Many fans of Microsoft Money Plus have lost their well – known Money software with the recent announcement that Microsoft will be discontinuing future construction and sale of it. The following is a statement issued by Microsoft.
With banks, brokerage firms and Web sites now providing a range of options for managing personal finances, the consumer need for Microsoft Money Plus has changed. After suspending annual updates of Money Plus in 2008, Microsoft ended sales of Money Plus on June 30, 2009.
You can still use Money software
Okay, if you use Money, you haven’t actually quite lost your software. The current release you have installed will continue to work for however long you choose to use it, but you will lose some features. In the software industry, it’s not uncommon for a customer to choose not to upgrade their software and continue to rely on their current release until they decide to move to new software. Lost features include, support services, bill pay functionality and automated tax updates (can be updated manually) for more information you can go to the Microsoft Money FAQ page.
Future of personal finance software
I think the bigger story here is what does this mean for the future of personal finance software?
Why would the power of the software gaint not invest resources behind this product? We are talking about the largest software company on the planet. Could it be they can’t compete with the headway others are making in this space? I think that’s unlikely. Rather, I get the feeling this isn’t the space in which they want to compete in because they choose to focus resources elsewhere. Afterall, we’re seeing the push to take on Google lately with the Bing decision engine.
Free personal finance software
The future of personal finance software is promising and will always be there, but today it’s a different demand. Why would I purchase software from Microsoft when I can get it free from Mint or others on the internet? Most people use the basic functions within their personal finance software package, so even the basic free versions of software readily meet their needs. Most of them include bank integration which will download and reconcile your transactions with your entries as well as bill pay. And you find very few online systems that don’t offer a way to set up an online budget to track expenses against.
As for Money, we wish you well. I’m surprised you didn’t want to stick around in what could prove to be one of the most interesting spaces of software in the future.
What do you see as the new future for personal finance software? Are you surprised by Microsoft discontinuing their product?
|
 |
