An otherwise excellent program ruined by bloatware style coding.

Installation and Setup

The installation and setup was simple, problem free, and relatively quick. However, before you purchase or install this program, make sure that your system meets and significantly exceeds (for performance reasons) the following requirements listed by Microsoft:


Computer: Multimedia PC with Pentium 90 or higher
Memory: 24 MB of RAM for Windows 95 or Windows 98
32 MB for Windows 2000 or Windows NT Workstation
Hard Disk:75-210 MB of available hard-disk space; 210 MB
if Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.01 or later is
not already installed (Internet Explorer 5.01 or
later is required and included on the CD)
Drive: Double-speed or faster CD-ROM drive
Display: VGA graphics card or compatible video graphics
adapter and 256-color monitor
Operating:Microsoft Windows® 95, Windows 98, Windows 2000,
System Windows Me, or Windows NT® Workstation operating
system version 4.0 or later running Service Pack
5 (will not run on earlier versions of Windows)
Periph: Microsoft Mouse or compatible pointing device;
14.4 or higher-baud modem and Internet access
required for online features; Audio Board with
headphones or speakers required for audio
Misc.: Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.01 (included) or
later (users can maintain other default browsers
after installation). Internet functionality
requires an Internet service provider (ISP) and
browser (MSN trial offer and Internet Explorer
5.01 provided). Connect time charges may apply.
All software required is included in Microsoft
Money 2001. Compatible with Windows-compatible
ISPs.Some MSN MoneyCentral features require
Microsoft Passport.

After installation, the program goes through a series of questions to customize the program to your needs and to set up the necessary accounts so make sure that you have all of your financial paperwork ready. You can make changes and/or additions later if needed. The questions are straightforward and easily understandable.

User Interface

The user interface for MS Money 2001 Deluxe is well thought out, easy to navigate, and intuitive. If you've used either Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator, you will be comfortable with Money. Each of the major category pages (Accounts & Bills, Investing, Planner, Taxes, Reports) is like a webpage with hyperlinks to more detailed and informative pages. There is a Forward, Back, and Home button, even an option to bookmark favorite pages under Favorites.

The graphics are appealing and unobtrusive. The color schemes are fairly neutral and the text is legible.

Features

Probably the most valuable feature of Money is its tight integration with the Internet and in particular Microsoft's MoneyCentral finance portal. This integration allows you to download statements, stock quotes, articles, and relevant information automatically each time you run Money reducing the need for you to input data from paper statements. With a synchronization feature, you can even make your Money information accessible from anywhere in the world by storing it on Microsoft's servers. With support for hundreds of brokers, banks, and merchants, you might never need to write a check again or if you do, you'll never have a problem figuring out where the money went.

Another strong feature of Money is its reporting. Dozens of charts and graphs are available under the Reports tab of the program allowing you to see both numerically and graphically how you spent your money last month, how your stocks did, etc.

There is also a Lifetime Planner feature included. While intuitive, I don't find it particularly helpful. There is a large amount of customization that is available. The accuracy of your forecast depends on how much time you spend customizing your parameters. Unfortunately, too often, I found myself unsure as to whether assumptions I was making were reasonable or not. As a result, I never got any results that seemed particularly reasonable.

User Experience

Overall I'm pretty satisfied with Microsoft Money 2001 Deluxe - I've been using one form of Microsoft Money or another since 1999. I use it often and have found that it has made a noticeable difference in my spending and saving habits so in that respect, it was worth the $60 that I paid for it. However, it does require continuous effort. If you don't use it often or if you don't continuously update the information in it, then you won't have any additional guidance or insight into your financial situation. Basically, if you use it, then you'll be happy with the benefits that you get from being more financially organized and aware.

My biggest complaint with this latest version is how much bigger it is (a minimum of 75 MB) and how much slower it runs on my computer. I have a fairly fast computer (Pentium 2 400 Mhz, 128 MB RAM) and it runs very slowly. I never had the same problems with Money 2000 which is not all that different. Furthermore, for some reason, my Money 2001 file size is now over 30 MB which to me is ridiculous. This is probably one of the reasons why Money runs so slowly on my machine. Yet, some of my friends that use Quicken are able to keep their file sizes to barely over 1 MB. I don't know what the discrepancy is but I suspect that the programmers at Microsoft can do better in terms of coding more efficiently.

Anyway in review, this is a very good product but you must use it to gain the benefits of it. The program is intuitive, intuitive, and practical. The coding however is not so if you want to make sure that you can run other applications while running Money, I'd would recommend beating Microsoft's minimum requirements by a significant margin to make your experience more pleasant.

I hope you've enjoyed this review, please recommend it if you did like it. Feel free to check out my other reviews under the user name pc41. Thanks for reading.

Recommended: Yes