Three Stars

I recently received your
“Stay Home, Stay Safe” package
as a gift.
(I have the Michigan 2020 limited edition).

While not entirely unhappy with how it has performed,
some of the features are lacking.

For instance,
the “distance learning” module
for the kids
malfunctions constantly.

It loads fine in the morning
but within a couple hours
I need to reboot the whole system
– multiple times –
to get anything to run.
It crashes the other modules as well.

This is especially frustrating,
as I was thrilled with
“Work From Home”
which I started using in 2019,
enthusiastically giving it 5 stars.

I still use and enjoy “Work From Home”
but it doesn’t function nearly as well
while “Stay Home, Stay Safe” is running
on the same operating system.

I admit the possibility of a
system issue
on my end.

Physical memory does seem to be taxed,
and I notice occasional overheating
but I’m running pretty high-end hardware
and expect better performance.

I’m told the “Couples Only” edition of
“Stay Home, Stay Safe”
works great along with
“Work From Home”

Unfortunately, I have already upgraded to
the “Family” edition
and am told I cannot
roll back to an earlier version.

If you have the full “Family” package
and are running “distance learning” or
other applets like
“teenage social distancing” or
“keep the cupboard stocked”
my recommendation is to avoid
a concurrent instance of
“Work From Home”.

If you can’t avoid running
fully featured versions
of both programs
you can try turning off
the “resentment” notification,
although mine seems to reactivate itself.

I’ve reached out to tech support with no success.

Worth noting:
I did purchase a Ring
video camera
for the kitchen.
“keep the cupboard stocked” is running
much more smoothly.

Still, I’m giving it three stars.
It could be a lot worse.
We received “Family Flu”, the Holiday edition
several Christmases in a row.
Given the option, I would have rated it zero stars.

Most importantly,
“Stay Home, Stay Safe”
has remained virus-free so far.
But I have also rigorously followed
all instructions.

I’m sure you will see lower ratings come in.
I’d suspect user error.