Ease of Use/Install:  

Microsoft Money was easy to install, and very easy to use.  We found it had a little more of a polished interface compared to Quicken Starter Edition and Moneydance.  The update process was simple, and Money's home page provides a great at-a-glance summary of your finances.

Banking/Bills:  

Microsoft Money Essentials allows you to manage multiple accounts at multiple banks or credit unions. Once your accounts are set up in the program you can connect directly to them and transfer money, and *make electronic payments.

*Additional fees apply to use Online Bill Pay services

Reporting:  

Microsoft Money Essentials has a helpful reporting section, displaying charts, graphs and the like for cash flow, net worth, and even investment reports.

Financial Calculators:  

Microsoft Money Essentials connects to the web to use a number of useful calculators, including loan, mortgage, refinance, and home equity calculators.   For a more inclusive financial planning section that covers insurance, debt reduction, retirement, college and planners, you might want to consider upgrading to Money Plus Deluxe.

Tax Options:  

Microsoft Money Essentials allows you to categorize transactions as tax deductible, and can export that data to tax software, as long as the tax software reads the Tax Exchange Format (.txf files), such as H&R Block's TaxCut .

If you want a personal finance package that will actually help you find deductions, consider Microsoft Money Plus Deluxe, or Quicken Starter Edition as an alternative. Microsoft Money Plus Deluxe and Quicken Starter Edition will help you find deductions, where Money Essentials only lets you categorize transactions as deductible.

Support / Documentation:  

Microsoft Money Essentials had a great help section, tutorials, and FAQs, but Microsoft charges extra for phone, email, and live chat support. 

Archiving/Security:  

You can back up your files, and password protect your account, but Money Essentials doesn't have an archive feature, nor does Microsoft offer an online backup service like Quicken does.

Personal Investing:  

Microsoft Money Essentials works directly with a number of investment services, including those offered through most banks or credit unions, so you can view all of your investments online. They offer stock quotes, history and individual stock projections for the next six months.

Once again Microsoft has put together a very practical software package with Microsoft Money Essentials by offering easy-to-use tools and a program that interacts with the web to provide tons of information.

The bottom line—Microsoft Money Essentials is exceptionally user-friendly and effective, but offers limited financial reports. For in-depth financial reports consider upgrading to Microsoft Money Plus Deluxe, or try our Gold award winner Quicken Starter Edition.