Emad Ibrahim

note: don’t forget to read part 2 (link below).

I just upgraded my Microsoft Money Home and Business 2007 to the new Microsoft Money Plus (a new name for Money 2008). I got the Home and Business version as well and so far it looks identical. I actually had to go the help > about screen to confirm that I was running the new version. That’s how similar they are.

Oh wait, there is a difference, the “improved” background banking uses a huge chunk of CPU power (look at screen shot below). I had to kill the task and restart Money. To be fair the windows sidebar was using the other 40% and had to kill that too. But I haven’t had that problem before installing Money, so it’s safe to say that it is related to MS Money.

One thing I was hoping would be improved is speed/performance. Unfortunately, it’s the same problem as in 2007. For example, when I go to the business tab and click on Time Tracking, it is still dead slow in refreshing the screen – very frustrating.

Unless, I am missing something, I can’t see the reason to upgrade. I would say, save your money (real money). I am still going to buy it out of habit – I have been a Money user since 1995.

What do you think? Is it worth the upgrade? Do you plan on upgrading?