Rating: 
Summary: Going back to 2002 if Intuit doesn't fix _soon_
Review: I must echo the other disappointed reviews herein--down to the specific problems seen. I have used Quicken on the Mac since the first version; I was upgrading from 2002 to 2004.
1. Data conversion was a disaster, and had to be repeated 3 times before a working set of data was produced. Initial output was not a file, but a directory containing aliases and subdirs. And though the installation instructions said I would be able to select the source and destination, I was not. Program grabbed what it could find, and saved where it wanted.
2. In the ROI Investment report...stocks with actual negative ROIs are reported as having high positive returns (e.g. 200,000%). Such a basic error, in such a mature product! And such an obvious arithmatic error in a _finance_ package?
3. In the IRR investment report, all Avg. Annual Total Return entries are "N/A"
4. I've been unable to contact Intuit support via 'chat'. I've tried Safari, IE, OmniWeb, and Firebird--different problem with each.
5. Help document supplied with 2004 appears to refer to a different product--Windows, version, maybe? Capabilities are listed which do not exist.
I agree with those who say it looks like Intuit is getting sloppy...and since this is tracking my _finances_ I cannot afford to use software I cannot trust.*A bit of follow-up: I contacted Intuit Support about the listed problems, and the rep recognized the problem immediately--they'd seen it before. I was told I would need to use Quicken 2002 to correct the problem--2004 would not do it. I followed the instructions, and most problems were corrected, but then balances were wrong. Comparing to backups, I found that 2 significant transactions from data reconciled long ago (one in 2002, one in 2000) had been lost entirely. Happily the transactions were present in my backed-up 2002 files. But why did the upgrade trash the data? And why can't 2004 fix problems that 2002 can? This upgrade destroyed data and cost me about 8 hours of manual rework. I reiterate my rating of 1 star--unless I can drop to 0.
Rating:
Summary: Extremely Disappointed: So Buggy I Can't Even Get Started
Review: I have been using Quicken for the Mac since 1992. I have probably upgraded at least 6 times without any significant issues. I have been using Quicken 2002 for the past couple of years and was excited for 2004, hoping it would fix some of the bugs and crashes I seem to be having. Because of my positive experiences in the past, I did not do significant research before purchasing. Big mistake.
I just downloaded and installed Quicken 2004 and converted my 2002 data file. To my suprise my overall networth balance was off by nearly 50%. I started reviewing individual accounts and realized that all of my investment and retirement account balances were incorrect, several stating zero balances.
I tried and retried to convert from previous versions of my data file, with no luck. I poured over the Intuit site and realized they have not acknowledged this problem and have very little trouble shooting support for this version. The Intuit offices are closed so I am unable to reach Technical or Customer Support. I read on their site that they charge $1.95/ minute for phone support. So now I have to pay them to fix their bugs. After reading the reviews here I see that even if I resolve my data problems, the program itself is not stable. Needless to say I am returning this product tomorrow. I will just put up with the crashes and bugs of my 2002 version. Ridiculous.
Rating:
Summary: It doesn't even clear a transactions anymore
Review: I'm an old Quicken user. I like to use the check mark to clear a transaction in the register; but it no longer does this. It thinks it can do it, but it can't. I researched and saw this was a common problem that Intuit claims it's working on. I'm not willing to wait so I returned it.
Rating: 
Summary: Useful enough, but not trustworthy
Review: Quicken users get substantial benefits -- but if your finances get complicated, you should NOT trust Quicken. My particular problem -- with Q98, 2002, and now 2004, has to do with user-entered lots while selling securities. The function simply does not work, and trying to correct its errors gets things worse and worse. In the end, one can only simply ignore the program's claimed ability and calculate capital gains on ones own. This is important: many users might rely on the Capital Gains reports that Quicken generates while doing taxes. DO NOT DO THIS if you have user-entered lot designations, because the results are likely to be nonsense. The fact that Intuit has no mention of this bug in its FAQs and offers no fee-free customer support even for what is clearly their bug is not encouraging. I'm returning this (I upgraded mostly because I hoped they had finally fixed this bug). Worst of all: if your software makes weird and egregious errors in one function, can you trust it in ANY function? It's a shame, because Quicken offers a lot. But the fact is I don't really trust it any more.
Rating:
Summary: So much for 'switching'
Review: Quicken Deluxe was the only program I kept using on my cranky old PC when I switched to a lovely PowerBook G4 two years ago, and this month I decided it was finally time to move my financial records over, too. I'd read reviews of Quicken for Mac and knew how much it was reviled but figured that it had to be slightly better than the alternative, which was Not Tracking My Finances At All, as I couldn't bear to turn my evil PC on anymore. Well, I may have been wrong. I spent a couple of hours yesterday bringing the records on my PC up to date, followed the instructions from Quicken.com KB article 2159 on how to prepare my files for conversion, read the ReadMes, installed Quicken on my PowerBook and upgraded it to the latest release, and then . . . found that despite all this, the application consistently fails to correctly import my data. At the start of each month for the last four years, I've had a set of small but recurring payments into four mutual fund accounts. They're identical from month to month, and identical to each other in every way except in the payee field, which is the name of each fund. Pretty basic, right? When I imported my data into Quicken for Mac, however, the payments for two of these funds disappeared. All of them. Four years' worth. The payments into the other two funds are all there. Huh?!? If those entries have converted wrong, I'm sure there are thousands of other transactions that have been dropped, too. So according to KB article 2159, I'm supposed to "look for duplicate or missing transactions . . . [and] Recreate any data that did not import"--i.e., print out each register from my PC and compare it, line by line, four years' worth, with the garbage data that's now in my Mac. Aaargh! Please save us, independent software developers!
Rating:
Summary: Lack of competition shows!
Review: I used Quicken since about 1990 on my PCs, but found that over the years, Intuit added bells-and-whistles that really just cluttered-up the program, and did little to justify the new release, otherwise. In 2002, I decided to try MS Money and was delighted I did: it's more interactive, intuitive (pardon the pun), and just "looks" and "feels" better than Quicken. In early 2003, all of my computers and peripherals were destroyed, so I figured that, as long as I was starting from scratch, I'd switch to a PowerMac G4. I love the Mac and am satisfied with the switch - - except that I had to start using Intuit's Quicken again (Micorsoft can't be bothered making a version of Money for Mac, I guess). This version of Quicken is a huge disappointment, and does not perform nearly as well as Quicken's Windows version (e.g., some screens respond to scrolling, and others do not - - no apparent reason for this that I can detect, other than Intuit can't be bothered fixing the glitches). It is as thought Intuit's attitude is: "We're the only game in town for Mac users, so they'll take what we give them, and like it, or lump it!" Incredible arrogance, lousy support, and fine-print-driven rebate conditions (the sticker on the box tells you the offer is good until, for example, 12/31; but you discover, too late, that the fine print says that you have to mail in your rebate within x DAYS of the purchase, or you are S.O.L.) = no product/brand loyalty. Never thought I'd root for Microsoft, but I sure wish it would come out with a "Money for Mac" - - they'd clean Intuit's clock (or force Intuit to start giving a darn about Mac users).
Rating:
Summary: Buggy and kludgy, but what choice do we have?
Review: I almost regret going back to a Mac... Intuit has not been kind to their Apple userbase in recent years. I was glad to find that data transfer from Windows was not a huge problem (I had read the horror stories.) Day-to-day use, though, has been far from pleasurable. The user interface is horrible; for starters it doesn't even remember window positions when I re-open the program. Seemingly basic graphs come up with no data; attempting to download transactions results in errors every time. (Not my bank's fault... works fine on Windows.) And, to top things off, the program crashes 8 times out of 10 when I use it. I never thought I'd say it, but I wish MS would port Money to the Mac or that someone else would step up. Is it just me, or do the 'works great no problem' reviews have the stench of shameless plugs by owners/shareholders?
Rating:
Summary: At least it lost my data in the first week of use.
Review: This came preloaded on my iBook. The reviews were not good, but for free I thought I would give it a try. After spending half a day setting up my accounts, my data file is lost and the most recent backup doesn't have most of the accounts I added. I don't understand how anyone could trust this program with their financial information.
Rating: 
Summary: The patch more than corrects all of the problems
Review: Admittedly, the initial release of this was a bit buggy, but after installing the patch updater, everything works exactly as expected and advertised!
Rating:
Summary: Do NOT BUY or BE SORRY!
Review: Having been a loyal user of Quicken 98 and 2000 since 1996, it was logical to upgrade when I switched to OSX. This product could not be more screwed up. Entries are mysteriously lost and duplicated. Reconciling does not work at all as numerous entries are not recognized, making accounts appear out of balance. And so on. After hours of trying to figure out what "I" was doing wrong, I went onto Intuit website only to find out that this (and more issues) are common problems. My solution for now is to go back to Quicken 2000 and launch with OS9 (major pain, but better than having consistently unreliable software/financial data). As soon as a comparable product is available for Mac I will switch. Unless you want to spend countless hours rebuilding your data, DO NOT BUY. Any review supporting this product could only be written by an Intuit executive or major shareholder. I've never been compelled to write a product review before, but this product is SO BAD, and Intuit is so unresponsive, it was my only option.
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