tab issues etc.

About the mouse pointer. I think it is reasonably clear that Money does not use standard Windows controls in many places. This made it possible to implement AutoComplete in Money v1, but it means that our controls don't always behave exactly the same as the standard Windows controls. This is most problematic when we have to have consistent behavior between a number of versions on the Windows OS.

Now, one of the issues that most annoyed the users of previous versions of Money was that sometimes in _tabbing_ into the controls, the mouse cursor would disappear. This only occurred with the Windows NT code base; we had no problems on Win9X systems. For Money '02 (I'm pretty sure, might have been earlier) we made some changes that mediated the original behavior, but not without some additional, much less irritating, inconsistencies. Note that the OS teams probably also had similar issues, but conceivably they may have rewritten their standard controls; our controls have to work on both platforms.

About file size. If your file increases in size, it may eventually double. Mine is about 8 times the size of a blank file now, which means it's doubled three times. (Well, actually, I started with Money 1.0, and my file could fit on a floppy then. I also archive every year or two, so I suppose it could be much larger.) It appears to be because of all of the data I've put into it; I don't think the space is wasted.

About navigation. Quicken uses a multiple window approach, while Money is strictly single window, so we don't "close" windows as often. We are always looking for quick ways to navigate between parts of the product, and we have two or three different approaches going now. The left task pane will have the direct links for some common tasks. The top menu bar has two-click access to just about anywhere in the product. Often times, you can right-click on an element in the screen and get access to more information about it. Every year we at least consider other navigational approaches in the product.

-Russ Paul-Jones
MSN Money Development Manager