Rating: 
Summary: Pretty good upgrade
Review: Like some of the other reviewers here, I have used Quicken for a number of years. This is my first upgrade in three years, and overall I am satisfied. Some of the things that others have complained about are simply not true, at least in my experience: I have no problem downloading stock quotes, I have no problem tracking my 401K, I do not get pop-ups for Intuit products, and I can customize the home page so that no graphs or charts are shown.Customer support is another issue; Intuit decided some years ago that it couldn't care less about your problems, so don't expect much help from them. But overall I am satisfied with the product. Don't think Microsoft Money is a cure-all; every product has its flaws, and whatever makes you think that a Microsoft product will solve all your problems?
Rating: 
Summary: DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY
Review: This is my first online product review, which I was compelled to do after wasting my $$ on this so-called upgrade. I upgraded from 2001. One of the things I was looking for was better 401K mgmt. It's virtually impossible to truly track 401K activity, but this allows you to make regular updates to your holdings without having to do a makeshift update like I used to do. That's one of the few pluses to this version vs. 2001. But the interface is terrible. The account list is on an all white background instead of the grid-line style that it used to have, which now makes it hard to read across. Once you go into an account, you cannot close the register view window - you have to click on another icon or account to go into something else. I'm having a tough time getting used to that. Why would they take something simple as the _ O X window sizing option that was in all previous versions through at least 2001? The customization of the interface is very poor. Nowadays, most software allows you to change numerous viewing options including colors, fonts, etc. Quicken 2004 gives you none of that. You are stuck with the setup they provide and are forced to view tons of graphs and charts, which may be useful in some cases, but should be more customizable for those who prefer other views. If I can find a way to save my data file to a previous version, I will be downgrading back to 2001 (...)
Rating: 
Summary: Don't even think of upgrading to Quicken 2004
Review: I'm a long time user of Quicken and generally dislike Microsoft, but this is getting hard to take. I upgraded to 2004 in hopes of fixing some of the problems in Quicken 2003 and instead it got worse. About a month ago, I had to uninstall and reinstall just to get the product to work. Tonight I can't seem to customize reports. When I try, I hangs the program and I have to reboot. I have been fighting this for about three months. Too long, I thought to reenter a bunch of data, but I have rebooted one too many times. As soon as Money 2004 converts Quicken 2004 data, I'm going to give it a try. I know the reviews are bad, but it can't be any worse. If you are using an older version of Quicken don't upgrade even if you get it free with Turbo tax, just don't do it.
Rating:
Summary: Most bugs ever from Intuit
Review: Don't bother buying Quicken 2004. There are significant bugs that Intuit has not fixed, even after two patch releases since the August release. I've used Quicken since the DOS days, basically about 13 years. If you have Quicken 2002 or 2003, DO NOT UPGRADE to 2004. If you don't have Quicken, check out MS Money first. I've always been a die-hard Quicken fan, but I'm disgusted with Intuit's poor quality in this release. Hopefully they'll keep releasing patches and get this dog fixed soon. If they ever do, I'll post an update. But for now, avoid Quicken 2004 at all costs.
Rating:
Summary: Great new product but needs a few more features added
Review: I have used Quicken since 1997 and this is my third upgrade (1999, 2002, 2004). Quicken never became a very useful program for me until after Intuit improved the program's online automatic account updating, downloading and reconciling features. If you have an older version of Quicken before 2002 you may be in for a big change so make sure you test out the new program before fully upgrading. My experience is that Quicken 2004 installed and the 2002 data files updated to the new version easily and without any problems. After a few months of getting used to the look of the new interface I am finally extremely happy with the 2004 version compared to version 2002. My main complaint now is that version 2004 lacks some extra options and features that I liked in version 2002. I did not find certain ways to customize the interface that existed in 2002 like the ability to have separate colors for each account and being able to selectively turn off some of the program sounds without turning all the sounds off (for expample turning off only the program's annoying opening tune). The improvements I really like are the speed with which the program starts up (the 2004 program starts up very fast), better program stability (version 2002 would lock up on me from time to time and 2004 has never locked up even once), and there is an improved reliability of the internet account updating interface (2002 would hang sometimes during the one step update and version 2004 works perfectly). If you are upgrading from a version before 2002 you might be taken back by the changes in the look and feel of the newer Quicken interface so I would highly recommend you look at and test a sample of the program for a while before you completely migrate your files from your previous version. I can understand some of the other reviewer's initial reactions to the changes in the look of version 2004 because I felt exactly the same way at first, but after months of using it I can say without a doubt now that I find the newer Quicken 2004 interface to be much more efficient, stable, and easier to navigate than any previous version I have used. I find myself spending far less time searching around in the program for the information I need and more of my time getting things done. Just for your information regarding this review I am using Windows XP Pro SP1 with all of the online updates installed. If Intuit had improved some of the program's cumstomizable options I could easily be giving this new version a rating of five out of five stars. The number of negative reviews that have been made here on Amazon regarding the new Quicken 2004 has surprised me so much that I decided to add a few more comments. I have been using computers since the days of DOS 5.0 including Windows 3.0, 3.1, 3.11, 95, 98, 98se, and now XP. I actually have done years of computer repair and technical support work on PCs in the past 15 years and I know when I see buggy and flawed software and from my three months of experience with the product when upgrading from version 2002 this is not buggy nor is it flawed as some reviewers have stated. I do not know the status of other reviewer's machines but I do know that my computers also work as they should for the other programs that I install unless those programs have known flaws. I have a 1Ghz Pentium 3 notebook running XP Home Edition and an Athlon 2400+ CPU based desktop system running XP Pro. I was able to install Quicken 2004 Deluxe H&B on both machines without a single problem installing, updating, or migrating my version 2002 data. Let me repeat that I have had not a single problem with the new Quicken 2004 on either of my machines. As you should with any critical application program it is recommended that you back up all your data onto separate disks first and make sure you have your old Quicken version CD or disks in case for some reason you don't like 2004 and want to re-install the old version if you do have major issues. From my experience after giving the program a few months of usage I really prefer the newest Quicken 2004 to my version 2002. I find it to be the most stable and smoothest running version of Quicken that I have used and this is why I think it is strange that there have been so many negative reviews placed about a product for which I have not found any major problems with at all. I highly recommend you try the new Quicken 2004 after you back all your previous data up. You may find after some time adjusting to the new look and feel of the 2004 program that you actually like it.
Rating:
Summary: First it worked and then POOF months of transactions gone!
Review: I have been a very happy Quicken Home and Office user since 1997. I upgraded to 2004 H&O because I also went from Win 98 to XP and thought a new release would likely work better. WRONG! After trouble migrating my old data and having some balances get scewed up (still can't find the missing transactions, I then downloaded the R3 patch. Things seemed to be looking up. Last night I created and printed some invoices, shut down normally and today, I started the program to find that it hangs at startup. After several COMPLETE and THOROUGH uninstall/reinstalls to different drives, and checking and defragging my drives with Norton, running Norton AV, the program WILL NOT open ANY of my backups from the last three months. No QDATA files produced by 2004 can be opened by a clean version of 2004. It is as if every backup I ever made with 2004 is now corrupted. And I am using copies of the originals -- so there is no way the software corrupted the originals. I spent nearly all day on the phone with tech support (now they are in New Delhi, India) and there is NO resolution thus far. the best thing I can do is VALIDATE and SUPERVALIDATE and that ERASES three months worth of transactions from the file -- literally reduces the file size by 1.2 meg -- no matter which file I use as input to the process. I have backups that are a day old, a week old a month old, two months old -- a CLEAN install will not read any of them and validate deletes three months worth of transactions from the file before it becomes readable. THIS IS A NIGHTMARE! DO NOT UPGRADE to the VERSION. YOU WILL REGRET IT. SERIOUSLY. I run two businesses off of Quicken and I am HOSED.
Rating:
Summary: Buggy, Busy and Annoying
Review: I have been using Quicken for many years. I decided to upgrade the very stable and efficient Quicken 98 on a lark, but soon regretted it. The new user interface is very difficult to navigate, laden with Intuit advertising for other services, and impossible to customize. There are numerous bugs which Intuit seems in no hurry to fix.
This software is not in a condition suitable for release. I wonder if the glowing reviews are from Intuit people. I am not certainly a Microsoft person. And I regret the direction that software is taking in this country: shoddy, flashy, and unstable. Intuit is making a big mistake here. They are trying to lock in a guaranteed market base much as Microsoft has done; but as Microsoft, they are releasing products that do not do the job properly. They will engender resentment and eventually lose this loyal customer base. I will not willingly purchase any more Intuit upgrades.
Rating: 
Summary: Quicken is a life saver!
Review: I use Quicken for all my financial needs. I use it for my personal finances, my volunteer projects, my child's competitive baseball team, and a Home Owners Association! I don't know what I'd do without it. The "Easy Reports" are a lifesaver to see who has or has not paid monthly dues, annual dues, or just check on my budget. I don't leave home without my backup, just in case something would happen to my PC. It probably sounds silly, but I use Quicken to keep up with just about everything, including who fixed the kitchen sink!!! I love the check printing feature!
Rating:
Summary: Are all these negative reviews from Microsoft people?????
Review: I am a Quicken 2002 user (and Quicken 1999 before that). I planned to upgrade to 2004, but after reading the many negative reviews here, I downloaded the trial version of Microsoft Money. It did not port over my Quicken file correctly, everything looked completely screwed up (balances way off, items from 2002 showing up as "needs attention", etc.). So I reluctantly paid the $ and went ahead and downloaded Quicken 2004. I just did the regular upgrade (did not uninstall first and then install the new version), and it worked fine. In fact, after 48 hours, I can't say I have found anything wrong at all! In fact, the bug that drove me crazy in 2002 (had to do with exchange transactions into a money market account) has been fixed! This really leads me to wonder, are all these negative reviews, many actually mentioning switching to Microsoft Money, actually from Microsoft-affiliated people??? I don't know how else to explain this. For the record, I have no affiliation with either Microsoft or Intuit.
Rating:
Summary: one step forward, two steps back
Review: I was quite astonished when I upgraded to 2004 from 2002. I thought I was two releases behind, so it would be prudent to upgrade. While the user interface changes (I question if it was for the better: think fisher price toys), so much functionality is either now optional, forced, or not available in lieu of "neat" stuff which honestly is just dumbed down controls for a low-tech audience. For a list of this stuff, check out the other reviews as I have nothing new to add and several folks say it much better. In then end, I would question first why you think you need this upgrade? and if not an upgrade, but a first time purchase, save money and find an old version on ebay -- it's worth it.
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