On 2006-11-14, Jake <Jaker00at[at]Yahoo.com> wrote:
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I've never had this problem with Money ever.

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This is just Money asking you if you want to make this transaction a
recurring transaction. I don't remember the exact click sequence, but you
should be able to click on it and tell it that you don't want it to be a
recurring transaction. Then the red ? will go away.

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Ok. So then go into the report where you want to see numbers and
change it. Some of the reports default to charts and some default
to reports.

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I don't think I've paid for a version of Money since '01. I usually
buy TaxCut and it comes with a free (after rebate) version of
Money deluxe. I have not ever failed to receive a rebate that
I've submitted. Moreover, even if I were to decide to buy Money,
I'd download the trial version first. This is something that I
desperately wish Quicken did. I have my own issues with Money,
but Q sure makes it hard to try their software. The only option
is to buy it then return it if I don't like it.

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Then go back to Q. Many of the people here are frustrated with
Money just like you are. That being said, you seem to have three
categories of complaints:

1) It doesn't do it the way that I'm used to.
2) It doesn't do something that it actually does.
3) It's got a bug that bugs more than just you.

Of those 3 categories, #3 apears to be the least filled. #2 is an
obvious non-issue. Re: #1, well, ok.

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Good luck.

Well I've exhausted my efforts with MS Money. I gave it 4 months and can't
find but a single feature that I like (The home page).. Everything else I
dislike and find harder to use than Quicken.

1) MSM is repeatedly downloading a transaction from my bank that has
already beeen downloaded, matched, posted, and cleared.. It started this
last month and I tolerated it.. Made another payment to the same payee
thinking it might clear up and it did so for a couple days then it's back
again.. downloading the same transaction every time I update. Never had
this problem with Quicken before.

2) I've got online payment transaction in my register that's marked with a
red question mark. The payment was made from MSM and has been processed,
posted, matched, and cleared in my register and online.. Yet it still has
a red ? mark... I've made payments to this payee before, using the same
method and they were ok. My bank shows the payment being made and
processed.. There is no question about it anywhere except MSM.. Never
had this problem with Quicken either..

3) After looking through my investment accounts while catching up in
Quicken, I notice MSM has created "positions" for interest income for one
of my accounts. It's created 3 separate positions in my portfolio for the 3
months of interest income transactions I've received (one per month). I
don't want to even begin to try to figure this one out.. Why weren't they
posted as interest income transactions and reflected in the cash
transactions register? This brings up another annoyance. I can't just add
the cash account portion to my account list so I can conveniently see my
cash balances.. To see cash balances and transactions in investment
accounts I've got to open the investment account and THEN click on the cash
transactions link.. That's about 3 clicks more than necessary.. .And then
I lose the overall account list view I like to see..

4) I don't like the overall layout.. at all! Quicken has this neat
"Account Bar" that remains on the screen showing at all times selected
accounts and their balances.. In Money I have to go to the Account List to
see this information and then I lose the register view I am looking at.

5) I can't stand not having a title bar and status bar as well as a
distinct border surrounding the app.. It's odd and I've not been able to
get used to it.

6) I don't like the behavior of the product and the page-oriented design.
It's sluggish and needs a screen refresh on occasion. Quicken never has
this problem..

7) In Quicken I can right click a transaction and get an instant report for
a) the payee, b) the amount, or c) the category.. Plus the report opens in
a separate window - leaving my register viewable. In MSM it's several
clicks to get the same information and I've lost my register view until I
click click click back to get to it..thereby losing the abiltiy to view the
report and the register at the same time.. It's awkward at best..

8) MSM has a bug in it that you can't tile it with other running programs..
Right-click the taskbar and choose tile (either way) and MSM isn't tiled..
Microsoft apparently tossed out their own Windows design conventions when
they built this product..

9) Reporting is dismal in MSM.. I find a bunch of canned reports that are
less than useful .. Who actually uses the monthly reports? I find them
useless. Furthermore most reports default to some type of chart. I am not
in the business of presenting my personal financial information therefore
charts are of little value to me. I prefer numbers. Microsoft continues
it's practice of being "chart-happy".. preferring to focus on pretty charts
with lots of colors as opposed to actually reporting useful data.


10) The address window showing the page you're currently viewing at the top
is a complete waste of screen space and provides no additional
functionality at all. You can't use it to manuver the various pages so why
have it?

11) The little "update" button should default to initiating UPDATES and not
to the update results page.. Why would I want to view results *before* I
initiate the update ?

12) The program deletes my online password and disables updating for
accounts that encounter an online update error.. This should never happen
regardless of the specific error encountered.

Fortunately I've not got alot of money invested in MSM.. I have an
opportunity to purchase Microsoft software at a nice discount.. so I'm not
out a lot of money.. The unfortunate part is the amount of time I've
invested in converting to and learning this software just to find it coming
up way short of Quicken in so many ways. Despite Intuit's deceptive and
questionable practices, and the excessive cost of their product. IMHO
Quicken *IS* a better product that's much easier to use and designed around
what people need in a personal financial software product. I may try MSM
again someday but this version is a severe regression in usability from the
last time I used MSM.. I'm dissappointed in MSFT with this product.


For all those who have helped me resolve issues in MSM and taught me how to
find features and settings that I couldn't locate, I deeply appreciate the
help. This software just isn't for me though.. Maybe someone from MSFT is
checking these forums and will take these issues to the product group where
they'll be addressed in future versions. I can say that if they maintain
the IE based (page-oriented) application design that uses a single window
utilizing back and forward buttons, I'm not likely to ever to try to switch
to it again. It's cheap programming and the end result shows it..

Finally.. this is just my opinion. I'm not trying to start a flame war
here in this forum about which product is better.. There may be people who
love MSM and find it useful. That's good. I'm not discreding your opinion
or choice of software.. To each his/her own..

Bryan