Wow - a whole week since I've posted. That could be some sort of record (not counting the thirty years or so that I went without posting initially).

I wanted to make a quick post about Microsoft Money. I've been using MS Money since Money 95, which cost me all of AU$19.95. That twenty bucks was probably the most important $20 I have ever spent. I don't know how many of my readers use a financial-management program like Money or Quicken, but for me it has been invaluable. I know at any time how much money I have, and how much will be available in the foreseeable future.

Anyway, Money 2003, the version I currently use, asks you to sign on with your Passport (now known as Windows Live ID) when you start. It doesn't actually seem to use it at all (I think users in the US get extra features regarding online statements etc), but it's never bothered me having to sign in. Last week, however, the login process stopped working. I'd hit the Login button, and Money would instantly tell me that my login was unsuccessful. It didn't even seem to be going off to the net to verify my credentials. I could still use the product without signing in, but the sudden breakage worried me.

So I did some research, and found this knowledgebase entry with a whole series of things to try to correct the problem. Method 5, re-registering msxml3.dll, solved the problem.

My guess is that the recent install of Windows Live Messenger 8.1, or perhaps Windows Live Mail Desktop, hosed the msxml3.dll registration and hence broke Money's ability to sign in.

This, of course, gets back to my current gripe about computers - how difficult they are to manage if you're a newbie. Registering a DLL is no sweat for me, but what if my mum & dad had experienced this problem? Ok, maybe that's a bad example, since they wouldn't know how to install a piece of software like Live Messenger, but still: How is Joe User supposed to know how to research a problem like Money not signing in?

Jeff Atwood recently wrote on Coding Horror that computers shouldn't need to ask the user's permission if something goes wrong and Windows knows how to fix it. I think that applies here. If it's possible to write a neat series of steps in a knowledgebase entry that will diagnose and possibly solve the problem, why can't Windows do that for me?

So Money 2003 is working again, and I'm now considering an upgrade to 2007. Anybody out there using Money 2007? Is it worth the upgrade? I know it costs more than $20 nowadays. :)