How Microsoft got me to work for free this morning
It’s days like today that remind me why I started Noobie, Inc. This morning I fired up my Microsoft Money software to enter a few receipts and to reconcile a couple of my accounts. I was planning on this taking about two minutes but before I could get started I was presented with this:
Upon clicking the link I was presented with pages and pages of instructions (12 pages printed to be exact) telling me I had to:
- Determine which accounts to update
- Disable online services
- Add and merge accounts
As a techie, this angered and frustrated me for several reasons. One, I wasn’t planning on having to spend my morning updating my accounts in Microsoft Money just so I could use the software the same way I have been using it for the past 10+ years. Two, why should I be expected to make these changes because Microsoft (not me) made some enhancements to the software? And three, how is any noobie ever going to figure out how to do this?
Seeing that I had no choice, I grudgingly followed the instructions and I am now back up and running with the software. But that third point still lingers in my mind. Would a noobie know how to do what I just did? Would he or she even bother attempting to perform the update? Shame on Microsoft for making me and all of the noobies out there make these changes.
Back to why I started Noobie, Inc. As long as software companies are going to continue to expect that everyone knows how to use their software without any hand-holding, Noobie, Inc. will be in business. Incidentally, if you use Microsoft Money and need that hand-holding through the update process, Noobie will be glad to help. That’s what we’re here for!
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