Improvements in 2004?

I am running MS Money 2002 and I'm considering upgrading
to MS Money 2004 or making the painful decision of going
back to Quicken (which I used up to 1997).

Here is my question.

Does 2004 have better reporting and analysis tools than
2002? For example, I love the monthly reports MS Money
delivers each month, but I want those same reports going
back years, not just a month. Does the upgrade to 2004 add
that ability?

Quicken provides a chart that shows a bar chart with
assests in dollars for each past month, while upside bars
show the debt for each month, and then plots a line that
shows net worth. I LOVE THAT CHART. Does MS Money 2004
have that ability?

Is anyone using any advance tools or found a good resource
for getting reports and graphs out of MS Money?

Does anyone know why MS Money produces such limited
reports? Is Microsoft just not serious about MS Money as a
viable product, or is there some patent that prevents them
from providing what Quicken has been providing for years?

Lastly, are there any database improvements in MS Money
2004. I purchased a new ThinkPad A31 with a P4m 2.0GHz
with 512MB, but MS Money is still painfully slow.

Thank you,

Todd Mollerup

sjcohen730
Thu Feb 19 15:02:56 CST 2004

>Subject: Improvements in 2004?
>From: "Todd Mollerup" anonymous@discussions.microsoft.com
>Date: 2/19/2004 3:20 PM Eastern Standard Time
>Message-id: <1312c01c3f725$e28d2f60$a001280a@phx.gbl>
>

Todd, my question to you is "What do you want in a personal finance software
package that costs only $25 a year? From what I've heard, you are not going to
get something better from Quicken. Bottom line, if you like your Quicken 97
better than Money 2002, then use Quicken 97. Or maybe you should try Quicken
2004. I've never used Quicken since I've been very happy with Money since 1995.
I'm so happy with Money that I spend $20 to $25 every year to upgrade. You'd be
amazed at what 8+ years of detail data does for your personal finances. Good
luck.

Alex
Thu Feb 19 15:50:56 CST 2004

Todd, I just upgraded from Money 2001 to 2004 a few days
ago, and to be honest I really like it. (so far) After
reading all the scary posts in this newsgroup as well as
some negative reviews on Amazon, I was very
apprehensive. I was expecting to not even recognize it
based on the reviews and opinions I read. And after
upgrading, the biggest thing that shocked me was just how
similar it was to Money 2001. Sure there's new
functionality, a more flexible and customizable display,
and a few new screens but by and large it was very
familiar feeling and I was navitigating around like a pro
in no time. The speed isn't terrific, but not bad
either. I'm running it on a Pentium M 1.4Ghz laptop with
512 ram and it's fine. Not as fast as 2001, but not bad
either.

As far as the reports go, they seem basically the same as
the reports from 2001. I guess that can be good or bad
depending on how you look at it. And yes, there are
still the same old "monthly reports" you remember, and
you can go back and few any prevous month you want after
the upgrade.

I would strongly recommend downloading the free trial to
see if you like it. You can run it parallel with 2002 so
you won't lose anything if you decide you don't like it.



>-----Original Message-----
>>Subject: Improvements in 2004?
>>From: "Todd Mollerup"
anonymous@discussions.microsoft.com
>>Date: 2/19/2004 3:20 PM Eastern Standard Time
>>Message-id: <1312c01c3f725$e28d2f60$a001280a@phx.gbl>
>>
>
>Todd, my question to you is "What do you want in a
personal finance software
>package that costs only $25 a year? From what I've
heard, you are not going to
>get something better from Quicken. Bottom line, if you
like your Quicken 97
>better than Money 2002, then use Quicken 97. Or maybe
you should try Quicken
>2004. I've never used Quicken since I've been very happy
with Money since 1995.
>I'm so happy with Money that I spend $20 to $25 every
year to upgrade. You'd be
>amazed at what 8+ years of detail data does for your
personal finances. Good
>luck.
>.
>

Bob
Thu Feb 19 16:24:14 CST 2004

If you do as Alex suggested, be aware that the *.mny file produced by M2004
CANNOT be read by M2002. When M2004 does the conversion it makes a backup
usually called *.m12 and tells you where it is. If you go back to M2002 you
want to delete the M2004 *.mny file and rename the *.m12 file to *.mny. Also
note you will have to reinput all transactions that you input to M2004.

--
Regards
Bob Peel,
Microsoft MVP - Money
Hints/Tips
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=fh;EN-GB;mny
UK Wishes/Suggestions
mnyukwsh@microsoft.com

"Alex" <anonymous@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:131e001c3f732$740e3720$a001280a@phx.gbl...
> Todd, I just upgraded from Money 2001 to 2004 a few days
> ago, and to be honest I really like it. (so far) After
> reading all the scary posts in this newsgroup as well as
> some negative reviews on Amazon, I was very
> apprehensive. I was expecting to not even recognize it
> based on the reviews and opinions I read. And after
> upgrading, the biggest thing that shocked me was just how
> similar it was to Money 2001. Sure there's new
> functionality, a more flexible and customizable display,
> and a few new screens but by and large it was very
> familiar feeling and I was navitigating around like a pro
> in no time. The speed isn't terrific, but not bad
> either. I'm running it on a Pentium M 1.4Ghz laptop with
> 512 ram and it's fine. Not as fast as 2001, but not bad
> either.
>
> As far as the reports go, they seem basically the same as
> the reports from 2001. I guess that can be good or bad
> depending on how you look at it. And yes, there are
> still the same old "monthly reports" you remember, and
> you can go back and few any prevous month you want after
> the upgrade.
>
> I would strongly recommend downloading the free trial to
> see if you like it. You can run it parallel with 2002 so
> you won't lose anything if you decide you don't like it.
>
>
>
>>-----Original Message-----
>>>Subject: Improvements in 2004?
>>>From: "Todd Mollerup"
> anonymous@discussions.microsoft.com
>>>Date: 2/19/2004 3:20 PM Eastern Standard Time
>>>Message-id: <1312c01c3f725$e28d2f60$a001280a@phx.gbl>
>>>
>>
>>Todd, my question to you is "What do you want in a
> personal finance software
>>package that costs only $25 a year? From what I've
> heard, you are not going to
>>get something better from Quicken. Bottom line, if you
> like your Quicken 97
>>better than Money 2002, then use Quicken 97. Or maybe
> you should try Quicken
>>2004. I've never used Quicken since I've been very happy
> with Money since 1995.
>>I'm so happy with Money that I spend $20 to $25 every
> year to upgrade. You'd be
>>amazed at what 8+ years of detail data does for your
> personal finances. Good
>>luck.
>>.
>>