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279 of 288 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
An Extreme Rip-Off, December 9, 2006
This review is from: Quicken Personal Finances 2007 for Mac [OLD VERSION] (CD-ROM)
I've used Quicken for Windows since 1994 and have been quite pleased with it. I've updated every few years, and am currently using Quicken 2005 Deluxe for Windows XP on my PC. I have no major complaints about the Windows versions that I've used.
Last year, I bought my first Mac (the last of the G5 iMacs). I fell in love with it and I now use it for everything except finances. My Mac came with a free version of Quicken for Mac, and I assumed that I'd just be able to start it up and have instant access to the Quicken data on my PC over my home network. However, Quicken for Mac would not recognize my Quicken file, nor would it restore the backup files. So I assumed that this was because it was some sort of free stripped-down trial version that had expired, or something like that. I therefore recently purchased the latest and greatest version of Quicken for Mac (2007), assuming that this would do the trick and that I could finally junk my rusty PC.
WRONG.
The full-priced "full-featured" 2007 version of Quicken for Mac wouldn't read my existing Quicken files, either. So I looked in the instructions and found a blurb about converting a Quicken for Mac file to a Quicken for Windows file, but found nothing about converting from Windows to Mac.
I had to search the Quicken website to find a document explaining how to convert a Quicken database from Windows to Mac. It quickly became very clear that if you're a long-time user of Quicken for Windows and you want to convert to Quicken for Mac, you're basically screwed. Unless, that is, you've only been using Quicken for a few simple tasks such as balancing your checkbook. If, like me, you have multiple investment accounts of various types with records going back many years, you might has well forget about converting to Quicken for Mac.
For starters, it turns out that there are a lot accounts and reports that simply won't convert at all, so you'll just have to lose those. For example, Quicken for Windows handles 401(k) accounts (a fairly common type of account). Quicken for Mac does not. So you can kiss your 401(k) data goodbye. Same with Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable (fairly common things for those of us with home businesses). Same with Memorized Reports, Security Price Histories, etc.
If you decide that you can live without such things, you can proceed with the adventure of converting your Windows data to Mac data. Note that no conversion utility exists, so you have to do an enormous amount of hand-editing of the database.
The conversion process requires that you go through all transaction categories supported by the Windows version and look for those with names longer than 15 characters. The instructions don't make it clear whether a blank space counts as a character, but I assume it does. You're supposed to rename these categories to bring them within the 15 character limit. Quicken 2005 for Windows has at least one such category that cannot be renamed (Quicken simply won't let you do it). The others can be renamed, however.
Then you have to rename any accounts that are longer than 15 characters.
Then you have to edit your securities list to make sure every ticker symbol is all-caps.
Then, if you have a mutual fund account that contains any RtrnCapX transactions, you have to change that mutual fund account to a regular investment account.
OK, now you've done all that. The next step is to go through all your accounts one at a time, look at each transaction, and manually change the categories for certain transactions. There are 7 transaction types that exist in the Windows version but not in the Mac version. For example, MargInt (margin interest expense) does not exist in the Mac version, so you have to find every single margin interest event in your records and manually change it to a miscellaneous expense, with a note in the comment field that it's for margin interest. Then you have to do similar conversions for the six other transaction types that aren't supported. For example, every MiscIncX transaction has to be manually changed to a combination of a MiscInc and an XIn. If you have multiple accounts containing more than a decade's worth of transactions (as I do), this becomes a formidable task.
There's more to do after this, but this was the point at which I threw up my hands and decided that it's just not worth it. I'd have to hand-edit hundreds of transactions in my Quicken database and hope that I got them all right. Then I'd have to live with a version of Quicken that lacks many of the features to which I've become accustomed over the years.
Quicken offers an option where you can send them your file and have them convert it for you, but they won't convert the non-supported transactions to supported ones. So, for example, you'd simply lose all records of your margin interest expense. They claim, however, that they'll arrange things so that the correct balance is preserved in each account even though all those transactions will be missing. How nice. And if you want to use their conversion services, you have to go through a lot of rigamarole just to get them to do it.
So, I'm stuck with a useless piece of software that I downloaded from Intuit's online store for $60.
Looks like I'll have to keep my PC running until I get an Intel Mac that will allow me to use Bootcamp. Also, rumor has it that the Leopard version of OS X, when running on an Intel Mac, will allow you to run Windows XP applications directly under OS X (without rebooting and without emulation), but this is still just a rumor.
This experience has left me with a very low opinion of Intuit.
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214 of 220 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Very different than Windows version, but that's okay!, December 23, 2007
Yes, like many others when I first bought this version of Quicken I had just crossed over from windows to mac. I had some difficulty adjusting to the different interface, and a few quirks when transferring my account data over, but now that I've been using it exclusively for about 5 months it is just great. If you're switching from PC to Mac, just think of this as a different product and don't expect the exact same features. I find this one actually easier now that I've used it. I was just used to where everything was in the windows world since I had been using that for so long.
Here are the things that I think can be improved on the Mac version:
+ there's no way to sort the account register by amount. You can only sort by date and the check number field. I like to sort by amount sometimes so I can find a specific dollar amount (minor irritation)
+ the reporting feature is a bit cumbersome. If you're like me, you'll want to just click the buttons and get your report created without having to read the documentation. I managed to get what I needed without the help screens, but it was still a bit of work. Thinking back, I had this same problem with the Windows version, so this is not a Mac vs Windows issue - it's an overall Quicken issue.
+ I was really annoyed with the way it connected to my online banking accounts when I first started using this version. I think it can still be improved like the Windows version. With the Windows version, one click from inside Quicken and it's connecting to my bank and downloading the latest transactions for all my accounts. With the Mac version I have to login to my bank then download each account's activity file. Now that I'm used to it, it is less irritating to me, but it still would be nice to have that one click feature back.
What I do like about the Mac version:
It works. It does what I want it to do and it does it well. I don't need to keep a Windows computer around just to do my banking. When I switched to Mac, I switched to Mac - it's all or nothing for me.
I don't do a lot of finance work with Quicken, never did. I just keep track of my checking, savings and credit cards. I know there are a lot more features should I ever need them. But I like simple, quick and easy. Quicken 2007 for the Mac works for me.
++UPDATE: I am using this on a MacBook Pro (Intel version) with OSX.
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142 of 146 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
I upgrade only when I'm forced..., August 31, 2006
This review is from: Quicken Personal Finances 2007 for Mac [OLD VERSION] (CD-ROM)
Another year's worth of eye candy from Intuit, with no substantive changes.
Quicken for the Mac still doesn't know how to handle a brokerage account that lets you write checks off your cash balance (e.g., E*Trade) without forcing you to split the account into two ledgers that you have to relate manually (Quicken for Windows had this feature eight years ago!). My financial institutions (e.g., Fidelity) that used to say "online features not compatible with Quicken for the Mac" still aren't compatible with Quicken for the Mac. And it still refuses to remember where on the screen I left my windows.
Meanwhile, the changes they do make are fluff. I've always been able to schedule bills and payments in Quicken, why would I even want to involve iCal now?
If it weren't for Intuit's practice of arbitrarily discontinuing all online connectivity for old versions of Quicken when they reach a certain age, I'd never upgrade at all. I haven't seen anything actually USEFUL in a Quicken Upgrade in the past five years.
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