Respectfully and respecting everybody's opinion;

I don't feel simple bookkeeping where you buy inputs and sell corn doesn't require an extensive program.  Creeping elegance is the bane of the computer world, look at Microsoft Word and see how long it takes the average person to simply change the default font.  My estimate after being the IT guy at in a couple of offices is that 90% of most program functions never get used.  Particularly in Word, if wordpad had a spell checker I doubt most people would need or want anything else.

As to expense, an upgrade for him is $340.  I looked at GnuCash and never got it to run.  I didn't spend any real time but it appears you have to compile it.  Maybe I didn't find the correct free version.

Right now he has a new computer.  I've installed XP from his old computer in the Vmware and everything is working just fine, except for the pesky activation.  

Thank you for the suggestion and taking the time to reply.