Quicken 2015

[RockyMtn]

Received a Quicken 2015 CD in the mail yesterday. Currently using 2014 and am not inclined to upgrade to the new version. Offer for my Premier version is $10 off the $104.99 price. Seems as though I see Quicken Premier for sale at Costco for a lot less than $94.99.

The only thing Intuit seems to be pushing in the 2015 version is Mobile enhancements (which I would not use) and the ability to see your credit score/summary.

Anyone try the 2015 version yet?

 

[RonBoyd]

Moneydance is half that:

Buy Moneydance Personal Finance Manager - The Infinite Kind

<grin>

 

[UtahSkier]

Amazon is generally cheaper at times. I have 2012 and will need to upgrade because of the 3 year sunset on downloads. I have read somewhere that the early quality is decent, so I made the purchase. However, I will not be installing the new version until 2015.
Quicken changes are sufficiently slow that there is no need to upgrade until you need to... which is every 3 years.

 

[homestead]

Downloaded 2015 Quicken for Mac yesterday from Amazon($64). Was surprised it
imported my 2005 Quicken file no problems.

 

[prudent_one]

Use camelcamelcamel.com to set a price alert on amazon. Over the last few weeks their price has ranged from $70 to $100 (Premier).

 

[bUU]

We consider the purchase of Quicken to be the purchase of a three year subscription. We have another year left in our subscription so we're not considering purchasing Quicken this year.

 

[Cobra9777]

This is how I utilize Quicken upgrade CDs that land in my mailbox...

I have 2012 and will need to upgrade because of the 3 year sunset on downloads.

I have issues with this business practice. Quicken is a mature product. Not much changes year to year. If they want to stop support after 3 years, that's fine. But to render the software useless is unnecessary and unacceptable to me. So, I save money, get a free coaster once a year, and use free online alternatives, like Mint and Personal Capital.

 

[braumeister]

Moneydance is half that

As a Mac guy, I was forced to give up on Quicken long ago. Have used Moneydance exclusively for nearly three years now, and am very happy with it.

 

[Birdie Num Nums]

This is how I utilize Quicken upgrade CDs that land in my mailbox...

I have issues with this business practice. Quicken is a mature product. Not much changes year to year. If they want to stop support after 3 years, that's fine. But to render the software useless is unnecessary and unacceptable to me. So, I save money, get a free coaster once a year, and use free online alternatives, like Mint and Personal Capital.

I still use Q2010. Although it no longer downloads transactions after that three-year period, it still will update current price quotes, if I ask it to. That's important to me. I don't mind manually entering my personal transactions, as it keeps me vigilant of my accounts. And it really doesn't take that much time. So, the software is still useful to me.

 

[Ozstache]

I still use Q2010. Although it no longer downloads transactions after that three-year period, it still will update current price quotes, if I ask it to. That's important to me. I don't mind manually entering my personal transactions, as it keeps me vigilant of my accounts. And it really doesn't take that much time. So, the software is still useful to me.

Using similar logic, I am still with the 2004 version, which is downloadable from Intuit for free as a transitional version to upgrade even older version data to an intermediate file format which can then be upgraded to the latest version. If you're happy to enter/import transactions yourself, the 2004 version does a wonderful job of tracking/managing your finances, year in and year out, for FREE

 

[Samething]

Ozstache your awesome. Just downloaded Quicken 2004 for free. I have never used Quicken and wanted to get a feel of what it has to offer before I buy 2014. Moneydance and Acemoney both offer trial programs and now I can try Quicken too.
Thanks

 

[Rustward]

This is how I utilize Quicken upgrade CDs that land in my mailbox...

I have issues with this business practice. Quicken is a mature product. Not much changes year to year. If they want to stop support after 3 years, that's fine. But to render the software useless is unnecessary and unacceptable to me. So, I save money, get a free coaster once a year, and use free online alternatives, like Mint and Personal Capital.

I am guessing you never wrote software for a living.

 

[Walt34]

We're still using 2010 also. I can't remember why we upgraded to that version but it was around the time we bought a new computer. The previous version was at least five years old though.

 

[Walt34]

I am guessing you never wrote software for a living.

Can you elaborate on why planned obsolescence in software is a good thing other than selling more software? Full disclosure, the practice irritates me too.

It seems to me that I paid for it, it should continue to do what it did out of the box until a version comes out that makes it worthwhile for me to buy that version.

 

[Cut-Throat]

This is how I utilize Quicken upgrade CDs that land in my mailbox...

I have issues with this business practice. Quicken is a mature product. Not much changes year to year. If they want to stop support after 3 years, that's fine. But to render the software useless is unnecessary and unacceptable to me.

I have written software for a living and the reason that software 'expires' is because the interfaces to other companies (Banks) software has changes, so to keep it operational, you would have to maintain multiple versions which cost money.

Think of it like this..... Everytime a movie was released they would have to release the movie on VCR, Beta, DVD, BluRay etc. just to satisfy every user interface that wanted to watch the movie. Technology moves forward and old technology should be left behind.

With that said Quicken produces a new version every year, which is unnecessary as they are 'Milking the Cow' more than necessary. Even Microsoft does not produce a new Windows every year. Since Windows 95 in 1995, There has been 95,98,ME, XP, VISTA, 7,8,10 - So basically 20 years of 8 releases and in reality some were fixes so, 95,98,XP,7 and 10 - So basically 5 releases in 20 years. I use Quicken, but Hate a lot about it. I'd like to dump it, and move on to something else, but inertia is a powerful force.

 

[Walt34]

I have written software for a living and the reason that software 'expires' is because the interfaces to other companies (Banks) software has changes, so to keep it operational, you would have to maintain multiple versions which cost money.

Think of it like this..... Everytime a movie was released they would have to release the movie on VCR, Beta, DVD, BluRay etc. just to satisfy every user interface that wanted to watch the movie. Technology moves forward and old technology should be left behind.

Thank you, that makes sense. I'd forgotten about the bank's interfaces changing.

 

[Rustward]

I have written software for a living and the reason that software 'expires' is because the interfaces to other companies (Banks) software has changes, so to keep it operational, you would have to maintain multiple versions which cost money.

Think of it like this..... Everytime a movie was released they would have to release the movie on VCR, Beta, DVD, BluRay etc. just to satisfy every user interface that wanted to watch the movie. Technology moves forward and old technology should be left behind.

With that said Quicken produces a new version every year, which is unnecessary as they are 'Milking the Cow' more than necessary. Even Microsoft does not produce a new Windows every year. Since Windows 95 in 1995, There has been 95,98,ME, XP, VISTA, 7,8,10 - So basically 20 years of 8 releases and in reality some were fixes so, 95,98,XP,7 and 10 - So basically 5 releases in 20 years. I use Quicken, but Hate a lot about it. I'd like to dump it, and move on to something else, but inertia is a powerful force.

Informative. You got here before I did. I would just like to add that there is a world of difference between writing (for example) a spreadsheet for one's personal use and writing a commercial product that will be distributed across a large user base. I think one would have to have been on both sides of the equation to fully appreciate that difference.

Can you elaborate on why planned obsolescence in software is a good thing other than selling more software? Full disclosure, the practice irritates me too.

I'm not sure where this came from, Walt. I never expressed or implied anything about planned obsolescence in software. Cut-Throat's post is about how I would have explained it.

I am not going to support or attack Intuit's sunset policy -- it is what it is, and we can all make our own choices to buy a licence for Quicken or not.

 

[Cobra9777]

I have written software for a living and the reason that software 'expires' is because the interfaces to other companies (Banks) software has changes, so to keep it operational, you would have to maintain multiple versions which cost money.

Software 'expires' because the vendor wants to sell upgrades.

Again, if Intuit wants to stop support at some point for the reason you mentioned, that's fair game. If the interface to one of my financial institutions stops working after that point due to "software changes" by the financial institution, no problem. I agree that Intuit has no perpetual responsibility to maintain all interfaces beyond some reasonable time. But to disable *ALL* online updates, even the vast majority of links that continue to work just fine... Well, that's why the real reason is exactly what I stated.

I also find it interesting that Intuit maintains all these interfaces for free on Mint.

 

[Cut-Throat]

Software 'expires' because the vendor wants to sell upgrades.

Again, if Intuit wants to stop support at some point for the reason you mentioned, that's fair game. If the interface to one of my financial institutions stops working after that point due to "software changes" by the financial institution, no problem. I agree that Intuit has no perpetual responsibility to maintain all interfaces beyond some reasonable time. But to disable *ALL* online updates, even the vast majority of links that continue to work just fine... Well, that's why the real reason is exactly what I stated.

I also find it interesting that Intuit maintains all these interfaces for free on Mint.

Actually, any reason that Intuit wants is completely valid. It's all 'fair game'. I only gave a reason of why Software Expires. As someone pointed out, you are buying a 3 year lease on the software and that is what you agree to before you purchase it. You are not buying the software. You are merely renting it. No different than renting an apartment for a year. They force you to upgrade at the end of three years to make supporting the software easier. Otherwise people would be asking for 'fixes' to their current release. This is their business plan and it is completely valid. It is called capitalism. Let me say also I don't really care for Quicken, but for completely different reasons. There are bugs in the software that have been there for over 20 years. I keep hoping they'll be fixed in the 'next release'..But all I get is a 'New register Look'.

Like I said, I was in the software business for 30 years. We leased our software for 1 year only. Clients would have to pay us every year, or when they added user 'seats' to the leased software. We charged by the seat. If they did not renew the lease, All parts of the software would completely fail to work. Intuit could take this approach as well. Eventually, the software they were using expired and we longer supported it, unless they paid us very expensive 'Custom' software consulting. This was our business plan and it was completely valid.

 

[Cobra9777]

...This is their business plan and it is completely valid...

I never argued that the business model was invalid. I simply explained why it was unacceptable to me, as a consumer. Beyond that, I think we had a difference of opinion as to the real motivation behind the sunset policy.

I'm very familiar with the by-the-seat licensing practice you described for corporate software. That's a very different scenario. The self-destruct mechanism within Quicken is highly unusual for mass-produced consumer software that's distributed on CDs in cardboard boxes at retailers like Best Buy, with a shrink-wrap license of dubious enforceability. Perfectly valid, just highly unusual. If some people are OK with the self-destruct mechanism, that's fine. I'm not. Especially, given the quality and reliability of free online alternatives.

 

[Brierfield]

Still using the 2007 version of Quicken here. Use it only to track expenses; don't do any downloads of bank or investment info. (Use free Morningstar Portfolio Manager to track investments) Only time I updated was when I got a new computer that wasn't compatible with the older version I had. Don't expect to update until I purchase a new computer and possibly run into incompatibility issues again. Very happy with 2007 version for our present needs.

 

[nuisance]

Sorry to hijack the thread, but...
I bought Quicken recently, and was severely disappointed. The UI was beyond atrocious (opening up windows that were not resizable and too small to fit the numbers displayed), and there isn't even a real estate investment category.
What I'd like is something that I can use to track my investments across various accounts, and tell me what my overall AA is. Ideally it could tell me what I need to do to rebalance. It would be even better if I can say that x% of my portfolio is reserved for a house, y% for charity, z% for retirement, and so on. Then as I pull money out I'd tell it what the money was used for.
Does moneydance do anything like that? Is there anything else that does? I downloaded a trial version of investment account manager, and it didn't really do this, and the UI was pretty terrible also.
It's starting to look like cooking up my own solution is the way to go, but I'd rather just use something that works.

 

[tulak]

I have written software for a living and the reason that software 'expires' is because the interfaces to other companies (Banks) software has changes, so to keep it operational, you would have to maintain multiple versions which cost

This can happen, but as far as I can tell it's not the case for financial software. The reason Intuit expires Quicken is because they want to maintain a revenue stream.

 

[pb4uski]

While I could use Quicken for more than 3 years and forgo automatic transaction downloads et al, to me the convenience of automatic downloads is well worth the minor cost of the software. Plus I get an updated tax planner and whatever other improvements are built into the new version. So I update every three years or so.

 

[M Paquette]

The data moved from banks to financial software is in OFX format. OFX, or Open Financial Exchange, is an industry standard.

The small subset of OFX needed to download transaction data from a bank to a consumer financial program has not changed over the years. OFX is a schema based extensible markup language, very easy to parse, and easy to ignore unrecognized extensions while handling ones an application needs.

Programs which are not Quicken seem to handle OFX downloads for many years. Where things get sketchy is in bill payment and bill presentment. There was supposed to be a certification process to validate the implementation of OFX servers, but this never happened. It might have something to do with the expectation that all OFX clients would be Quicken or MS Money...