Ok, maybe not die... but they are in for some hard times.

I think Microsoft Money is the epitome of an applications that shows they just don't "get it".

I used Money 2002 (I think) to do my finances, but upgraded to 2005 because the previous version was a tad clunky.

2005 was very good - not perfect, but very good.

Then, they release "Money Plus" and about 300 variations. I don't upgrade because I loved 2005.


Then, one day 2005 tells me "you have used this for 2 years and have to buy the new one, sorry". Err... that annoyed me. But I loved 2005 and was almost happy to get an excuse to buy the new one.

Bear in mind - this all happened 1.5-2 years ago (or so).

First, Money PLus kept butchering the import of my 2005 file.
I literally spent 3-4 months not balancing my books because I couldn't get Money Plus setup using my existing info. You would think they would have tested the import.

So finally, I setup all my accounts from scratch and do various manual imports and corrections. Think farming Vex Thal Key x4. Sucked.

So, it has mostly worked - except now online updates are half broken. Online updates downloads all my transactions from various brokerages/banks/etc. Now, they take FOREVER, and almost always fail in the first attempt. On the 2nd, they usually work.

I continue to use Money because it is what I know. When/if this version says "buy the new one", I might give Quicken a shot.

The moral of the story is: MS had a great product and the killed it. This really is a microcosm of the larger picture and how they're failing to recognize the changing landscape.

I really feel Windows 7 is going to be make or break for them in determining what their role is going to be in the future. Thank god Yahoo! is ran by a bunch of friggin morons or Microsoft would have bought them and accellerated their path to death.

That's interesting. I didn't know that was legal. You did, after all, pay for that version of the program. How does it force you to upgrade?

_________________

I'm sure it's somewherre in the license agreement, but they let you keep using the program. What they screw you on is that you cannot use MSLive or whatever it is that lets you do online updates - so you can no longer sync with banks etc.

Quicken and Quickbooks do the same thing when a year pasts buy, after 2 years functions start to disable.

_________________
"Creating Havoc and Pie Since 2001!"
My Website: http://www.anthonyhays.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/cakvala

And this is why it won't. Countless people who will continue to use MS products because MS has the marketshare.

And syuni is right!

_________________
"Creating Havoc and Pie Since 2001!"
My Website: http://www.anthonyhays.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/cakvala

Along with: "We call dibs on raping your babies"

Seriously, they can do anything with the license agreement. For example, if Adobe did the same thing with photoshop, people would still buy it because it is the standard.

Speaking of adobe... why did they put out 4 so soon after 3? lol.. I'm still using CS2. =P My poor laptop can't handle CS3.

_________________

You mean you can buy Photoshop?

Not unless you shit money.

_________________

To the contrary - this is EXACTLY why they will die. This is why every large company that is the next "big evil" has faltered - they THINK they will survive simply on the basis of being big.

And for what it's worth, my problem isn't that they made me renew a license. I'm fine with paying $50 for 2 years of use. My problem is that they took a good product, felt the need to do SOMETHING, and broke it.

Much like Shadows of Luclin.

I didnt know you could buy either! Im still using CS2 /shrug

_________________
"Creating Havoc and Pie Since 2001!"
My Website: http://www.anthonyhays.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/cakvala

I like Luclin. =(

do people actually do that?

_________________

Yes, the vast majority of people who use photoshop professionally buy it, because if they get caught with an invalid license trouble will happen

_________________

World of Warcraft: Kallaystra, Gweila, Steakumn, Tarathia [ Feathermoon/Horde ]

You are right thats why I had my job buy my copy =)

_________________
"Creating Havoc and Pie Since 2001!"
My Website: http://www.anthonyhays.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/cakvala

Look at this video. They are talking about winners and losers in the stimulus bill (I know you are talking about Microsoft, but wait for it...)

You have Dan Clifton of Strategas Research Partners, and Larry Kudlow says, "There's a big energy play, wind, solar. Rate these two real quickly. Do you have a winner, a loser, or what?"

CLIFTON: There's a new grant program, so the wing thesis works. I look at Vestas Wind, I look at First Solar, I look at SunPower. Obama is moving us into a direction, whether you agree with it or not, where it is going to be renewable energy. That's where they are pushing. They will do anything to get there. There is going to be new demand in legislation. The wind thesis works at this point with these two pieces of legislation. We are creating the infrastructure for this renewable energy. That's GE, those are the tech companies that have to write the software to create this type of new electricity.

KUDLOW: All right, let's go down, a couple of others, quicky here. Health care, IT, Microsoft, is that true?

CLIFTON: I would say the same thing. In each of these issues, whether it is renewable energy, health care, information technology, we can go right down the line, Microsoft has positioned themselves to be the big winner in this stimulus package 'cause they are writing the software to make this happen.

So looks like Microsoft will be around for a long time...

If this any of these news guys were right on a consistent basis, there woudl be a lot of rich people

Microsoft makes has too much cashflow and too little overhead to truly die (just like IBM didn't die). But, they could become irrelevent over the next 10 years. Ultimately, it depends on what Google and Apple does - they have a chance to really put a hurting on MS.

Apple. lol

Not especially. And most definitely not in the server market. It will take a monumental collapse on MS' part for that to happen. And to be honest? They're the best product out there, in spite of their flaws. I don't know if you've checked recently (or at all), but OSX has its share of flaws and its Unix core especially does.

The only way MS could've been surpassed in recent time is through lack of embracing virtualization, but they definitely jumped in with some solid traction there. Hyper-V is no joke, and expect to hear more of it in the future. In fact, that's my next "niche" job market once India and Argentina catch up with Sharepoint skills.

Since Microsoft Money is what really sparked this for me, I think this link is worth noting:
http://www.microsoft.com/money/default.mspx

That little turd popped up today when I went in to balance the books.
Certainly not a sign of Microsoft's death, but Microsoft is throwing MS Money in the trash.

Guess it's time for me to give Quicken a try.

On a side note, Bing is getting positive reviews (mainly for being completely anti-Microsoft) and Google is failing to show any real direction. MS should continue to say thanks to the lord that the Yahoo! bid failed. It's an interesting time...

I know it's probably stating the obvious, but Microsoft won't die until Bill Gates dies. The man may not be the best innovator ever, but he's a marketing genius in every sense. He could sell sand to Saudi Arabia in bulk.

Too bad Bill Gates has nothing to do with the day to day operation of Microsoft anymore =P

Orme, take a look at mint.com -- it far surpasses quicken and money in terms of capabilitie.s

_________________

World of Warcraft: Kallaystra, Gweila, Steakumn, Tarathia [ Feathermoon/Horde ]

He doesn't need to to steer the general direction of the company. Steve Balmer becoming CEO was largely symbolic, if anything. Gates still plays a huge part, and still helps with marketing tactics.

I spent a couple minutes on it and couldn't get it to plug into my bank

I will mess around later, although I have to admit I really like having that data locally.

local data is going the way of the dodo.

_________________

World of Warcraft: Kallaystra, Gweila, Steakumn, Tarathia [ Feathermoon/Horde ]

I can't say that's a trend I'm fond of.

neither am I, but then again, I submitted to this trend long ago and carry around all my important information on a thumb drive.

_________________

World of Warcraft: Kallaystra, Gweila, Steakumn, Tarathia [ Feathermoon/Horde ]