Apologies for the AOLism above, but I am furious with Microsoft.
Intuit Quickbooks is all washed up so far as I can see and Intuit has started treating its UK customers with contempt, so we moved to Microsoft Office Accounting Professional 2009, effective from 1st October 2009.
Initial worries about buying Microsoft were soon allayed - this is without doubt the most stable piece of MS software I have ever used. Which was good, because implementing an accounting package is business critical, and pretty stressful on implementers and users even in a small company like ours.
Imagine my delight then when I received the following email from Microsoft today:
"Dear valued Microsoft® Office Accounting customer:We are writing to let you know that we will no longer distribute Microsoft Office Accounting after November 16, 2009.
On October 30, 2009, Microsoft will transfer customer support for Office Accounting in the UK to Mamut Software Ltd. Product support for Office Accounting will continue in accordance with the published Microsoft product support life cycle.
To register for continued Office Accounting support, product life cycle and data migration information, as well as a free upgrade offer to Mamut Business Software please go to www.mamut.com/oa .
Mamut is a long-standing industry partner of Microsoft's in the UK and Europe and is a leading supplier of complete, integrated software solutions. Mamut recently won a 2009 Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference award in the Software-plus-Services category with their accounting product Mamut One, which was chosen as the winner from a pool of 2000 entrants worldwide. In addition, Mamut has won the UK Accountancy Age Award four times and is among this year's finalists in the Small Software Package category.
As a registered Office Accounting user, you may continue to use Office Accounting after November 16, 2009. However, the Payroll and e-Payments add-on services for Office Accounting will be discontinued on December 15, 2009. Click here for information on alternate service options at Payroll and e-Payments.
To learn more about other Microsoft offerings that can be useful to your business, please visit the following:
- Microsoft's Small Business site is a great resource for small businesses.
- Microsoft Dynamics products offer adaptable business management solutions.
- Microsoft Office is a great tool for small businesses, especially when used with our easy-to-use templates.
If you have further questions about these changes, additional information can be found on the Office Accounting FAQ page.
Thank you for your support of Office Accounting.
The Office Accounting Team
Microsoft respects your privacy. To learn more, please read our online Privacy Statement.
Microsoft Corporation
One Microsoft Way
Redmond, WA 98052
THIS E-MAIL WAS SENT FROM AN UNMONITORED MAILBOX. Please do not reply to this e-mail "
If you can't be bothered to read it I'll summarise it for you. It says:
"Dear valued Microsoft® Office Accounting customer:
Fuck Off.
The Office Accounting Team"And I'm left with the job of implementing two new accounting packages for the same company in less than a year.
Michael Alec Bryant
30th October 2009
