Intuit Releases Quicken Essentials on Mac App Store

I've been using QE for over a year and I've found that it's simply OK for basic home financial accounting use but that's really about it. Obviously it falls far short of Quicken 2012 for Windows and it remains a total disgrace that Intuit refuses to properly service the rapidly growing Mac user base adequately.

Based on what it actually does do, the price of this software should be no more than half of what they have it currently listed for on the App Store. If I hadn't received a complimentary license for it from my employer I wouldn't be using it at all as it's certainly not worth $49.99 in it's current state.

I don't understand why it's so hard for Quicken to put out a Mac equivalent of their PC version, instead of some ridiculously stunted piece of software like Essentials. I'm still using Quicken 2007, but even that is not as good as the Quicken for Windows that I left behind.

Intuit for the Mac, what a bunch of jokers...

What a friggn' joke move this is by Intuit, talk about taking the piss on customers with their lazy halfhearted b.s.

I got tired of waiting for a modern version of Quicken for Mac a couple of years ago. I ended up switching to iBank (briefly) and then to MoneyWell. For most Quicken users, I would recommend iBank, but we use the envelope/bucket budgeting mechanism in our household and MoneyWell is great for that. After I switched to MoneyWell, iBank added the same budgeting method, but MoneyWell is built around it so every transaction on our checking account automatically gets a bucket. Even transfers out of our checking account to other accounts can be assigned to buckets on the checking side, but not on the other account -- this means that we don't get a debit and credit canceling each other when we transfer money. This was a great feature for us. Only downside to Moneywell is that they don't have much staff so you wait longer for new features. The iPhone app took a while, and I am still waiting/hoping for an iPad-optimized app.

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Intuit, Adobe & Microsoft all have the same MO: take your money. That is in stark contrast to the approach of making your customers thrilled and they will gladly pay you lots of money. Sheesh, I wish they all three would just go away.

Intuit - the Anti-Mac company

Sadly, I'm still waiting for another company to PLEASE build something worth owning on the mac side. I'm running Q2009 via xp/bootcamp and just got the "gimme more money or else" note from Intuit to upgrade.

I HATE INTUIT and how they treat their customers!!

class77 said:

I don't understand why it's so hard for Quicken to put out a Mac equivalent of their PC version, instead of some ridiculously stunted piece of software like Essentials. I'm still using Quicken 2007, but even that is not as good as the Quicken for Windows that I left behind.

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Not enough potential users to justify the expense?

Intuits business model is to remove features from their low end products to encourage/force users to upgrade to Pro edtitions. I fell for this with two consecutive versions of Quicken for Windows, and bailed out when they removed stocks and shares tracking. I won't give them another penny.

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Stella said:

Not enough potential satisfied users to justify the expense?

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Fixed. And that's their own fault.

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Intuit is a disgraceful software house. They make Microsoft look like Apple. Their products are terrible. QuickBooks uses antiquated peer to peer networking from the mid 1990s. Complete garbage that requires constant coddling of "single user" and "multi user" modes to keep it working.

The best course action is not buy their sh-t until it works well and is consistent across all platforms. If Apple can do it with iTunes and Microsoft can do it with Office, why can't Intuit get it together?

Lion

I just upgraded my Mac running Quicken 2007 to Lion and Quicken Quit working. See Intuit was such a cutting edge company that they based Quicken 2007 on the Power PC platform even though they probably knew and had prototype Macs that were running on the Intel processor. The windows version was probably running on the same hardware as the Mac Intel Version, but Intuit made a commitment to the Power PC Version. And now Quicken 2007 is kaput.

Rip here Lies Quicken 2007.

Over this last weekend I have been converting to iBank. I have looked at iBank before and I have had some problems with it, but right now it is one of the few games in town. The other accounting program I have found has been GNU-Cash which is an open source piece of software. The software looks promising, but the only way the software can be supported is through Pay Pal contributions. I decided to stay away from the share ware software and go with iBank.

So far the iBank software seems transactionally valid and will cover most Stock transactions. The check book function seems easy enough. I have not found a way to edit the set up information of an individual stock or change information in an account, but it may be my unfamiliarity with the program. I also have not figured out how to generate stock charts, one of the reasons I stayed with Quicken to the bitter end.

I had partitioned into two 360gb partitions the hard drive of the computer that housed my copy of Quicken. One of the partitions is still running Mac OS 10.5.7. So I am able to run Quicken in the Power PC emulator in 10.5.7. I am printing out every report I can think of. I am abandoning ship.

R.I.P.
Macintosh Quicken
1995-2011

I'm really lost as to what software to get. After reading so many bad reviews about Quicken for Mac I'm hesitant to buy it. And, after trying iBank, I don't really like it.

So, aside from the option of MoneyWell, what are you guys using?

knightlie said:

Intuits business model is to remove features from their low end products to encourage/force users to upgrade to Pro edtitions. I fell for this with two consecutive versions of Quicken for Windows, and bailed out when they removed stocks and shares tracking. I won't give them another penny.

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Fixed. And that's their own fault.

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Fixed, really? Its economics.. if there aren't enough potential mac customers then why should Intuit bother with a mac version and potentially make a loss. Not worth the risk. As of October, OSX had between 6% and 7% ( http://www.fiercecio.com/techwatch/...arket-share-ups-pressure-windows-8/2011-10-04 , http://www.appleinsider.com/article..._base_grows_to_over_6_worldwide_13_in_the_us/ )


If OSX had even half the user base of windows then you'd see Intuit put in a lot more effort.

Of course, Intuit's attitude towards OSX at the moment isn't doing them any favours.

Version 1.6.1 vs 1.7

The version of QE from the Mac App Store is 1.7 yet the version I have from Intuit directly is 1.6.1. Checking for updates within Quicken doesn't find 1.7. Is there a difference between what's on the App Store and what's on my machine?

Would appreciate if anyone had any insight. Thanks.

aristobrat said:

I've got pretty basic "financial management" needs. I've got two checkings, one savings, and a few credit card accounts. I want an app that can automatically connect and download new transactions, help me categorize them, and then let me run some reports to see where my money's going.

I love love LOVE Quicken Essentials. It does everything that I need it to, it's been rock solid for me, and unlike Quicken 2007, it looks/acts like a real Mac application.

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I feel the same way. From the comments, I think people found a way to use Quicken 2007 / 2012 to print money to their color printers. I wish Quicken Essentials in the Mac App store could print money like the 2007 Mac version. Oh well.

iBank

I switched to iBank when I moved to Lion. For those of us who used Quicken for Mac 2007, it takes a while to get used to (like any other new program) but stick with it. It's a good replacement. The report function is not as robust as QFM, but it's adequate. The support is great. All updates within a version are free.

mjohn1223 said:

Has anyone tried Moneydance? It's rated #1 here: http://personal-finance-software-review.toptenreviews.com/mac-personal-finance-software/

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I've been using Moneydance since I switched to an all Mac household last fall. Moneydance works great for my needs and imported several years of Quicken and MS Money data. It lacks a little bit of high gloss compared to Quicken but is a wonderful alternative.

Cool, the great unwashed masses of mac users can now get access to a set of poorly implemented incomplete features!

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KPOM said:

That's part of the issue. They want to move people over to Mint, which would be fine, except they don't make it easy to move over historical records from any version of Quicken (Windows or Mac). Plus, with financial information, some people are less likely to trust the cloud.

The same is happening to tax preparation. They are making the CD/download versions more expensive (although at least TurboTax still runs natively on the Mac - its update routine is bad, though), attempting to get everyone onto the online version.

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I'll *never* use online financial management software. That's one of the issues with QE too - I was told by them that Intuit actually makes the connection to your bank, and then stores that information on their servers. Since they aren't a financial institution themselves, they aren't subject to the same privacy regulations. No thanks.

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ejkionka said:

I switched to iBank when I moved to Lion. For those of us who used Quicken for Mac 2007, it takes a while to get used to (like any other new program) but stick with it. It's a good replacement. The report function is not as robust as QFM, but it's adequate. The support is great. All updates within a version are free.

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I'll second that - and it's FAR better than QE.

HarryPot said:

I'm really lost as to what software to get. After reading so many bad reviews about Quicken for Mac I'm hesitant to buy it. And, after trying iBank, I don't really like it.

So, aside from the option of MoneyWell, what are you guys using?

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I've been using full-blown Quicken under Windows since the early 90s. When I went Mac 4 years ago, I just bit the bullet and loaded XP under Parallels and run Quicken that way... now on Quicken 2011.

I'm not wasting my time trying to get Intuit to find parity between the platforms. I just deal with it. The other options for financial software a) don't compare in investment analysis and b) don't bring enough history over to justify the move.

That's pretty much the only thing I still boot Windows for, on my MBP: Microsoft Money Plus Sunset Edition - when M$ exited the market, they released the Sunset edition as a Free replacement for outdated Money products.

I have waaaaay too many years worth of data in M$ Money to export, and they do NOT make exporting easy (not to mention, my own categories, etc). It's a pity they exited the market, and that there's no Mac version. It does everything I need.

Check out SeeFinance..

No one has mentioned SeeFinance, yet.
http://scimonocesoftware.com/seefinance/

It's robust and accurate with outstanding support. A "switch" from years and years of Quicken is a slight paradigm shift. I went back to an old computer with Quicken still installed and was shocked at how cumbersome a simple find or sort were and how awful charts and graphs were in comparison.

My only two complaints so far are how the split transaction "looks" to the user...and that there is no option for annualized earnings on my investments. Pretty minor complaints.

Importing seamless. Memorized payees, category merge & split a breeze...etc

It's worth checking out.

In the cloud(s)...

I can understand the mechanical reasons for Intuit--and many others--to favor cloud computing over distributing downloadable software: It allows them to develop and improve software in a single environment--theirs. As a design model it's a throwback by 20 years, but I suspect it's much more efficient from their perspective.
Strategically, the shift raises very large red flags. We are watching Google and Facebook track users' behavior, and then monetize user's data by selling it to advertisers. And, from time to time we see cloud data being hacked, cloud systems being arbitrarily taken down, etc.
Intuit is an ordinary corporation; their obligation (to shareholders) is profit maximization. But we users must look out for our own interests. Mine includes minimizing the loss or misuse of my data. I will never adopt software in which I lose custody and/or control of my information.

a.jfred said:

That's pretty much the only thing I still boot Windows for, on my MBP: Microsoft Money Plus Sunset Edition - when M$ exited the market, they released the Sunset edition as a Free replacement for outdated Money products.

I have waaaaay too many years worth of data in M$ Money to export, and they do NOT make exporting easy (not to mention, my own categories, etc). It's a pity they exited the market, and that there's no Mac version. It does everything I need.

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Try Quicken (for Windows) and see how it does the import from Money. It did a perfect job for me and I had years of accumulated transactions and investment history. I had to do some clean up of the categories when done but it was straightforward.

I still like Money better, but I've got to look forward and Quicken will have better support and integration with financial institutions (and of course stock price tracking).

HarryPot said:

I'm really lost as to what software to get. After reading so many bad reviews about Quicken for Mac I'm hesitant to buy it. And, after trying iBank, I don't really like it.

So, aside from the option of MoneyWell, what are you guys using?

Click to expand...

Moneydance after years of quicken and haven't looked back:

http://moneydance.com/mac

Quicken still exists?! The last time I saw it was on a Windows 95 computer

Already switched to iBank 6 months ago. Too little too late Quicken!