Microsoft Money Plus ....

As proof that a combination of a large bank account and persistence aren’t everything, Microsoft is discontinuing its Microsoft Money software. The notification has officially been released:

With banks, brokerage firms and Web sites now providing a range of options for managing personal finances, the consumer need for Microsoft Money Plus has changed. After suspending annual updates of Money Plus in 2008, Microsoft is announcing today that we will no longer offer Microsoft Money Plus for purchase after June 30, 2009.

We would like to thank the many dedicated users who have been enthusiastic supporters of Microsoft Money over the years, as well as our partner financial institutions who helped pioneer a digital vision of financial management.

Well, perhaps that would be more truthfully stated as following the pioneer in a digital vision of financial management, otherwise known as Intuit. In the 1990s, Microsoft heavily dogged the maker of Quicken, hoping to take a significant portion of what became a popular type of consumer application. But Intuit managed to out-maneuver and out-compete Microsoft time and time again.

The writing was on the wall for this move. Last August, Microsoft took Money off retail shelves and ended its commitment to annual updates. The explanation was that people were changing the ways they bought software. That might be another way of saying that selling anything at retail is an expensive business, with money going to retailers and distributors and, in the large chains, the demand for contributions for “marketing” the product. Given the cost of supporting an application, you have to wonder whether Microsoft might not have come out farther ahead by dropping the product years ago.

The rich get of poorer quality

Microsoft founder Bill Gates regain the top spot, despite his wealth declining $18bn (£13.06bn) to $40bn.

The financial crisis is taking its toll on the world's richest people, wiping 332 names off Forbes magazine's "rich list" of world billionaires.

Just 793 people can now lay claim to a place on the list, but on average they have lost 23% of their wealth.

Don’t go looking for them in soup lines just yet, but the world’s billionaires have suffered too as the economy has tanked.

Where there were 1,125 billionaires on last year’s Forbes list, there were 793 when the new list was released Wednesday.

There was some jostling at the top. Bill Gates moved to No. 1 from No. 3, bumping investing guru Warren Buffett and Mexican telecommunications magnate Carlos Slim to No. 2 and No. 3, respectively. All of the top 10 billionaires saw their net worths fall.

Forbes reported that those on the list of billionaires had an average net worth of $3 billion, down 23 percent.

American billionaires this year accounted for 44 per-cent of the money and 45 percent of the slots. That’s up 7 percentage points and 3 percentage points, respectively.

Houston lost two of its billionaires, with money manager Fayez Sarofim and W&T Offshore founder Tracy Krohn falling off the list. But the city gained another: Bud Adams, the former Houston Oilers owner who still takes heat for moving the team to Tennessee more than 10 years later. He broke in at No. 647 with an estimated net worth of $1.1 billion.

Houston’s richest man, energy baron Dan Duncan, saw his rank rise to 81st, despite a $2 billion drop in his net worth. Rich Kinder, CEO and chairman of Kinder Morgan, and hedge fund manager John Arnold, were the only Houston billionaires on last year’s list whose values increased this year.

Oilman Jeffrey Hildebrand and lawyer Joe Jamail held steady at $1.5 billion each but moved up more than 300 spots to No. 468 on the list.

R. Allen Stanford wasn’t listed as a Houston resident when Forbes put his worth at $2 billion on last year’s list. Now the Mexia native whose company has its headquarters here has been removed from the list.