Oh, I understand this is a big pseudo-security thing that Microsoft didn't
invent. But in Money the real account number and oh, so much more is just a
click or two away. I'm not sure Bank One shows the full account number
ANYWHERE in their online pages. I just took a quick look around and didn't
find more than the mangled number in a few different pages I looked in. If
Money mangled the number everywhere, I might feel A LITTLE different about
this. But in the Money Account List it's 100% pseudo-security. And
pseudo-security is worse than none at all as far as I'm concerned.

"Vadim Rapp" <vr[at]myrealbox.nospam.com> wrote in message
news:e6upStRoEHA.3788[at]TK2MSFTNGP10.phx.gbl...
- quote -

True enough. Businesses have pretty much rejected that model. Microsoft is
banking on the less-tech-savvy consumers not being so negative. (I would say
they are trying to exploit our collective ignorance and naiveté, but that
may be over the top.)

"Cal Learner-- MVP" <via_newsgroup[at]please.tnx> wrote in message
news:hbrtk0tqanu0uab7rc7vhimqqjo2b7e12f[at]4ax.com...
- quote -

In microsoft.public.money, Dick Watson wrote:

- quote -

Wasn't that similar the Oracle network computer model?

Well, I don't think they are clear (truthfully, I think they are
intentionally trying to obfuscate how this works) but I do think that is the
only way they can be doing this.

"With Microsoft Money 2005, you can share your
file with other users so that you can both access the
same financial information, work with budgets and pay
bills online."

There are only two ways I can see to achieve this:

1) Your local system has to serve up your data file, securely, to your local
network and to the "anytime anywhere" user the PR blurbs talk about. This is
beyond the scope of what 95% of the Money-user-population is prepared or
competent to do. Further, to actually use the "file" you have shared (as
opposed to data from the file), the "anytime anywhere" users would need M05
installed on the machine they are at to use the "file," just like you do to
use the "file." Finally, this would require that Money be designed to deal
with the prospect of two users trying to access the same "file" at the same
time. This is something Money has NEVER dealt with well because it wasn't
designed to.

-or-

2) They shadow some or all of the "data" on the web somewhere so that the
"anytime anywhere" users can get at it and then you can update your "file,"
later, with some kind of synchronization mechanism.

The latter is very similar to what they've supported for several years and
called "sync with the web." That name put some people off because it
suggests that your data will be put somewhere on some server open, with some
security and privacy provisions that none of us are really in a position to
assess, to the entire WWW. Note they don't use this term anymore. Note also
the prerequisite to use the "file" you want to share:

"If you have not set up your Money file to synchronize
your data from any computer, complete the process to do
so."

So what's the distinction between sharing my "file" and sharing some of its
data? If I share my "file" then ALL of its data will be available. If I'm
going to stop on the way home to buy a lawnmower part, I can look in my
"file" to find its model number and serial number. But that also implies
sharing the entire 51MB of data. Even on DSL, how long would that take to
push that up to some server? And then to synchronize it? They don't share
the "file." It's just plain not what they do.

I think Microsoft has a long-term intent to wean us from having a local
application with local control of the data stored locally on our computers
where what they sell is a one-time sale of a license to use some software.
They desperately want to sell us a service (like an ISP or your cable
company) that we buy every day we use it. They want out of the $upport
ha$$le. So they are looking to find ways to gradually get us to quit
worrying about where our data is and get us weaned from this silly
attachment to a data "file". Sync with the Web didn't work all that well at
achieving this goal--my bet is that few people use it. So, this is another
way to get to the same point.

That's not to say that this mechanism isn't useful to some people under some
conditions. Clearly it answers a need for some people. But I think there
were far more postings over the last year asking "how can I access my file
on my desktop from my laptop over my WiFi?" or similar than there were posts
asking "how can I let my wife access the MSN interface to my web data with
her Passport?" Microsoft solved the latter problem and didn't do squat for
the former problem and I think they are dissembling about how they did it
and what problem they actually solved.

"A Money 2004 user" <anonymous[at]discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:3ad601c49f19$71a3b750$a401280a[at]phx.gbl...
- quote -

Dick ,
Do you mean that sharing the Money file is done over the
Internet via MSN? Microsoft doesn't say anything about
this...
Here is what the online manual for Money 2005 says:
(http://www.microsoft.com/money/suppo...ort_manual.msp
x)

"Chapter 15: Managing Your Money File
Sharing your Money file or create an additional Money file

It's a good idea to enter all of your accounts into a
single Money file. Having all of your accounts-and those
of other family members-together will help you by
providing more accurate information for planning and
reports. With Microsoft Money 2005, you can share your
file with other users so that you can both access the
same financial information, work with budgets and pay
bills online.

When you're ready to share your Money file with someone
else, both you and the new account member must enter your
Microsoft .NET Passport passwords during setup.

To help provide extra security to your Money file, you
may be asked to re-enter your sign-in name and password
during the setup process. To share your Money file with
another person:

On the Tools menu, click Settings.
Click Sharing options.
Click Next.
In the Share with box, type the e-mail address of the
person you want to share your Money file with, and then
click Share.
If you have not added your .NET Passport to your Money
file, complete the registration process.
If you have not set up your Money file to synchronize
your data from any computer, complete the process to do
so.
When prompted, enter your .NET Passport Security Key. If
you don't have a security key, you'll be prompted to
create one.
Confirm the address of the person you want to share with,
select the Yes, I agree to share check box, and then
click Next.
In the Password box, have the person who will share your
file type his or her .NET Passport password, and then
click Next.
To return to the Manage Sharing page, click OK.
When you are finished adding new members, click Done."


- quote -

going to do that was a mystery to me. I suspected that
something like this was what they really meant.
- quote -

from my laptop when the file is stored on my desktop. At
present, and even with M05, this is problematic since the
data file is not multi-user enabled.
- quote -

Sounds like as good a guess as any! I'm with you Dick....

"Dick Watson" wrote in message news:ulXuatnnEHA.3072[at]TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl...
- quote -

"view, monitor and manage the same Microsoft Money file from different
locations"

That's not the same thing as managing the sync with the web data from different locations to me. How they were going to do that was a mystery to me. I suspected that something like this was what they really meant.

I'd like to be able to view, monitor and manage my Microsoft Money file (not the data stored on the web) from my laptop when the file is stored on my desktop. At present, and even with M05, this is problematic since the data file is not multi-user enabled.

"Michael Gordon, MVP" <gordonm[at]denison.edu> wrote in message news:OE53tBonEHA.2052[at]TK2MSFTNGP10.phx.gbl...
What did you think it said?

What did you think it said?


--
Michael Gordon
MVP
"Dick Watson" <littlegreengecko[at]mind-enufalready-spring.com> wrote in message news:ulXuatnnEHA.3072[at]TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl...

<snipNow the primary Money user can allow another person
to view, monitor and manage the same Microsoft Money file from different
locations without sharing passwords.", I can answer that question. Hint: it
doesn't mean what it says. What it really means, apparently, is that
multiple Passport users can get associated with your Sync With the Web
account.
<snip

What's with the account list masking off all but the last four digits of
account numbers with X's? I mean, seriously, this is just beyond whacko.
It's better Security Theater than the TSA show at your neighborhood airport.
The account number is one r-click "See account settings" away. Whatever
could be the point of hiding it on this screen? Who are we hiding it from?
The application is trying to encourage shipping financial data all over the
web at all times of the day and night in the name of "Essential" function
and "most users prefer" and here on the Account List it tries to hide my
account numbers from, ahem, me? Microsoft has added the whole yodlee loop to
handling people's financial data and here they want to get cutesy about
hiding account numbers? What a joke. Who derived the requirements for this
upgrade? Daffy Duck?

Anybody else notice Charles and Amy using the PowerBook in the screen for
setting up Tools|Settings|Sharing? Does this mean that Money for the Mac is
coming? (Of course, why this settings screen among all of the others in the
random walk we now call Tools|Options needs a pretty little picture is
another interesting question.)

BTW, for those of you who are curious what the Fact Sheet meant when it said
"New Multiuser access. Now the primary Money user can allow another person
to view, monitor and manage the same Microsoft Money file from different
locations without sharing passwords.", I can answer that question. Hint: it
doesn't mean what it says. What it really means, apparently, is that
multiple Passport users can get associated with your Sync With the Web
account.

I think Microsoft is INTENTIONALLY trying to mask or downplay the
interaction of this version with the web. I think they are betting that high
negative reactions to the question "I want my financial data scattered all
over the web" can be overcome by soft-pedaling what lots of these features
actually do and I think they are betting that the same users who are
paranoid about security and privacy will be too ill-informed and too lazy to
really figure out what they this thing really does under the covers. I'm
sure Microsoft would say that all of this is explained one place or another
in the application, and they probably are correct. But any long time
newsgroup reader knows that even things like the file upgrade dialogs about
revertability and the .Mnn file and so forth are at best not understood and,
more typically, not even noticed or remembered.

BTW, I'm still searching for "Enhanced Spending Analysis. This powerful
feature automatically generates a pie chart of expense categories over
various time frames, and shows dollar amounts and percentage breakouts for
each area. With the new Spending Average, people can view a monthly dollar
average for spending per category based on past account data." I found a pie
chart in reports.Maybe this is the one they were talking about? Where these
averages are remains a mystery. I tried searching in help for "spending
analysis", "spending average," "analysis," "analyze," and "spending." Sad to
say, I came up empty.