Quicken

Quicken is a personal finance management tool developed by Intuit, Inc.

Different (and incompatible) versions of Quicken run on Windows and Macintosh systems. Previous versions ran on DOS.^[1] There are several versions of Quicken for Windows, including Quicken Starter, Quicken Deluxe, Quicken Rental Property Manager, Quicken Premier, and Quicken Home & Business, as well as Quicken for Mac.^[2] Since 2008, each version has tended to have the release year in the product name (e.g., Quicken Basic 2008); before then, versions were numbered (e.g., Quicken 8 for DOS).

Quicken's major marketplace is North America, and most of the software sold is specialized for the United States and Canadian marketplace and user base. But the core functions can often be used more widely, regardless of country; and versions have been tailored for a variety of marketplaces, including Australia, Germany, Hong Kong, India, New Zealand, the Philippines, and Singapore.^[3] Development of the UK-specific version of Quicken was stopped in January 2005, with sales and support ending shortly afterwards. There were also versions for Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Denmark, Ecuador, France, Mexico, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Uruguay, and Venezuela.^[3]

Related products

The Quicken brand has been extended to other personal and household areas, including healthcare. Quicken Health Expense Tracker is a free online tool for healthcare consumers enrolled in participating health plans. Users can "manage and direct their health care finances, view and organize medical expenses, payments and service histories, and download and organize personal health claims data."^[4] The Quicken Medical Expense Manager is a desktop software tool for managing healthcare paperwork, tracking claims and payments, and consolidating related information.

Quicken Kids & Money was a Web-based program that aimed to help parents teach five- to eight-year-old children how to earn, spend, save, and share money. It is defunct.^[5]

Other products are aimed at home business and seem to fit in a space for a less formal business than would be using QuickBooks. Quicken Rental Property Manager is a desktop software tool for managing rental properties; tracking tenants, expenses, and payments; and producing tax reports.

Software as a service

Quicken Online was a free, hosted solution (see software as a service) by Intuit. Intuit hosted all of the user's data, and provided patches and regularly upgraded the software automatically. Initially this was launched as a monthly paid subscription, and was a free service for over a year. During the year that it was free, it acquired over 1.5 million customers. It was discontinued on August 29, 2010, and users were encouraged to transition to Mint.com.

Intuit completed the acquisition of competitor Mint.com on November 2, 2009, and has announced that it will be transitioning users to that service from Quicken Online.

Editions

The following are current (selling and supported) and retired (discontinued in both sales and support) versions of Quicken.

Current

Selling

• Quicken 2016 for Mac^[6]
• Quicken (Starter Edition, Deluxe, Premier) 2016 for Windows^[7]

Supported

• Starter, Deluxe, Premier, Home & Business, Rental Property Manager 2016
• Starter, Deluxe, Premier, Home & Business, Rental Property Manager 2015
• Starter, Deluxe, Premier, Home & Business, Rental Property Manager 2014
• Starter, Deluxe, Premier, Home & Business, Rental Property Manager 2013 - expires April 30, 2016
• Quicken Mac 2007 OS X Lion compatible

Retired

Quicken 8 for DOS

(Dates retired are shown.) ^[8]

• Starter, Deluxe, Premier, Home & Business, Rental Property Manager 2012 - Apr 30, 2015
• Starter, Deluxe, Premier, Home & Business Edition 2011 - April 30, 2014
• Starter, Deluxe, Premier, Home & Business, Rental Property Manager 2010 - April 30, 2013
• Starter, Deluxe, Premier, Home & Business 2009 - April 30, 2012
• Basic, Deluxe, Premier, Home & Business 2008 - April 27, 2011
• Basic, Deluxe, Premier, Home & Business 2007 - April 30, 2010
• 2006 (Win) – April 30, 2009
• 2005 (Win) – April 30, 2008
• 2004 – April 30, 2007
• 2003 – April 25, 2006
• 2002 – April 19, 2005
• 2001 – April 19, 2005
• 2000 – May 18, 2004
• 98 and 99 – April 20, 2004
• Version 6 for Windows. "Designed for Windows 95. Release 6.0. (c) 1996"
• Version 3 for Windows 3.1
• Quicken Essentials for Mac - Apr 30, 2015
• Quicken for Mac 2007 - retired Apr, 2012?
• Quicken for Mac 2006
• Quicken for Mac 2005 - retiring Apr 30, 2015

Criticism

• Quicken contains a sunset provision that stops online features and any QFX formatted files from working after a certain amount of time,^[9][10] requiring users to first buy a new Quicken license, and then to learn a new, often different interface from the more recent Quicken version.
• Intuit stopped supporting its Quicken software in the United Kingdom in 2005 leaving many thousands of users with only partly functional software.^[11]
• In 2008 and 2009, Quicken users reported an unusually large number of software bugs for a commercial product.^[12][13][14] A review of Quicken 2010 suggests that quality and user interface in that product year is dramatically improved.^[15]
• Existing Quicken Online users' data is not transferable/importable into Mint.com. This is in direct contrast to VP Aaron Patzer's promise, made on April 27, 2010: "[Until the merger with Mint.com is complete], you can continue to use Quicken Online just like you have. Once we have completed integrating all features to Mint, you will be able to easily transfer your information and data to ensure the smoothest transition possible."^[16]
• Quicken for the Mac lacks some of the features of the Windows version.^[17][18]
• To migrate to Lion, users must pay $15 for an updated version of Quicken 2007. It has no new features.^[19] (The only way to obtain this version now is to contact Intuit Support directly, via chat only, here: https://quicken.custhelp.com/app/contact/plvl1/mac ^[20]
• Many features of Quicken 2007 for Lion do not work (e.g., stock split transactions in investment accounts), and Intuit's support is limited. (though they continue to release updates, mostly to maintain and address online connectivity issues for their Stock Quotes/Pricing download and Billpay features (to be able to pay bills directly via bank/financial institution).^[21][22]
• No common file format used for Windows and Mac (see History below)

History of Quicken and the absence of a common cross-platform file format

Quicken uses a database file structure. Since Quicken started on MS-DOS and the Apple II back in 1983 (before the Macintosh appeared in 1984), the database structure of choice did not exist for the Macintosh, nor has there really been a good common database structure developed that was cross-platform compatible created in the early days. So, when Mac development started, it had to take an independent path, and the DOS version transitioned onto Windows.

Then when Mac OS X came out in 1999 (server) and 2001 (desktop), a new platform emerged. Apple developed backward compatibility for OS 9 (and predecessors), so Quicken for Mac development continued in an older platform database structure (PowerPC based). Apple continued to support PowerPC-based apps (via Rosetta) onto their Intel-based Macs in Aug. 2009 (via Mac OS X 10.6). Rosetta was a temporary measure to support the eventual transition to Intel-Only based Macs (achieved in Mar. 2011 with the release of OS X 10.7 (Lion)).

In 2009, faced with the eventual retirement of the PowerPC, it was deemed that the structure for Quicken for Mac (2007) was not suited for the direction of the Mac (intel) and OS X. Though they got Quicken for Mac 2007 to run on Intel in 2012,^[23] Intuit decided to start from scratch and Quicken Essentials for Mac (QEM) was created in 2010.^[24] Quicken 2015 for Mac, released in August 2014, and later versions for Mac are built on that new creation.

See also

• Comparison of accounting software

References

External links

• Official website