New Quicken 2006 Releases (2 & 3)

There have been two updates to Quicken 2006 in the last week or so (release 2 and 3).  Make sure you update to each of them, because we have fixed some issues that you helped us identify. In the download itself you will see the list of issues resolved.

With that announcement, I just wanted to share how disappointed I am every time we realize an issue or bug is shipped (as is our entire team!).  I promise that we learn from each mistake and will get better for the next time.  The saving grace is our ability to maintain and fix problems with our product patching mechanism… which you can use directly through Quicken.  I can’t image the old days when Quicken had to send out a floppy disk to its customers or even no update the product at all.

I just wanted people to know that we are working really hard to get things right and we appreciate the help that you provide in letting us know about the problems you are seeing (and the suggestions you have).

Comments

[J Sturm]

I have been using Quicken since 1999 for our home and small business, which worked just fine. However, after reading the online features of Q 2006, I purchased and downloaded. Since then, I have not been able to print any (Intuit)wallet-sized checks and have spent hours between online tech-chat, installing & re-installing Quicken 06 in safe mode, and even tried today with the new R3 patch. I cannot keep our finances in limbo... any suggestions? My thoughts: get my money back and go buy Quicken 2005 that shouldn't have the Check 21 issue?

[Ric]

I recently upgraded to R3 (Quicken 2006 Deluxe) Now I cannot open my data file. I've tried opening earlier backups to the file with the same result. Error code 7777. I'd send the error logs to tech support if only it weren't so difficult to find their e-mail address. What do I do now?

[sleuth]

I'd happily been using Quicken with no problems whatsoever since the early 90's. Now I'm afraid to open the 2006 version after the mess that spontaneously started the corruption of my data, i.e., N/A deleting my Memo entries and then substituting my Payees with N/A, along with the total lack of solutions available from technical support (both online Chat and via telephone) who simply took up a lot of my time but ending only with more confusion setting in AFTER a required installation of your 2005 version. Then all that I received in return for my request for (yes) help from Quicken Matt was his request for my email address & phone number -- so that "data recovery" could contact me. Silence alone since I complied with his request for my preparation of a copy of my data and SENT him my email address & phone number as per his request. I'm not a computer expert -- but this deficiency never got in my way before. Now I must spend far too many hours trying to comprehend and then try(?) to determine which of the various actions outlined on the Forum (by whomever -- but not by Quicken's paid employees) -- I should experiment with to see if I win the lottery and find the solution to my problem. I can only surmise (its a guess, yes) that along with NEWER versions, one should be specifically warned of which specific actions one must take AFTER installation IF one has accumulated as much data and as long a list of Memorized Transactions in one's data as I have had. No warnings arrived -- but the new versions function differently -- and I never knew of nor needed to learn or do anything like what I'm reading about throughout the QuickenForums. I can only regret the demand that I upgrade to a newer version. I would much preferred paying money and avoiding what I've encountered: corruption of my data, an inability to understand the complicated methods to attempt rectification and no way to get real help. I'm not driving a car on the Tibetan plateau, in Siberia, through the Amazonian or African interior, but if I were to consider doing so, I would fully recognize that my ability to FIX the car myself would be a necessity (or otherwise don't go). I feel Quicken is asking me to do something comparable since I upgraded to 2005. Upgrade to 2006? Can you offer a solution to repairing the "corrupted functioning" of my Quicken and, as a result, my data? Thanks but I already know Intuit is inaccessible but only India is not.

[george whitmore]

Hi I'm not sure I'm in the right place for this post, but...
Although i'm not a current customer I was using Quicken back at the very beginning, and still use financial software. I am a TurboTax on the web customer and will do so again this year.
I noticed that you have a web based version of Quicken, even though it's not the full program it is a great start.
My question is; Is it possible to put out a premimum paid version on the web? A USB flash drive could be used to store all the data and would be OS independent. I'm currently a Linux user that needs a windows user friendly financial program.

[James T. Mullin]

I was required to update to Quicken 2006 for Mac or my Quicken Bill Pay account would be closed. Did that before your threatened drop-dead date only to find out that Quicken 2006 for Mac has a bug causing data entry to slow down so steeply that the software for any practical purpose is useless. Tech support ( by phone) advises that it is a known bug and no one knows when the problem will be resolved. The whole thing is a profound mystery even to the experts in Calcutta. They are very polite and apologize for their company, but (even when you can understand them) they can be of no help.

I can't use my Bill Pay account so I have had to go elsewhere at considerable expense of time and money. Pitiful! I, like so many others, have been with Intuit and "Checkfree" from the beginning. The company has come to a bad end, indeed.

[Eric]

Hello,

You mention that the silver lining to bugs in Quicken is your ability to release online patches and updates.

I have a bug to report to you that your own support department wanted to misdiagnose as everything from an installation issue to operator error.

You cannot set up a cash alert for custom created categories. The alerts either disappear once added or are mistakenly assigned to a different, pre-established category upon program exit. To duplicate this, create a custom expense category, go under setting up alerts, and set up a monthly limit alert for that category.

So again, since you mention the benefit of online patches, my question is, when can I expect a patch to address this issue? This is a pretty large bug, if a program as complex as yours cannot manage simple spending alerts.

Thanks.

Eric

[Eric]

Hello,

You mention that the silver lining to bugs in Quicken is your ability to release online patches and updates.

I have a bug to report to you that your own support department wanted to misdiagnose as everything from an installation issue to operator error.

You cannot set up a cash alert for custom created categories. The alerts either disappear once added or are mistakenly assigned to a different, pre-established category upon program exit. To duplicate this, create a custom expense category, go under setting up alerts, and set up a monthly limit alert for that category.

So again, since you mention the benefit of online patches, my question is, when can I expect a patch to address this issue? This is a pretty large bug, if a program as complex as yours cannot manage simple spending alerts.

Thanks.

Eric

[Eric]

Hello,

You mention that the silver lining to bugs in Quicken is your ability to release online patches and updates.

I have a bug to report to you that your own support department wanted to misdiagnose as everything from an installation issue to operator error.

You cannot set up a cash alert for custom created categories. The alerts either disappear once added or are mistakenly assigned to a different, pre-established category upon program exit. To duplicate this, create a custom expense category, go under setting up alerts, and set up a monthly limit alert for that category.

So again, since you mention the benefit of online patches, my question is, when can I expect a patch to address this issue? This is a pretty large bug, if a program as complex as yours cannot manage simple spending alerts.

Thanks.

Eric

[HELEN SMEDBERG]

Ever since I was able to transfer my old records from our Mac G3 to our Mac G4(OS X 10.2.8) all further additions (checks) seem to move at a snail's pace. What could be causing this? Do I need a new driver? As it is it is very irritating. Any suggestions? Also I tried to contact you through your Product Support and was unable to get to the second page.

[John Gleeson]

I have been a quicken/checkfree/mac user since the very beginning. I always thought quicken software was pretty good. I was required to make the urgent upgrade to 2006 to keep my bills paid. What a horrible transition. This is the worst software I have ever used. It is so slow as to be totally useless to me and I feel trapped. Why anyone would voluntarily make this change is beyond me. What are you people thinking? How can you allow such a great product to be totally downgraded? Don't you have any testing procedures? When are you going to respond to this issue and what can you say to keep me engaged with this rediculous product "upgrade"?

[John Koenig]

I operated with Mac OS 10.2.8 and was also 'required' to 'upgrade to Quicken 6 at the beginning of October. Since then, VERY slow typing is the major problem. Two talks with support in Milwaukee get me little results, although lots of sympathy, except promises they are 'working on it". Also can't get past the first page for online product support.
No evidence of the two updates mentioned at the beginning of this page. Is there some special way to get them? Clicking "Check for updates" gets me a screen that says no updates are available.

Three months of this is absolutely, totally unacceptable, particularly with no end in sight

Does anyone know of any competitor programs I can can turn to?

[Art]

As is the latest trend of software companies, they follow the lead of the "big dog" (Microsoft), they send out crap and let the users figure out the bugs. It costs us money and countless hours of dealing with poor products and poor customer service.

Shame on you Intuit!

[MyPOV]

This afternoon my Quicken 2006 Win had a software update. Now I cannot access my other Quicken files OR backup the current one. All I get is error 7097 and the LIVECHAT knows nothing AT ALL.

[Michael Greene]

One feature that would be very helpful and I don't see on your list is the ability to enter notes and alerts into Quicken. For example, I could post a note on a stock that says 'sell when it reaches 25' or on a bank transaction saying 'don't send until I receive revised bill'. Can such a feature, like post-its, or Apples's Stickies be added?
Michael Greene

[Tony]

Hi,
I'm not sure this blog helps or that anyone at Quicken/Intuit reads it. I have been using Quicken since the early days for our home. I agree the latest transition was poor. Not being able to import investment accounts to the new version is just WRONG!
I don't see any responses posted, so this is probably just a whining spot for the many of us who use Quicken
I have a bug to report to you that your own support department acknowledges.
Part of my investment style is to write stock options, typically against a long stock position (i.e. covered call)
While I was able to modify the Investment type list to add Stock option (forget about looking the symbol up) but when I enter a new security from my Transaction register, the program won't allow me to access my modified list. I only can select from the program's too limited list. This suggests poor design and "hard coded" tables rather than a true relational database.
Same problem with Asset class, but I can't even modify the list.
I also wish I could get a better report to show the redced cpst basis in the underlying stock (which is part of the strategy)

[Alan Barker]

I sent the following to Quicken feedback. I also tried to post it on their forum but it would not let me open an account. 2006 for Mac is a defective product and the time for Intuit to make good is overdue.

January 27 2006

I purchased Quicken 2006 for Mac in August. The program has a known bug causing it to slow down to the point of being unworkable. As of today, your technical support still has no solution.

Under California law there is an implied warranty that products sold are merchantable.

From the California Civil Code:
1792. Unless disclaimed in the manner prescribed by this chapter,
every sale of consumer goods that are sold at retail in this state
shall be accompanied by the manufacturer's and the retail seller's
implied warranty that the goods are merchantable. The retail seller
shall have a right of indemnity against the manufacturer in the
amount of any liability under this section.

Similar federal and state statutes protect consumers in other states. The same is true in the E.U.

The time has come for you to reimburse the buyers of this product.

Also, since the users of previous versions of this product upgraded and are now locked in to using it, you must provide working earlier versions online so they can be downloaded.

Alan Barker

[Mark]

Is it easier to use Microsoft Money or Quicken? If I do decide to use Quicken, would it be easier to download it or purchase a CD-ROM? Please advise. I have 2003 Quicken but became frustated with it quickly. Is it worth getting the 2006 Quicken now?

[Doyle Thomas]

The following query was posted by: Mark on February 02, 2006 at 07:55 AM "Is it easier to use Microsoft Money or Quicken? If I do decide to use Quicken, would it be easier to download it or purchase a CD-ROM? Please advise. I have 2003 Quicken but became frustated with it quickly. Is it worth getting the 2006 Quicken now?"

Mark, my experience with Microsoft Money is limited since every time I looked at it, I chose to stay with Quicken, but that being said, you should stick with version 2003 as long as you can. There is one proviso you should be aware of - Quicken developers in their un-infinite wisdom have built in the need to upgrade by only allowing a new version to read data from the two previous years versions. If you do upgrade, you face new problems, if you don't upgrade you may not be able to transfer your existing data.

[Wayne Resnick]

I CAN remember the old days when Quicken for DOS came on a disk, and Intuit had to send out a new disk to give a fix to a customer. Fortunately, in the early days, Quicken didn't need fixes all that often. There were only a handful of developers, and they were on top of things. I was able to call up for support for free whenever I needed it, and I needed it only when there were problems. But I was also able to give suggestions, and people actually listened. For example, I suggested that Quicken allow users to organize accounts by group (bank accounts, investments, credit cards, etc.) and not have to scroll through the entire list of accounts each time a user wants to get to one. I also suggested giving the ability to hide accounts, so that accounts that are not actively used do not appear.

The good news is that Intuit was thankful for my suggestions, and they eventually made it into the product. The bad news is that they never made it into the DOS version. The enthusiasm I had heard from the person who was anxious to bring it up at the next developers' meeting did not translate into something of use to me for quite a while.

By the time Quicken 6 came out, stability was no longer there. Bugs were a big problem. Quicken 7 was so bad that I was never able to use it. I kept waiting for a fix, but it never came. Finally, I called them to find the status, and was told it was fixed in the new release. I thought it was crazy to pay for a new release when the last one never worked, and eventually Intuit agreed with me and gave me a copy of Quicken 8 for free. I stuck with it until 2001. There were two reasons for that. Initially, Quicken for Windows was lacking features compared to the DOS version. Many of those are now there, but some still haven't gotten back into the product. The other reason was that Intuit never announced the death of the DOS product. When the Windows product came out after Quicken 8 for DOS, their offer to sell it said that there would be no DOS version FOR THAT RELEASE. So I figured I'd wait. I did try another version at some point, but I took Intuit up on their money back guarantee.

Now I use Quicken 2006, and there's not much going on in the innovation department. I can think of lots of ways to improve the product, but I don't honestly feel that Intuit even cares. If I submit something on their form, I'll never hear back. They tell me that they can't promise to respond to my email, implying that they probably will but there's a possibility that they won't, but they mean that they don't plan to do so at all. It's not that they can't, it's that they don't want to spend the money, and chances of anything making it to a developer are probably slim anyway. Otherwise, we would have seen some innovation in the past few years.

Instead, they give a link to a page that shows how they've listened in the past. The funny thing is, the very first example they give is of something that they implemented incorrectly. It talks about saving check images from Citibank. But if I save the web page, it doesn't copy the files correctly, so the images get lost. If I try to save just the images, I'd have to save the front and back in separate areas. If they did not want to support HTML, then they should have given a message if a person tried to use it. Instead, they just do it wrong. I can save the web page as a PDF first, or I can save it, tell Qucken about it, and then figure out what folder Quicken put the HTML in so I can put the other files there manually. All in all, it's a kludge.

As for bugs, I've reported many, but they don't get fixed. They can talk about the old days when somebody needed to mail me a floppy disk, but the reality is that fixes come much faster if somebody fixes something. Not fixing it and giving me fixes on the Internet does not help.

[Roy Belcher]

Sometimes in making reports it would be helpful to be able to have "not equal to" available. Ex: memo does not contain 05

[Keith L.]

Ok so I have been using Quicken since 2000. Did upgrade to 2002.

I read all the posts with interest. I need a multi user Quicken or Money type program. Wife on her PC and me on mine. Both in Home offices. Any of you fellow home accounting users have a suggestion as to where to go?

Thanks for your input. I can not count on the "Calcutta" tech support but have faith in fellow users.

Is there a Multi-User solution currently out?

Keith

[sfvjer]

For somereason my Quicken Deluxe is not working & needs to be reinstalled. Unfortunately, I downloaded the 2006 version & don't have 2006 disk. What do I do?

[HY]

Anybody find only your benefit without your loss.

I want to buy a thing which I can not buy it in my country.
And I can not make a credit card.So I can not pay.
So please buy and send it to me in USA.

In total, I pay you about US$ 2000.
It costs about US$ 250 - US$ 300.
I need two kinds of it. so US$1000 for one.
To trust each other, I send US$1000 whenever I get one of them.

I pay US$ 300 in advance for it and the other after I get it.
So no risk for you.
Please send a reply or leave message with your post address with Zip here.
http://www.geocities.com/jitoro000/index.htm

Then I can write detail of the thing, next action and my address by air-mail.
If you do not get my next message, Please leave message at the page.
I pay total because I need your cooperation for my life.
I wish you do before it.

[Marilyn Davis]

I've been using Quicken since 1997 with no problems. In December, I upgraded to Quicken 2006 with no problem, however, recently, I tried to open Quicken and it will ask for my password then crash. The last time I attempted to open Quicken, I got Error Code: 7097. Please help!

Marilyn

[Terri]

Recently when entering data the program went nuts and entered the line item I was on 300 times. Not fun. Also when manually entering scheduled transactions (I project in advance so can't do auto) the blinking screen is horrific. Been a user for years and never had a complaint until now. I know you can fix this!