Quicken 2007 May Run on OS X Lion, Even With Rosetta Dead

[..d..ecay]

Quicken 2007 works well - for now

Unfortunately, Intuit has failed Mac users. I was an long time Quicken user up until I made the switch to a Mac about 3 years ago. Quicken on a Mac is a farce.

Quicken 2007 for Mac works quite well. I've got ~15 years worth of Quicken data, all on the Mac, and I've upgraded to every viable version that Intuit has put forth. I say "viable" because I refused to downgrade my capabilities by using that POS they call Essentials (which it's not!). So, no, Quicken is not a farce on the Mac, but you need a decent version.

C'mon, Intuit, step up and create an Intel-based, fully functional version of Quicken for Mac 2012! Enough pu55y-footing around, bite the bullet, serve your Mac customers properly, and port the code!

 

[briloronmacrumo]

For the love of god, just make Rosetta an optional download like it is now and all our lives easier.

Unfortunately, it's not that simple. Apple is predicted to be pulling the PowerPC frameworks too. Without those, Rosetta won't run.

Intuit's description of their 'plan' is not very credible. They claim a database prevents the code from moving to Intel Macs? If these are Endian issues there are remedies and Core Foundation calls. Plus, the issue(s), whatever it really is, should have been identified 5 years ago when Apple announced a move to Intel.

 

[lilo777]

Exactly how many more millions of users do there need to be to make it worthwhile for them?

Even Microsoft keeps office for Mac updated more often.

Most Mac users are college students. They do not need Quicken. Besides, most Mac owners have/run Windows (on Macs) anyways. They need enough users to make this business profitable and obviously those users aren't there. Nothing special. Situation with Mac-capable versions of software has improved slightly but still nobody should be surprised that companies do not want to support OS/X platform.

 

[SamuraiArtGuy]

Interestingly enough, they have quite the bloody RAFT of Windows products, so fire up Virtual PC or Parallels if you care to. But it does seems that they DO have some kind of intel codebase to draw on. I suspect it's less pain that starting a new rosetta-free OS X app from scratch. A proper port of the Windows code seems like a no-brainer. Seriously, even AutoCAD managed a decent port to the Mac.

Oh wait, shaking down Apple for Rosetta bits is even less work that actually writing software. But that hardly gives us anything remotely resembling feature parity.

Sad, since they do somehow manage to shovel out a set of reasonably feature equal versions of TurboTAX every year, and it's actually decent. An update every frakkin' year.

Oh wait.

The feature set in TurboTAX is determined by the IRS.

Never mind.

 

[Fraaaa]

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For the love of god, just make Rosetta an optional download like it is now and all our lives easier.

Unfortunately, it's not that simple. Apple is predicted to be pulling the PowerPC frameworks too. Without those, Rosetta won't run.

Intuit's description of their 'plan' is not very credible. They claim a database prevents the code from moving to Intel Macs? If these are Endian issues there are remedies and Core Foundation calls. Plus, the issue(s), whatever it really is, should have been identified 5 years ago when Apple announced a move to Intel.

Also when OS X has been announced a decade ago Apple made clear that they were supporting 'classic', 'carbon' and 'cocoa' frameworks and that developer should move towards 'cocoa' overtime. If Quicken had been ported in 2004 they still had another 7 years ahead to update their software. And it seems clear thta even other software house managed to made their software compatible with quicken files. So this, unfortunately is poor business planning.

 

[bankshot]

We finally gave up on Quicken last year after many years of suffering through substandard Mac versions. We tried a few alternatives including Moneywell, Moneydance, and others, but finally settled on YNAB (You Need A Budget) - http://ynab.com.

It doesn't have the bells and whistles of Quicken and others, but we love the way it's structured. Unlike most of the other software out there, budgeting is very easy in YNAB because the whole program is based around that. It's a slightly different philosophy, but it really works well for keeping, tracking, and sticking to a budget. And of course it does all the standard account and transaction tracking with ledgers and such.

Oh, and they have a great iPhone app for logging transactions on the go, then syncing when you get back home. Works really well.

I do wish it had a few features of Quicken or others, like subcategories for transactions and more in-depth/flexible reports. I also don't like the fact that it uses Adobe Air and is therefore a bit sluggish in the UI. But the paradigm is great and I really love the fact that it's more about looking forward with your money than mostly looking back.

Quicken can die with PPC for all I care...

 

[malcolmffc]

Mac users - just buy VMWare and run the windows version in a VM. Done.

 

[ikir]

Why not add those features to essentials in an update seems so much more simpler let outdated technology die it has to eventually.

Indeed it is absolutely stupid.

Anyway i think you can run Quicken for Windows with Crossover!
http://www.codeweavers.com/compatibility/search/?name=quicken

 

[themadrhino]

Using MoneyDance to replace Quicken 2005

I have been using Quicken for 16 years and have been on Quicken 2005 since I saw no benefit to upgrading 06 or 07 based on the writeups.

I downloaded Quicken Essentials for the MAC on Tuesday and was completely disappointed that it couldn't track my investments or 401K.

I have been doing research for months on a new personal finance software on the Mac and finally downloaded MoneyDance in trial mode and will probably buy. MoneyDance is a different interface but I have figured it out and it does everything my Quicken 2005 did and then some. Some of my totals didn't reconcile (Checking over 10,000 entries and had a difference of $116) but others (AMX over 13,000 entries and was spot on in being correct) so I will assume operator input error.

I don't know what to say other than Intuit gave up on Mac a long time ago and why I use TurboTax each year for some reason on Quicken they must not want the business.

In reading on MoneyDance it is compatible with Lion from what I have read under discussions. So I am going to go with MoneyDance and hopefully not look back.

 

[Goldenbear]

Why continue giving money to Intuit???

This is long (it started in 2006), but there's a lot of good info on various alternatives to Quicken:

http://www.macintouch.com/readerreports/applications/topic4065.html

Off the top of my head, the latest options seem to be (in order of my personal preference):

SEE Finance - Excellent customer service, best import of old data, very fast
MoneyWell - Best budgeting, best iPhone app, very good customer service
Moneydance - OK gui, good feature list, Windows and Linux versions available
iBank - Poor customer service, lots of features, slow, OK import of old data
Quicken Essentials - Familiar interface, poor feature list, non-existent customer service, horrible history of fixing (or not fixing) bugs

I stopped upgrading Quicken long ago, after years of giving them my hard earned money. Reported bugs were never fixed, and new bugs were introduced with each new version of Quicken, many of which were never fixed (see a trend?). With that history, why would I give them any more of my money?

For now, I continue to use 2005, which came with my old Mac. I'll continue running it on my iBook until I find an alternative, which at this point will probably be SEE Finance, as soon as they add tags (sort of equivalent to Classes). MoneyWell is my 2nd choice.

-----

Off Topic

Btw, I don't use TurboTax either. TaxCut/HR Block has been my choice for nearly a decade. HR Block had a native app when OS X was released. It took Intuit a full year before they got around to it. TurboTax may be "nicer", but TaxCut/HR Block gets the job done for me, at a lower cost, and without enriching Intuit.

 

[ktappe]

At the risk of feeding the troll....

Most Mac users are college students.

Reference, please.

most Mac owners have/run Windows (on Macs) anyways.

Reference again, please.

Situation with Mac-capable versions of software has improved slightly but still nobody should be surprised that companies do not want to support OS/X (sic) platform.

Look at how fast WWDC sold out (hours), and how many apps are already in the Mac App Store, and tell us again that companies "do not want to support OS X." I honestly think you do not have the slightest idea what the current state of OS X development and support is.

 

[Marx55]

MUCH EASIER:

Just install Rosetta from Mac OS X 10.6.7 on the newer Mac OS X versions. Also for:

Eudora mail
Palm Desktop

 

[Mark Booth]

Apple needs to release a personal/small business finance program that is compatible with Quicken data. Apple gave us Keynote to replace Powerpoint and gave us Pages to replace Word. Time to replace Quicken. Seriously, screw 'em if they won't properly update their freakin' program.

Mark

 

[AdrianK]

MUCH EASIER:

Just install Rosetta from Mac OS X 10.6.7 on the newer Mac OS X versions.

Cool. There's just sort of one teeny tiny problem with that: It does not work.

 

[mozumder]

Quicken is easily one of the worst pieces of software ever written.

Anything from intuit is complete junk. Glad that apple is getting rid of Rosetta, so people are forced to stop using and supporting it.

It is actually better to keep paper records than to use Quicken.

 

[linked.account]

Lazy, lazy, lazy oh sorry $ !!

How lazy can be a company? Oh sorry they don't want to invest money to produce a brand new App. I just cannot accept that Snow Leopard is here more than a year- Apple dropped Rosetta in SL- and they haven't done anything, yet!
Guys, the name of your product is 2007 ! What does it say to you?? People buy new laptops and desktops in this time frame and you still haven't updated those products. I think such a movement from Apple is really needed for companies like Intuit and Adobe, since they don't respect their customers and need to be pushed by an outer force!

 

[brettryan]

Intuit seem to be failing lately with respect to keeping their aging technology fresh, they seem stuck in the 90s. QuickBase is another bad example from intuit already falling far behind.

I realize how hard it would be however would a migration to one of the filemaker products be viable for some users?

 

[johneaston]

Never heard of Quiken - just looked it up and it looks great. I want in.

But what's missing in the 'Essentials' version?

 

[macnisse]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_3 like Mac OS X; sv-se) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8J2 Safari/6533.18.5)

Kudos to the project leaders of this mighty task. Will it work? Why not commit to an update for the latest version...?!

 

[Hastings101]

MUCH EASIER:

Just install Rosetta from Mac OS X 10.6.7 on the newer Mac OS X versions. Also for:

Eudora mail
Palm Desktop

I wish it was that easy lol. Darn Apple and their dropping of Rosetta/PowerPC Application support

If there's anything I miss from Windows, it's that Microsoft is pretty decent about compatibility with previous versions of the OS. I know supporting a different architecture might take a little more effort by Apple, but there are still quite a few PowerPC only applications out there.

 

[usptact]

What in the world they were doing all this time with that Quicken? Didn't they know what gas fabric they were maintaining? Just right time for another company to come up with replacement which offers the same and + functionality.

 

[dnedved]

Another vote for moneydance

I was a Quicken/QuickBooks user since the DOS 286 days. I made the transition to windows relatively painlessly and expected the transition to Mac to be as easy. Quicken for Mac is amateur and buggy software to be sure, but there aren't enough adjectives in the English language to describe how painful the experience with QuickBooks for Mac was. When Quicken doesn't work you get annoyed, but imagine if your livelihood (and being able to file your tax reports on time and thus stay out of jail) depended on a similar but infinitely more user-hostile piece of software whose outsourced paid-per-incident support can't even figure out how to do basic things like run payroll? After spending thousands with my accountant (on top of the hundreds for licenses for both pieces of software) we just gave up. If there is a business larger than a lemonade stand out there running on QB for Mac I'd be interested in hearing about it because I don't believe it's possible.

My experience with Intuit throughout the whole process has resulted in a deepseated hatred for that whole company as well as their products. For the business side you're on your own, but for the personal side I'm 100% in support of Moneydance. It runs on Mac, Linux and Windows so your financial information is never again tied to your computing platform. It's actively developed, and well-supported by friendly and knowledgeable people. It works brilliantly with things that I'd never even attempted back in Quicken such as multiple currencies, and multiple budgets. It has an iPhone app which can sync up with your real computer. It just works and I'm a huge fan.

 

[smdapple]

Brain Dead Intuit

Intuit is utterly retarded.

They have completely abandoned the Mac community by making us wait years for a promised product (after years of extremely minor updates) and then falling flat on their faces as far as features go. I don't know of hardly anyone who would even consider using Essentials.

Secondly they refuse to develop any software for iOS devices that you can use to sync to Quicken so when you're on the go you can input things instead of collecting a bunch of receipts to enter later. They also wouldn't allow Landware (former developer of a great app Pocket Quicken) to develop anything either. That's because they want everyone to put their personal finance info into their databases so they can try to control our financial life and mine information from it. There is no way I'm trusting Intuit with my info.

Now I have all this data that I've spent painstaking man-months to input and sort out and now they don't even bother to update their Essentials package and instead try this hack that may or may not work or see the light of day?

Disgusting sense of responsibility to their customer base.

 

[KnightWRX]

Do these guys ever tire of that same old panned press statement that is not remotely factual? I guess not.

This is not an Operating System getting ported. It's a single application.

Sorry, but anyone relying on Quicken in this day and age needs to rethink their approach to managing their own assets.

How do you know they're not heavily dependant on hand written ASM/Endian trickery for their internal database ?

Static linking of the PPC frameworks into the binary and then packaging Rosetta as a launcher sounds like a doable exercise. Of course, it sounds like a lot of work and testing when they should instead be working on either bringing the missing features over to the Intel version of QE.

 

[pubwvj]

Apple should be maintaining compatibility for all applications all the way back. The computers, even an iPodTouch, have the computing power necessary to emulate all the previous machines. There is a tremendous amount of software that was never upgraded to PowerPC and then to Intel. Developers went out of business. But many users, especially in small businesses and education, still use that software. This is a great resource. It is a shame for Apple to abandon it. If they're doing this for Quicken they should do it for all applications.

Some people say upgrade to alternative software but are no alternative titles for a lot of the software. Apple should not be abandoning Rosetta and they should not have abandoned Classic. They are an enormous company with tremendous resources. They could easily keep emulation for these older systems going.

It is irresponsible of Apple to create obsolescence of hardware by discontinuing operating system and technical support for older systems. This policy of Apple's creates more trash filling the landfills and is a waste of resources.

The solution is for Apple to make new software intelligently scaleable such that it recognizes the hardware it is being installed on and adjusts to fit within the memory footprint and hardware's capabilities. Yes, certain new features like transparent window shadows will not be available but there are many improvements which can be continued to offer for older hardware such as the folders in the new iOS which do not need any advanced hardware capability.

The benefit to Apple is they can continue getting sales of operating systems each year as they offer new versions of the OS with new features. Additionally Apple will gain more market penetration as the old hardware is kept active and passed down in families resulting in a larger user installed base. Charge for the technical support - obviously. Just keep offering AppleCare.

Apple should also encourage developers to support the furthest back operating systems and hardware possible.