Microsoft Money

Microsoft Money was Microsoft's personal finance software. It was designed for computers using the Microsoft Windows operating system, though versions for Windows Mobile were also available (available for Money 2000-2006) on select versions of Windows Mobile, up to, but not including, Windows Mobile 5.0).

The last version, released in August 2007, was called Microsoft Money Plus and came in four editions: Essentials, Deluxe, Premium and Home & Business.

On June 10, 2009 Microsoft announced that, it would discontinue sales of the software on June 30, 2009.

Localization
There were versions of Microsoft Money for the U.S., U.K., 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 version was Money 2006.

There were also localized versions for other countries, such as Russia, Brazil, Germany and Italy. However, these versions were discontinued due to what was believed to be an insufficient user-base to justify the expense of localization for more recent versions or the expense to integrate support for the national online-banking standard like HBCI in Germany.

History
The first version of Microsoft Money dated back to 1991 and was originally part of the Microsoft Home series.

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 (for US residents) or $14.95 CAD plus tax (for Canadian residents) 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 (was distributed in stores) or calling Microsoft directly. The freely downloaded (moneyweb.exe) 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 (an electronic catalog of Microsoft products available at that time) and an online user's manual. Users who took advantage of this (media cost + freight cost) 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.

Release history
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 may not actually reflect that of the packaging of the distribution media.

Note that a version 13.x was never created.

Discontinuation of Money
In August 2008, Microsoft announced that it would discontinue the practice of releasing a new version of the product each year, and as such had no version planned for 2009. Additionally, the company announced that they would be no longer shipping boxed versions of Microsoft Money to retail stores, instead selling the product only through online downloads.

On June 10, 2009 Microsoft announced that, it would be ending development of Money. The company plans to discontinue sales of Money by June 30, 2009 however will continue to support the product 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 up will also be deactivated after January 31, 2011, effectively not allowing these affected versions to be reinstalled after that date.

Release of Money Plus Sunset
On June 17, 2010 Microsoft announced, the released Money Plus Sunset. Money Plus Sunset is a version of Money Plus Deluxe and Money Plus Home & Business that does not require online activation.