In microsoft.public.money, - Bobb - wrote:

- quote -

There is not a header that says what version the OFX file will
support. There are two proper major versions: 1.x and 2.x. Later
versions including Money 2004 do both.

It turns out that Fidelity has some mal-formed headers. They appear
to select a formula for putting together the OFX file depending on
the version of Money, but are doing it wrong for some versions. If I
remember correctly, they were supplying OFX 2 headers but using the
rest of the file conforming to OFX 1. No version of Money can
process that. It is malformed.

For Money 2002 Fidelity another malformation: they are missing a
newline character at the end of what should be the first line.

So while Microsoft 2004 could have turned off the direct OFX
processing, it turns out they didn't, at least so far.

- quote -

This reply isn't about "paying twice" - just WHY you can't use old sw to
download directly.

I asked this when my Money 2004 expired this past year and was told ( by
Fidelity helpdesk Rep ) something like ... If/when a financial institution
is associated with ( listed in ) Money, part of the financial institutions
agreement is that they keep up to date with the "latest version" of Money
and DROP support for older versions.

I asked and was told ( I think it was Cal that explained) that in the
header are some bytes to identify which VERSION of Money is required to
open the file directly. Money checks and if not to its liking will not
import the data.

I absolutely agree that it should work forever as long as I'm not getting
any service directly from Microsoft... and I REALLY think that they way
they "sell it" now, the box SHOULD say in big,bold letters:

" This product will provide online capability to the end-user for 2 years,
after which time it will still function with manual input only ..."


"Prilosec" <purple[at]nni.net> wrote in message
news:B66829DC-CC40-4D4C-B9C1-54E7F3366052[at]microsoft.com...
- quote -

Me too. I don't understand why I can't just connect directly to my bank or
download direct from a bank or credit card into Money without using any of
the MS financial information (which I can easily do without--I get it direct
from the broker/mutual funds, too). I could not do ANYTHING online, which
surprised me, yesterday after my Money 2005 program "expired". I was not
trying to do anything via Microsoft at all--just pay a bill using a bank and
a direct internet connection to them. I couldn't even go to say, Chase,
download my Visa activity into Money. How is Microsoft involved in anything
"online" here, other than allowing their program (which I paid for) to
accept the file? It appears now that Microsoft is just renting a license for
their software. Personally, I think their financial software is terrible (as
far a investing goes). It is fine for keeping track of spending, but that's
where it ends. That is all I want this stuff to do and I don't see why I
have to buy a new program every two years to basically keep an electronic
checkbook with online payments. I have bought thousands of dollars of MS
software over the years, but they are really losing me here. I am looking
for alternatives for when my new, FORCED, purchase of Money 2008 (which
appears no better or really different than 2005 so far) expires in 2 years.
This is really bizarre enough that I would not be surprised if MS backs off
this at some point. It makes no sense at all to me.
"SeaNICK" <SeaNICK[at]discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:5A40403B-B964-4C42-BAE0-B57B2CE8CE94[at]microsoft.com...
- quote -

Good point, Dick.

Another think that you get is hyperlinks to to news stories from within Money.
That also costs MS some money.


On Thu, 1 Nov 2007 15:45:30 -0600, "Dick Watson"
<littlegreengecko[at]mind-enufalready-spring.com> wrote:

- quote -

On the Money Central web site you are looking at the ads. That's why they
offered up the quotes. To attract your eyeballs to the ads.

"Myrna Larson" <anonymous[at]discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:h7cki3tf4v5aqodogadquagjakmd0asijk[at]4ax.com...
- quote -

One thing that does involve MS and expenditures on their part is the
downloading of quotes. However, you can do that for free on the Money Central
Web site, so I don't "get it", either.

On Thu, 1 Nov 2007 13:50:56 -0600, "Dick Watson"
<littlegreengecko[at]mind-enufalready-spring.com> wrote:

- quote -

Nobody here on the outside really knows what all went into Microsoft's
calculations on this. A number of users are unhappy about it. Nothing has
changed.

"SeaNICK" <SeaNICK[at]discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:5A40403B-B964-4C42-BAE0-B57B2CE8CE94[at]microsoft.com...
- quote -

I understand if the Microsoft money 2005 support is ending. I understand if
there won't be any updates from Microsoft. I don't understand why I can't get
bank account updates from my bank.

I've read other threads that say things like 'you need gas to run your car',
etc... but in this case, my bank also charges me to let money connect to it.
So we are talking about 2 people who are charging me for the same data being
transferred. 3 if you count my ISP...

so what is the reason Microsoft needs additional money in order to allow
this transaction to take place? Do they have any involvement in the actual
connection? That would be scarier than I originally thought... I would rather
my account info be transferred from my computer, to my banks, and only
through the necessary network hardware that resides between the two... going
through Microsoft's servers was not what I had in mind.

Is this a case of "because we can"?