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Updating Quickbooks Forces Online Membership?

Posted by Cliff on from the limiting-the-previous-feature-set dept.

garyebickford asks: "I've been using Quickbooks 2001 for a long time, sending out invoices via email. A couple of months ago it asked if I wanted to do an online update - these occurred occasionally and I agreed. There was no information regarding what the update would do, although IIRC there was some mention of 'new features' and 'improvements'. Since that time, it is now impossible to either fax or email an invoice without signing up for Quickbook's 'Online Business Member' program since it appears to use their own mail server. Membership is free for now, but the required click-agreement forces me to agree in advance to any future fees! I have no interest in letting Intuit know about my invoices and other financial information. As a result, this software is essentially useless and I must find a new accounting package. I've looked at various OSS packages but haven't found one that has developed far enough to use in this way. But there are many out there and I haven't kept up to date, so maybe someone else out there can suggest something. I'd prefer using it on Linux, of course. I'd also be interested if this loss of functionality would be sufficient to consider a class action suit to recover costs of conversion." The issue at hand is that commercial software has started to force consumers to fall into such schemes to maintain features that they already had. Today it is Quickbooks, but what about tomorrow?

5 of 441 comments (clear)

  1. Common sense by are_bee · · Score: 1, Redundant

    Assuming all updates are optional, why not just reinstall the program and ignore the update requests?

  2. Bad by notlameness · · Score: 0, Redundant

    Bad intuit, bad No market share for you oh wait, a reletively useful app that most people will usebecause it is a useful service that may or may not cost money later

  3. Re:Easy... by Alsee · · Score: 1, Redundant

    Uninstall, reinstall, patch up to the level that caused the problem

    The article says the patches are "autoupdate". No option to patch at all except to the latest version.

    Assuming the raw unpatched version is completely unacceptable (quite likely) then your only options are to accept everything they want to shove down your throat, or dump the program entirely.

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    - - You can't take something off the Internet! That's like trying to take pee out of a swimming pool.
  4. Whoa, here... by NineNine · · Score: 2, Redundant

    You're talking about using their servers for a service. If course you're gonna have to pay. Just because you didn't pay in the past doesn't mean that you won't have to later. You're not entitled to use their servers for free. I use Quickbooks daily, and I can press print and drop a PO or an invoice on a fax machine just fine. I can also export and email 'em if I really, really want to. You're paying for the convenience of using their service. Nobody said you *had* to use their service at all.

  5. Re:Long live spreadsheets... by stephanruby · · Score: 1, Redundant

    I guess I'm the only one who got the South Park reference. Everyone else thought this post was serious. : )