Intuit says work begun on new Mac Quicken, QuickBooks offerings

Intuit, which launched QuickBooks 2008 for Windows PCs this week, said a new version for Apple's Mac platform is currently under development with a released planned for sometime next year. Meanwhile, future development of Quicken on the Mac is also reportedly underway.

The software developer last issued a new Mac version of QuickBooks, one of the nation's more popular small business accounting programs, in October of 2006. Titled QuickBooks Pro 2007, the release consisted of a Universal binary developed to work efficiently on both Intel- and PowerPC-based Macs. It's presumed that any future offering would be of the same breed.

"QuickBooks is currently focused on developing the next generation Mac platform and plans to deliver a new QuickBooks Mac offering in 2008," the company said in a statement provided to AppleInsider. "This decision will result in an offering designed to delight and meet the evolving needs of our new and existing Mac customers."

In the meantime, the finance software maker said Apple customers can continue to use their current version of QuickBooks Pro, which it plans to fully support under its standard policy.

In speaking to AppleInsider a representative for Intuit added the company remains "committed to delivering the Mac community the best business and personal finance solutions in the market," and that "more details will be shared" closer to their release.

In an similar statement provided last month, the Mountain View, Calif.-based firm said it was also planning for 2008 Quicken offerings for both Macs and PCs and was "investigating the best possible ways to serve the entire Quicken community."

"With anticipation of the launch of the new Mac OS X (Leopard) and Intuitâ€™s ongoing focus on delivering customer driven innovation, more information around future Mac [Quicken] offerings will be shared at a later time," the statement said. "In the mean time, we wanted to make sure that you were aware of Quicken Online — scheduled to arrive in 2008. This new offering is platform agnostic and will allow users to manage their finances via any web browser."

Citing a company-wide policy of not making forward looking statements about its products, Intuit declined requests to provide any additional details.