Microsoft Money
Microsoft Money is a personal finance management software program by Microsoft. It has capabilities for viewing bank account balances, creating budgets, and tracking expenses, among other features. It was designed for computers using the Microsoft Windows operating system, and versions for Windows Mobile were also available.
Money is no longer being actively developed as a retail program. From its inception in 1991 until its discontinuation in 2009, Microsoft Money was commercial software. Microsoft discontinued sales of the software on June 30, 2009 and removed access to online services for existing Money installations in January 2011. In 2010, Microsoft released a replacement version, called Microsoft Money Plus Sunset, which allows users to open and edit Money data files, but lacks any online features or support. It is available in two editions: Deluxe, and Home & Business.
In 2012, Money returned as a Windows Store app, however this version of Money was designed as a news aggregator for personal finance, investing, and real estate. Other features include stock tracking across the world markets, a mortgage calculator, and a currency converter. It does not have any of the personal accounting and bookkeeping/money management features of the legacy desktop program.
Localization
There were localized editions of Microsoft Money for the United Kingdom, France, Japan, Canada and an International English edition for other English speaking countries. However, Microsoft had not updated the U.K., French and international editions since Money 2005. The last Canadian edition was Money 2006.There were also localized editions for other countries, such as Russia, Brazil, Germany and Italy. However, these editions were discontinued due to what was believed to be an insufficient user-base to justify the expense of localization for more recent editions or the expense to integrate support for the national online-banking standard like HBCI in Germany.
Microsoft offered a free downloadable time-limited trial version of Microsoft Money Plus. This trial version can import data files from the Canadian edition of Money, but not from other non-US editions. Users upgrading from other non-US editions must manually export and reimport their accounts, and may have to re-enter certain information by hand.
History
The first version of Microsoft Money dates back to 1991 and was originally part of the Microsoft Home series.Due to Microsoft's propensity to market product versions using the year number rather than the actual version number, the version number reported in the About dialogue box may not actually reflect that of the packaging of the distribution media.
Note that a version 13.x was never created.
Release history
| Marketed version | Release Date | Actual version | Notes |
| Microsoft Money | October 2, 1991 | 1.0 | Initial release for Windows 3.0. |
| Microsoft Money 2.0 | September 9, 1992 | 2.0 | |
| Microsoft Money 3.0 | January 6, 1994 | 3.0 | Final Win16 version. |
| Microsoft Money 95 | August 24, 1995 | 4.0, 4.0a | First Win32 version. To celebrate Windows 95's release and to promote the advantages of a native Windows 95 application, Money 95 was available as a free web download from Microsoft's web site between August 24, 1995 and October 31, 1995. Users also had the option of paying $9.95 USD plus tax or $14.95 CAD plus tax for CD-ROM or 3.5" floppy disk media along with a hard copy user's manual during that promotional period. This was requested either through a promotional mail-in card or calling Microsoft directly. The freely downloaded version was the same as the paid 3.5" floppy disk version but no user's manual was available. The CD-ROM version included Multimedia Catalog and an online user's manual. Users who took advantage of this only version did not receive the retail box, but the contents were the same as the ones sold in stores. Windows NT 3.51 was also supported. Version 4.0a corrected file import bugs. |
| Microsoft Money 97 | November 19, 1996 | 5.0 | Added ability to close accounts, provided online banking capabilities including online stock quotes, and contained minor UI improvements. Last version to support Windows NT 3.51. |
| Microsoft Money 98 | October 30, 1997 | 6.0 | First version to require Internet Explorer as part of the interface. |
| Microsoft Money 99 | August 14, 1998 | 7.0 | Last localized release for Germany and Brazil. |
| Microsoft Money 2000 | July 30, 1999 | 8.0 | First edition for Windows Mobile platforms. Last localized release for Italy and in German Language für Switzerland and Austria. |
| Microsoft Money 2001 | September 7, 2000 | 9.0 | - |
| Microsoft Money 2002 | August 16, 2001 | 10.0 | Last version to support Windows 95 and Windows NT 4.0 SP5. |
| Microsoft Money 2003 | October 24, 2002 | 11.0 | |
| Microsoft Money 2004 | August 29, 2003 | 12.0 | Last version to support original version of Windows 98. |
| Microsoft Money 2005 | October 21, 2004 | 14.0 | Last localized release for the U.K., French, and the International edition. |
| Microsoft Money 2006 | September 27, 2005 | 15.0 | Last localized release for Canada. Last version for Windows 98 SE/ME, and Windows 2000 SP3. Also the last version for Windows Mobile platforms. |
| Microsoft Money 2007 | August 19, 2006 | 16.0 | First version to require product activation for copies installed from downloaded installation files. |
| Microsoft Money Plus | December 6, 2007 | 17.0.150.1415 17.0.120.1415 17.0.80.1415 | Final retail release. First and only version to require product activation on those copies installed from CD. Microsoft subsequently released Money Plus Sunset, an edition of Money Plus that does not require activation. |
| Microsoft Money Plus Sunset | March 18, 2010 | 17.0.150.3817 17.0.120.3817 | See Money Plus Sunset below. |
| Windows 8 edition | August 1, 2012 | 18.0 | Microsoft has since created a portal entry in MSN, called Money |
Discontinuation of Money
In August 2008, Microsoft announced that it would stop releasing a new version of Money each year and had no version planned for 2009. The company also announced that it would no longer ship boxed versions of Microsoft Money to retail stores and would instead sell the product only as online downloads.On June 10, 2009, Microsoft announced that it would stop developing Money, would stop selling it by March 18 by next year, and would continue supporting it until January 31, 2011. The company cited the changing needs of the marketplace as the reason for Money's demise, stating that "demand for a comprehensive personal finance toolset has declined." Product-activation servers used for Money 2007 and beyond were also to be deactivated after January 31, 2011, preventing these versions from being reinstalled after that date.
Money Plus Sunset
On June 17, 2010, Microsoft announced the release of Money Plus Sunset, a downloadable version of Money Plus Deluxe and Money Plus Home & Business. Money Plus Sunset does not require online activation or the installation of any previous version of Money on the user's computer, and it should not be installed over the original 2008 version, if online services are still required.Money Plus Sunset comes with most of the functionality that was available in the retail versions of Money Plus. The features missing are:
- Money Plus Sunset cannot import data files from non-US editions of Money
- Money Plus Sunset is missing all the online services features from earlier versions of Money, e.g.:
- * automatic statement downloads initiated by Money
- * online bill payments
- * online investment quotes
- MSMoneyQuotes is a for-pay tool to update quotes. The add-on was written by an ex-Microsoft employee who coded the Portfolio Manager in Money.
- PocketSense is a free tool to download bank account statements and quotes.