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Has Intuit Made Good on DRM Removal?
M-G asks: "It's tax time again in the US. Last year, Slashdot and other sites were abuzz with Intuit's use of activation software in TurboTax. As a result, many long time TurboTax users, myself included, sought alternatives last year and wrote Intuit to tell them so. After tax season, Intuit said they would drop DRM from future TurboTax releases and other products sold in retail packaging. While I have no reason to assume that Intuit lied, they did violate my trust last year. So, has anyone confirmed that this year's TurboTax is indeed free of DRM? What about products like Quicken?"
Intuit, as well as H&R Block I think, offer an online version of their software. For turbotax.com, visit http://www.webturbotax.com
It's free to use, you simply pay for submission. You always know you are working off of their latest "updates", and no DRM will get in the way. It is Non-IE browser friendly too... and you don't have to buy an upgrade every year.
"When life gives you lemons, don't make lemonade. Make life take the lemons back!" -- Cave Johnson
This year, I decided my time was just too scarce, so I went to H&R Block. It cost me about $200 (which I can write off next year), but I got a lot more back than I would have otherwise. I even paid for their little audit guarantee (I'm sure it's about as valuable as an extended warranty at Circuit City, but the $27 seemed reasonable).
Now I'm not endorsing H&R Block specifically, but I'd say most of us profressionals here on /. would be better served by simply having a professional do their taxes for them, whether it be a tax return mill like H&R Block, the neighborhood CPA, or someone else. I can tell you that I'll never go back to doing it myself.
And yes, I'm the type of guy who's more than willing to take his car to the local shop for a oil change and lube for $30 than waste the time on it himself.
My wife and kids see far less of me than I like already. Life's too short to piss it away on oil changes and tax returns. :)
Method of processing duck feet
Out of curiosity, are your friends all in this supposedly huge group of users who do their taxes on multiple computers? Or are they "violating the trust" that Intuit has now placed in them?
What I'm listening to now on Pandora...
You'll never know if they or any other software proprietor removed the spying software because their software's complete corresponding source code is a secret, all you get is a binary. Tax software doesn't need to be proprietary, people should be willing and able to pay for the guarantee and be able to share and modify the program. If you don't pay someone willing to sell you a correct tax computation guarantee, you would have no recourse if the program messes up your taxes. For a reasonable fee I think most people would be willing to buy the insurance.
Digital Citizen
Out of curiosity, are your friends all in this supposedly huge group of users who do their taxes on multiple computers? Or are they "violating the trust" that Intuit has now placed in them?
Parent comment should be ranked "Score:-1, Assumes that criminal intent is the only valid reason for opposing DRM."
Are you still using the same computer you did your taxes on in 1999? No? Well, neither are most people. If you need to install an older version of TurboTax to print or revise an earlier return, then you are part of that "supposedly huge group of users who do their taxes on multiple computers."
It is NOT the business of my software vendor what machine(s) I run their software on. If a company thinks I'm willing to honor a license agreement that prevents me from honestly using their software in the way that's most convenient to me, they'll just have to learn to live with disappointment. Their petty (and legally questionable) shrink-wrap EULAs are not really my problem, contrary to what Intuit may think. All they have a right to expect from me is honest, ethical behavior... not asking "how high, sir?" when they tell me to jump through unreasonable hoops regarding multiple-machine installation.
Installed with no annoying hoops to go through. I didn't try to pirate it. Get the $20 cheaper version. It sometimes hard to find at Best Buy but it is there. Nothing really useful in the expensive versions. Who needs some guy in a video telling you how to save money on your taxes if you make 6 digits? I would think 6 digit salary types have accountants.