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Intuit is preparing to release a major update to its Quicken financial software for Mac OS X that will interface with Apple Computer's .Mac internet service, AppleInsider has learned.
Like the current version of QuickBooks, Quicken 2006 for Mac will leverage the strengths of Mac OS X by interfacing with several Mac-only applications and services. Specifically, the software will work with both iPhoto and iCal to help users track home valuables and stay on top of important dates, sources said.
Another major feature of the release will be integration with Apple's suite of .Mac internet services. Users with a .Mac account will be able to backup or restore their Quicken data file to and from their iDisk with a few clicks of the mouse. An automated backup feature will also be present via a simple checkbox option in the application's preferences, sources added.
Mac OS X integration aside, Quicken 2006 for Mac will also sport several improvements to its online banking functionality. For instance, users will be able to create "smart" payee names (or rules) that will locate all transactions containing a specific term and group them under the shortened payee name, making registers and reports easier to read.
Quicken 2006 for Mac will also let users download transactions from all accounts at a single financial institution into a single Quicken data file — allowing spouses who may have separate customer IDs and accounts at the same bank to download both sets of accounts into Quicken. And beginning in August, sources said Intuit will be upgrading its Quicken Bill Pay service to include improved features and greater ease of use.
Other features expected in Quicken 2006 for Mac include an "Open Recent" files menu option and more flexible frequency options for scheduled transactions. Each retail copy of Quicken 2006 for Mac will include a trial version of LandWare, Inc's Pocket Quicken for Palm OS handhelds.
Online retailer Amazon.com is now accepting pre-orders for Quicken Deluxe 2006 for Mac, offering $27 off the retail price after instant savings and a $20 rebate (to $42.99). The software is expected to begin shipping on August 5th.
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Marko Zivkovic
Wesley Hilliard
Malcolm Owen
William Gallagher
Andrew Orr
19 Comments
Great, but how about adding, I don't know, ANY of the missing functionality that's in the Windows version? Or not requiring banks to pay separately for Mac support for connections, whereupon a lot don't pay and we can't connect, nor even download the PC files and bring them in (worthless money-grubbing crap!). But, no, we get a bunch of fixes for the small group of users with multiple quicken files. ("Open Recent! Allright! That's worth the price alone!"
Of course, I'd buy these updates more often if I felt they actually tried to keep their current versions bug free. As it is, Quicken 2003 (what I have) was never fixed for the glaring bug of their reports listing completely wrong values (you'd think the graphs would show the same net worth total as their accounts pane, or even, heaven forbid, their reports!). And stock splits just screw everything up (Apple stock split years ago, and I sold it long ago, but anytime I buy it now, Quicken immediately shows two different numbers for %Gain and %ROI. And there's no way these should be different).
Oh, and I hate how everytime I install a new version, they completely screw up my window positions and interface. Pain in the ass!
i can't get quicken to directly connect to my bank and auto download my account info..maybe switch to MS money. also i'm tired of the bugs and crashes. the number one reason for not upgrading???? my bank (national city) won't support after quicken 2004 (can't download qif format if using quiken 2005) Now i could change banks .... come on now. quicken's biggest upgrades to mac has been changing the numbers 2002-2003-2004-2005-2006 NOT WORTH IT.
maybe i should change to ms money?? who has any experience with that and auto download??
.mac backup... can anyone possibly report on whether this is a SECURE backup? i dunno... i don't like my financial data residing on a semi-public server system without some sort of auto-encrypt built-in. and plus, is this really that huge of a friggin' deal? couldn't i save my file to my desktop before, and then drag it into the backup folder of my idisk? so, what, intuit saved the masses a few clicks? edit: or heck, for that matter, couldn't someone just make an automator action that says encrypt any files placed in this folder, and then move it to this directory on my .mac account?"
remember the good ol' days when intuit said they were going to pull quicken support for the mac, just before the first imac? does anyone remember why we cared?
oh yeah, i forgot, back then, quicken didn't suck.
does this mean a new version of QuickBooks will also be released shortly? how old is the current version of quickbooks for the mac?
What else is there besides Quicken? I want to be able to download transactions and Quicken seems to be the only good one I can find.