the C-Dilla uninstaller to finish the whole thing up. After the uninstall I ran the spyware check and nothing popped up, so it would appear as though the whole thing is off my system, but who knows....
Rating:
Summary: Crashed my computer
Review: Something is seriously wrong with this software. I couldn't even get it to install. I tried twice and then tried Intuit's instructions to copy it to the hard drive and then install. It crashed my hard drive while the files were COPYing!
Rating: 
Summary: Still as good as last year!
Review: After reading all the negative reviews people had posted I was leery about using TurboTax again this year. But analyzing the negative reviews they weren't really reviewing the use of the product but the tactics of Intuit. Since hardly any of those reviews mentioned anything about how the program worked to previous years I decided to use it again since I have been using TurboTax for the past 3 years. Installation went smoothly, the online updates have been no problem and all my data from last year carried over with no complications. The importing of W-2 and other financial statements was easy to do as well. Very easy to use, as usual, for preparing my taxes. If you've been debating after all these negative reviews, I recommend you use it. Intuit has supplied a patch to remove C_Dilla off of your machine when you uninstall the software if that is one of your concerns. My computer has not been acting any slower like some people had mentioned.
Rating:
Summary: unhappy with Intuit
Review: I bought this software and after reading the reviews here and visiting the Turbotax website for their explanations have decided to return it. Luckily I haven't opened the package yet. I have no doubt the software will work as described, I have been very happy with the Turbotax software over the many year I have purchased it. However, I am quite unhappy with the copyright protection put into this software. I suspect if there had been mention of it on the box, I probably wouldn't be as aggravated. I'm just lucky I heard about this early on and have this opportunity to return without hassle. I feel like Turbotax tried to sneak this in and that bothers me most of all. After reading some of the reviews here, Iwent to the Turbotax website to read about the installation and it was here that I finally decided to return the software. I've always used Turbotax and bought the software legally but I as a user should be allowed to use the software on as many of my PCs as I have and not be limited to paying for each installation on every PC I use whether at work or at home. I know there's a move by Microsoft in this industry to charge for software installation on each PC, but I feel this is unfair. It becomes especially unfair if I were to go out and buy a new PC this tax season and tried to reinstall the software on it only to be charged again. I've seen mention of a crack on the internet to get around this single activation problem but I have no interest in using software in such a way. Intuit has lost a customer. I will be switching to Taxcut this year.
Rating:
Summary: Pleasantly surprised
Review: First things first - I read well over 200 reviews before I made my decision to buy turbo tax (basic). I really, REALLY wanted to switch to Taxcut, but my only concern was whether ALL my data (especially passive losses, depreciation, Schedule E stuff, etc.) would transfer successfully from my 2001 Turbo tax return. Somehow I never got a good answer from Taxcut (or anyone else) regarding this concern and that is the ONLY reason I decided to stick with Turbo tax.
Well, as soon as I bought it, I rushed home and got ready for battle! Sounds funny now, but I really was prepared for the worst (having read so many reviews with installation problems). I was pleasantly surprised. Installation took only a few minutes. Verification of my product key (this requires an internet connection) took only a few seconds - probably because I access the internet through a cable modem. I have a Dell PC with a Pentium IV processor running Windows XP Home Edition (just mentioning all this in case it helps).
After installation was complete, I immediately started a new tax return and imported last year's data - everything I was concerned about was imported successfully (as expected). I saved my file, rebooted my machine and everything was still as fine as ever. My PC is definitely not sluggish, my CD-RW is not acting up, nothing out of the ordinary is happening with my PC (like I read in many other reviews). It has been a little more than a week and I'm almost done with my return. I verified that I can print my return (either to a pdf file or the printer) - thought eventually I intend to efile. And yes, my PC is still as normal as ever.
Drawbacks: Apart from knowing that Cdilla's software was installed on my PC without telling me, the only major problem I have is with the software itself. I didn't know it earlier, but I happen to have a slightly complicated tax situation. The software just told me briefly about my situation, referred me to an IRS publication and did nothing more. Of course, this is the basic version, but still, it could have been more helpful. That's why I give it only 4 stars.
Otherwise, the interview process, W-2 importing from participating employers (I tried this out successfully, pretty cool) are all nice features.
So if you're like me and feel that you need to stick with Turbo Tax, I'd say go for it since it worked for me. But if you have slightly complicated tax situations, don't buy the basic version unless you're prepared to do some research from the IRS on your own.
Good luck!
Rating: 
Summary: How corrupt!
Review: 2 stars, because it does still compute taxes, at least. But, the sales pitches and c_dilla make me certain I will never purchase TurboTax again. I would estimate it took me 50 mouse clicks to complete my taxes. Easily 20 of those were me declining sales pitches. No, I do not want to buy Quicken (I had to tell them no 4 times). No, I do not want our IRS audit insurance. No, do not subtract even more money from my refund by allowing me to pay without a credit card. No, I said I do not want Quicken! And I am figuring out how to uninstall this c-dilla thing right now. I wondered where this c:\c_dilla directory came from. Intuit goofed. I hope they go bankrupt now.
Rating:
Summary: TurboTax still best way to do your taxes
Review: I almost didn't buy this product due to all the bad reviews. I've used it for years and decided to give this year's a try anyway. I had no problem installing the product (running Win98 SE on an AMD 900Mhz if this helps someone). If you follow the quickstart guide, the instructions it gives are what any user should do when installing new software. I was up and running in under 30 minutes after having TurboTax install the latest software update. Yes, it's true you can't install on more than one computer as far as filing and printing your taxes goes. If you want to install it but not sure that's the computer you're going to use to file, take the option to install it as a trial option. You can still do your taxes. When you're sure of which computer you're using, then activate the software. It hardly took any time at all to activate my copy. As for the licensing software c-dilla IS NOT spyware. I checked the vendor's site and it's been used by other companies. The rumors about the software disabling your burner aren't true - my machine has been working just fine. Once you activate your product, you can print to another computer if you save your tax file under the new PDF feature. Then you can use Adobe Acrobat Reader to open and print it. TurboTax walks you through filling out your taxes in an interview fashion. You can start from scratch or bring in last year's TurboTax file. You can also see the forms it's helping you fill out. There's plenty of help available if you get stuck. This version doesn't come with the IRS publications included (if you want that, get Deluxe), but that wasn't a problem for me - I already downloaded them from the IRS website. If you decide to e-file, there's a rebate form in the box for the e-filing fee, so you end up paying $0 to file and TurboTax makes it really easy. Also received my income tax refund last week - around the time TurboTax estimated the IRS would direct deposit it. That was including me having to resend it due to accidentally not typing in a number when I first e-filed. I wasn't charged for the resend. If you do get errors, all I can tell you is check Intuit's website. I went there and I saw their error list - some are fixable, others weren't fixed yet. They do have a money back guarantee if you have problems with it. Sorry to those people who had heartburn trying to use it. Seems like Intuit didn't quite test their product out before shipping with this many people having problems, but in my case, it worked for me the same as it always has :-)
Rating:
Summary: excellent program
Review: I have used turbo tax products for over 5 years. I found it very easy to use - no problems whatsoever. Everything was clear. They provide you with all the tax info you need to prepare your return. I'm not too happy by the security they imposed this year, yet it is a good program and you can uninstall the security device after you are done with your taxes.
Rating:
Summary: Activation security violation; returns become unreadable
Review: I keep my master boot record (MBR) write protected for security reasons. A change to the MBR breaks all levels of security except possibly BIOS. Activation of TurboTax 2002 failed because it attempted to write to the MBR sector of my disk. The Intuit site recorded that my software was activated, but the application itself would not run. An hour on the telephone with installation support produced a second activation code, and a disturbing clarification of the license.... I decided not to activate, returned the CD and asked for a refund (no response so far). I purchased TaxCut and found it equal or superior in all respects. It imports TurboTax 2001 data. I wanted to assign negative stars, but the option was not available.
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