Microsoft Corporation's (NASDAQ: MSFT) personal finance tracking program MS Money (not to be confused with msmoney.com) has been futilely chasing Intuit's (NASDAQ: INTU) Quicken since the early days of Windows. Apparently, the company has finally taken note of all the red on its financials and is mercifully pulling the plug on the program.
According to CNet's Ina Fried, Microsoft will put the program down tomorrow. It is currently only distributed online, and the company will discontinue updating it for current users after January of 2011.
I don't expect much wailing and gnashing of teeth from those savvy enough to track their finances with a computer program. Quicken has proven a reliable program so widely adopted that it serves as a template for other, similar programs.
Both, however, face competition from Internet-based programs such as Mint.com, Geezeo and Wesabe. Quicken has carved out a large niche in this market with Quicken Online. As more customers choose to handle their financial tracking via cell phones Quicken and others have adapted to this platform as well. Also, many banks are also offering more sophisticated quicken-like tools for their customers, reducing the need for a separate layer of record-keeping.
I tried to use MS Money several years ago, and found it confusing and lacking in good documentation. Sounds like the typical piece of Microsoft software, no? This is Money that I won't miss.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
6-10-2009 @ 7:29PM
Chris said...
This is pretty bad, You do no MS now do their own Accounting package called Office Accounting that is way more powerful?