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?"

They have made good I think

[Methuseus]

I haven't personally used it, but many many people I have talked to have said they took out the DRM and are allowing multiple installs from one CD (especially since they can't track it by CD-key anymore). I would probably wait to see the reaction of someone who used it firsthand, however.

Different approach this year

[Anonymous Coward]

It doesn't install in the boot sector anymore. It now uses protection like Microsoft Windows XP. It generates a unique ID against your CPU or hard drive serial number and MAC address, and you need to activate your copy with that and the original serial number. You can't print or file until you activate your copy, and you can't run it with WINE because it needs to modify kernel.dll to enable its curtained code area, which WINE doesn't yet support/use.

Re:Why pay for this software?

[admiral2001]

What a rip! You can buy that retail for about $30,

Or much cheaper. It's been around $20 at staples for a while.
http://www.staples.com/Catalog/Browse/Sku.asp?Page Type=1&Sku=521733 [staples.com]

And for reference, I bought it because:

• I don't feel comfortable putting all my financial information online in one place
• I like playing with my taxes a lot playing various 'what-if' scenarios which I may not quite want to put out there
• I want to make sure that if I reopen my tax return from the past year(s), they will stay the same, using the same program, etc.

I was satisfied

[FreshMeat-BWG]

I purchased last year and was bitten rather harshly by the activation scheme which prevented me from submitting my return from behind a proxy w/ pwd authentication. Obviously, I could not install at home after that so I had to mail my return.

This year, I purchased the software and found no problems with activation at all. The software installed without connecting to the Internet just fine.

My purchase was especially inspired by a company responding to consumer feedback and I choose to reward such a decision with my $.

Re:Yes.

[/dev/trash]

Don't forget that you can itemize the cost of Tax preparation as well. It dones't help me, but it's something to think about.

Re:Save your time -- ditch the software entirely

[toddlg]

Right-on bro.

My wife and I used to do our taxes ourselves, with either the latest tax software or pencil/paper.

In 2001 we had our friendly neighborhood CPA do it and we got back way more money than if we'd done it ourselves.

I have a tiny side biz doing web sites/programming etc. and she's a counselor (independent contractor in a private group/practice) and our acct. was able to help us get a lot of breaks on business expenses (computer stuff for me), etc. that we NEVER would have thought of ourselves.

You are exactly right: most of us profressionals here on /. would be better served by simply having a professional do their taxes for them.

Right tool for the job I always say.

I pay you for your expertise, just like others (and my employer) pay me for my expertise. I want my mechanic to know cars, my doctor to know medicine, my builder/remodeler to know construction, etc. I happen to know computers, and am the "computer guy" for prettymuch my whole family. Not that I won't ever tackle some of those other things on my own, but there comes a point when it's better to just pay for someone else's know-how, and taxes for me is definitly one of those things.

Re:Why pay for this software?

[The_K4]

state version was still $25 or so. My state income tax is based on federal tax, so it only takes 10 minutes once your federal taxes are done.

Yeah, not all states are that easy. I never stop being shocked at how difficult CA can make the state return. I have NEVER seen another state like CA where at some point you expect to get a negative number, and then need to subrtact that negative number from another negative number before subrtacting the whoe thing from a positive number! I did my federal by hand and it took a lot less time then doing CA's by hand. Not OR on the other hand makes state taxes take like 10 min.

Re:Opposite experience

[Anonymous Coward]

Even though it doesn't help you now, here's a few suggestions:

If you don't have anything special in your tax situation, the
programs will probably work as well as anything else. If
there is something special in your tax situation or
there's been a major change over the past year, you
would do well to consult someone else to help file
(in this case, I wouldn't use one of the big chains).
Best bet would be to find some people who had similar tax situations
for recommendations on an accountant. In your case,
you would do well to find an accountant who specializes in
tax returns for foreigners or people who worked outside
the country. I'm not completely sure, but I think
there is a large deductable for that situation.

In my case, I filed it on paper. Of course as a college
student, I made below the minimum to have to pay anything. :)
My parents OTOH have started a tree farm and talked to an
accountant who specializes in farms. They discovered
some nice deals as a result. Example: Don't have to
make any money for 10 years before IRS starts wondering
about your operation. Get a 70% deductable first year
on any equipment they buy (bought a lawnmower last year).
Overall, if was their best investment in several years. :)