SIERRA MasterCook Deluxe Low Carb ( Windows )

Rating:
Summary: I have concerns with this company & this product
Review: Sierra sold the MasterCook line to ValuSoftware a few years ago, a company with questionable practices based on all the internet research I've done on cooking software in the last couple of days. I want to upgrade from my 3.5" disk of MasterCook II 2.7 version from 1993.

All I've read indicates that if you decide to go with MasterCook, you're better off springing for the two bills more and getting MasterCook Deluxe, not the LowCarb version of it. Deluxe has everything that LowCarb has (except 11 recipes that are only in LowCarb), plus thousands of regular recipes, should you ever need one. You can filter Deluxe to return just the Low Carb recipes results. It appears the LowCarb product was a fast remarketing ploy by ValuSoft to make some quick bucks on current trends, without hardly doing anything but filtering existing software.

I've also read on the internet that ValuSoft tends to buy up software, sell it cheap, sell it only until the sales decline, then abandons the product. It doesn't sound like much is ever done for future enhancements. Not good, if it's true.

Of significant note for me as a low carber of over 5 years, before it got trendy, is that the MasterCook line doesn't break out sugars from the carb nutritional analysis reporting.

I'm strongly considering "Living Cookbook" instead, a much newer program, but with some really active development going on, and easy communication with the actual software developer. There's an online demo I checked out, a free 25-use trial, and continual updates for no extra fee (even entire whole number version updates). It reports carbs, net carbs (and sugar, sugar alcohol and fiber). It looks pretty attractive to me.

Alternatively, there's another line you might look at ... Cook'n, which offers a low carb version that's probably better than what MasterCook has to offer.

MasterCook has a huge following, but I don't know that it can be sustained now that it's under the control of ValuSoft ... or if it will be around for long.