The new Quicken for Mac is as Essential as it gets

Quicken Essentials for the Mac, or QEM, is finally out. After waiting three years or so to put my hands on it, I got it last week and I’ve been testing it since. This is not intended to be a review of the software (Ed McKell’s review is forthcoming), but instead, my take on this new version, with all its pros and cons, applied to a not very common use case.

Since I’m Venezuelan, my native language is not English, my local currency is not the dollar, and my local banks don’t support online updates through Quicken. This makes my relationship with Intuit’s software a very interesting one, and it’s a key factor in my overall opinion on this update.

I’ve been a Quicken user for quite a while now, and I have always been using just the basics of the application. Maybe I’m the only kind of user who benefited from this essential approach of the software update.

If you have already read QEM reviews from the specialists out there, you already know this new version is as essential as it gets. You will actually have a hard time finding something simpler and more feature-lacking on the financial application’s field. If you’re planning on buying this product, I’d recommend at least you do two things first: 1.) read Walt Mossberg’s review of the software (nice video included), and 2.) read Amazon’s user reviews. That’s it; you don’t need anything else to make a decision.

After I did those two wise things, I decided I wanted to give it a try anyway—yes, anyway—that’s how bad the things are for QEM out there on the public’s opinion. Since I’m not an advanced user and I’m a helpless enthusiast, hungry for new versions of anything, I knew I was going to do it anyway.

I have to say that so far, with all the above clarifications in mind, I really like this software. First, since I am a software developer myself, from the software developer’s point of view I have to admire the decision Intuit made when they decided to start from scratch. Let’s be realistic here, Mac users could be easily left out of Quicken’s picture. I don’t have any inside numbers, but counting on the crappy versions of Quicken for Mac we’ve seen over the time (crappy compared to Windows versions), I’m guessing we’re not the priority for Intuit’s financial goals.

Instead of looking the other way, or just focusing on the Windows and web-based business, the company decided to work on bringing the first real Mac-like application, written entirely in Cocoa. The program finally feels like it belongs to the Mac, it’s responsive (although sometime I feel like the little ajax fan is spinning more times that what I’d want), and you get the web 2.0 vibe courtesy of the Mint.com crew for sure.

Since QEM is a very good citizen in the Mac OS X environment, we have now total integration with the operative system services, and I really appreciate being able to see my local currency and formats perfectly represented all over the application. I’m always monitoring several local accounts and one U.S. account, which the software makes easy by splitting all my views and reports according to the selected currency. The previous version of Quicken made me forget about the currency symbol since it was always displaying dollars (which was a nice fantasy, I must say) when I didn’t even have a US dollar account yet. I just got used to see it the wrong way, but it was the price I had to pay for using the application. Now, those days are over, and I couldn’t be happier.

I know power and loyal users of Quicken are upset, and probably they should be. You expect a lot more from a huge company that takes three-plus years to bring a new version of their software (something similar happened to the Windows Vista guys, I recall).

As a regular user who doesn’t print checks or manage investments accounts, I don’t feel personally aggravated. I can even justify or understand most of what happened here with this long-waited update, but there is one thing I just can’t pass easily, and that is the price factor. How can Intuit bring a shortened, cut, ultra basic, super essential version of Quicken and charge $70 for it? Windows’ Deluxe version is only $60, and we don’t want to start comparing versions and functionalities right?

At the end of the day, I got the update, I like it, and I’ll continue using it until the next thing comes along. For you advanced and power users out there who dream of a Mac version of Quicken, worthy of your money and admiration, you’ll have to be patient. Intuit is planning on releasing an advanced version of the application that is supposed to be everything Quicken Essentials is not. Let’s hope they do right for that important and loyal community of users, which were definitely let down this time with what must be the biggest software downgrade of an upgrade’s history.

Product [Quicken Essentials for Mac]