[Jeter2Fan93]

I was accepted into the beta and right now, I'm scratching my head at why they felt the need for a complete interface revamp. Maybe today I'll have some time to play with it and use it.

[AndrewRodney]

reallycrazy summed this up perfectly!
I started on the Mac in 1988, I think I got Quicken soon after. For the first many years, it was an awesome product with new, worthwhile features every update. That hasn't been the case for at least a decade! Worse, you are forced to upgrade if you need to use the more useful features like on-line banking (still crippled in Quickbooks for Mac). I've upgraded every time, not because I want to, but because I stupidly expect the bugs from the last product to have been fixed.
Here's how totally dysfunctional this company is. In just about any mainstream app, if you open and place your multiple windows about your nice 30" display, next time you launch the app, they windows remain sticky (in user placed position). Not Quicken, not even Quicken 2007. I have to manually size and place all account windows each time. This is a beta tester 101 issue that no company should miss, let alone after years of updates.
I actually did beta on the product way back in the early days. I don't even know if they have external beta's and in instead, simply a dysfunctional internal Q&E dept. Its pretty shocking the number of bugs this product ships with.
Sadly, or maybe it will be happily, I'll probably have to upgrade. I've checked the competing products, none give me what I need in terms of functionality so I'm "stuck" with Quicken. I really DO want to love it again, as I did in the 20th century.

[EmmEff]

Thankfully my only exposure to Quicken for Mac was with the bundled version on my iBook in 2004. After trying to make a go of it, I gave up rather quickly.

Since then I've had to maintain a separate Windows PC and more recently VMware Fusion so I can run Windows software. My accounting software is Simply Accounting (which itself has an abysmal UI) and my personal finance software is MS Money 2002 (Canada Edition).

I think I've tried just about every personal finance app for OS X and none of them even comes close to the capability/usability of MS Money, especially in the area of managing portfolios and the basic reporting that Money does automatically.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I am confident there is room for a good personal finance app for OS X in the market. If I wasn't gainfully employed already, I'd think about pursuing the development of this. It looks as if there are a lot of people waiting for the same...

[RickinMaine]

Quicken is a hot topic! Not in a good way, either.
I join the ranks of many who hope for a "real" Quicken update. I've been using/stuck with Quicken for more than ten years.
After some looking around, I like iBank (just updated yesterday BTW) but I want to read a lot of positive reviews on it, or one of the other programs, before I abandon Quicken entirely.
I imagine Intuit has little incentive to invest in a major upgrade as long as they have customers buying it. Some serious competition in the personal accounting software genre might help that along.

[dbutenhof]

AndrewRodney said:

reallycrazy summed this up perfectly!

Quote

Here's how totally dysfunctional this company is. In just about any mainstream app, if you open and place your multiple windows about your nice 30" display, next time you launch the app, they windows remain sticky (in user placed position). Not Quicken, not even Quicken 2007. I have to manually size and place all account windows each time. This is a beta tester 101 issue that no company should miss, let alone after years of updates.

Granted, I have a mere 20 inch display, but I've never had any problem with Quicken remembering window positions. I have several accounts, the calendar, the account list, and scheduled transactions open all the time, and they invariably pop up exactly where I left them. (Even pesky additional account windows I'd meant to close before quitting.)

While 2005 made great improvements in UI, and 2007 made a few minimal improvements, it still bugs me that they don't even have consistent scroll wheel support in the various windows. Money grubbing idiocies like the doubled bank fee for Mac transaction downloads irritate me. All in all, while I migrated to Quicken over a decade ago because it was superior, they've clearly settled into the mode of "mine the product base for maximum profit with minimal investment".

While this "total rewrite" on the surface sounds encouraging, the upbeat implications are so totally at odds with anything Intuit has done with Quicken this century that I'll believe it when I see it.

Quote

Sadly, or maybe it will be happily, I'll probably have to upgrade. I've checked the competing products, none give me what I need in terms of functionality so I'm "stuck" with Quicken. I really DO want to love it again, as I did in the 20th century.

I've tried iBank, and MoneyDance, and even a few others the names of which I no longer recall. Almost with desperation, at times. Some demos are too limited to even know whether it'd be possible to use them, so they rule themselves out right off the bat. Of the ones that aren't, I've yet to encounter one that can even properly import my Quicken data. As that's an absolutely minimal criterion, none of them are acceptable by definition. This may indeed leave me no option but to stick with Intuit and hope Financial Life is at least no worse than Quicken 2007.

[jedi228]

> It’s been a good long while since Intuit last updated its personal finance management app—more than two years as a matter of fact
[/quote]
Is it really necessary to update an application every two years? A graphic design application--probably. A spreadsheet--maybe to keep up with "the other guys".
Finance doesn't really change every year and it isn't necessary to do an overhaul just because some people want to see something new. Software publishers, of course, love the excuse for a new product, but it is mostly the new revenue they desire.



Aside from changes to accomodate changes in the hardware and/or architecture of the OS, there shouldn't be changes in a program like Quicken. I'd prefer that it becomes more solid every year and that bugs are completely eradicated. Yes Quicken does have shortcomings and shortcomings should be fixed, but once fixed things don't need to change regularly.


Software isn't a fashion statement; it shouldn't have to be updated every season. Publishers of text books like math books like to "update" their products every few years in order to sell overpriced books to students, but if you think about it, math hasn't really changed for decades and refreshing text books is just an artificial procedure. Finance software is much like a math book--it doesn't need refreshing, but the makers will make consumers think it does.

[bonesb]

I have but one perspective: Apple, there's a need for decent, Mac-compatible financial software - design and deploy it, and you'll sell millions of copies. While you're at it, build a Quickbooks-killer - you'll sell one copy for me and one for my bookkeeper, today.
Intuit's had their shot (BTW, kick that Intuit guy off the Board. Today.), and most of the other Mac-compatible financial apps just don't get it either. Sigh.

[Slartibartfast]

In reading the SLA (software licence agreement) for the beta, I scanned the document trying to determine if any financial information I put into this beta application is shared with Intuit or any of its subsidiaries/partners. In the very last section (Section "7.3 Privacy") which states,

"For details about Intuit's privacy policies, please refer to the Quicken Privacy Statement contained either in the Software at http://quicken.intui.../qw_v2008.jhtml or the privacy policy link on the Intuit website relating to the software product your sic] purchased. You agree to be bound by the applicable Intuit privacy policies, as it may be amended from time to time in accordance with its terms".

One problem, as of writing this posting, http://quicken.intui.../qw_v2008.jhtml is a broken link (404).

Also, the "privacy policy link on the Intuit website" referred to (found [here), clearly states that this policy is for, "This privacy statement defines privacy aspects specific to the online services available through our Quicken Web site" and apparently not software applications.

There is this link but no where on that page does it list "Quicken Financial Life for Mac".

If the author of this article could please use his contacts at Intuit to inform them of this broken link it would be greatly appreciated. I won't even consider participating in this beta until I know what my rights are as they related to the personal financial information which may be entered into this software program. Philip, if possible could you issue an update to this article to inform us when Intuit has fixed the link. Please and Thank you.

[anothersite]

Thanks for the report, but I will stick with Moneydance. It works well enough. It imported over 10 years of Quicken data successfully about 5 years ago. Support services are helpful.

[webraider]

[quote name='zensunni']
>

Argelius said:

> I've looked at ... MoneyDance, but the last I checked, they just weren't very polished. And (probably because of Quicken) there were very cumbersome to update with recent transactions.

I can't speak about downloading, as I prefer reconciling with my statement, but I've used Moneydance for years and Quicken before that, and have to say Moneydance wins hands-down for me. I think it's always been pretty polished, though initially had default java, rather than Mac OS, windows/buttons. That's changed recently and I think it has a more Mac OS look/feel now.

I agree about downloading transactions. If you're going to do this you might as well download a copy of your statement, file it and call it a day. The entire point of keeping a register is to keep the Bank accountable to what they say is in your account, not take their word for it. Downloading Transactions is HIGHLY over-ratted IMHO.

[Backpacker]

There is nothing wrong with delaying a product if it means more stability and less bugs. I hate what seems to be the norm of rushing software out the door that crashes and causes problems just so it meets someone's timetable.

[EmmEff]

As a software developer, I totally agree about delaying for the sake of a better product.

For me, it's not so much the issue of the (long) delay but the promises of a better app that simply will not be better...

[mtpalmsagain]

Yep, TAllenSr hits the nail on the head. Intuit dropped Mac support cold years ago when it didn't want to rewrite it's software for OS X, then apparently reconsidered, but too little too late. I bought the Mac version of the last iteration after a glowing MacWorld review, and was appalled by how crippled it was compared to the Windows version. Frankly, I don't care if they have updated it to be as good as the Windows version, because the fact is, that they charge banks extra for Mac downloads of qfx files, although the only reason the regular qfx files don't work is a tag placed by Intuit themselves that marks your version of Quicken as a Mac version. Fewer and fewer banks are willing to pay this extra fee for so few customers. Sounds to me like Intuit is still trying to kill this app for Mac users.

DO NOT BUY THIS SOFTWARE; you will only end up sending it back, and using freeware that does the same thing, or shareware that works as well as Quicken for Windows.

Edit: Having reread all the posts, I also wanted to add that I use Moneydance at home and I am very happy with it. When I bought it, Intel Macs were just coming out and I didn't have one yet, so I needed a Mac alternative.

I use Quicken for Windows at work because that is what my client's accounts were set up in when I started working for the person whose business I took over, and I think for multiple accounts and clients, Quicken is still the way to go, unfortunately. I have a PC at work, and when I take work home, I use Quicken in Parallels on my MacBook Pro.

[bcsatty]

i have been asking intuit for about 17 years to allow the date on checks to be written January 15, 2009 instead of 1/5/09, all to no avail. apparently they are too busy creating new and ever more useless features to allow alternate ways of writing the date.