Quicken 2010 Review

First of all, I am a loyal user of Quicken. Since 1993, I have religiously tracked my spending using their software. Once you go through the trouble of setting up your accounts, you can easily track your spending and investment performance.

With respect to Quicken 2010, my review is easily broken into two parts.

1. If you are not a Quicken user or use Microsoft Money, the new product is fantastic. It is an excellent product. The setup features are easy to use and the reliable interface works great. With the exception of two accounts, I can download all my bank, credit card, and my IRA transactions over the internet directly from the program. The other accounts require logging onto the vendor's site and downloading the data from them.
   
2. 
   
3. If you are a current Quicken user, the decision to upgrade or not upgrade is a difficult one. Generally, I upgrade every 2-3 years and continue to support that strategy.
   

   
    

   Why?
   

   1. Faster setup times will not matter.
      
   2. The "At-a-glance" Homepage is nice, but not worth the price of the upgrade.
      
   3. Automatic Categorization: To be honest, I could not really tell the difference. Furthermore, I want to control the categories used on my spending. For example, dinner at Chili's could be: Dining, a business expense, or vacation:meals depending upon the circumstance.
      

      
       

   Why should you upgrade?
   

   1. The new program does seem to work faster than Quicken 2008.
      
   2. The download times for accounts is quicker than Quicken 2008.
      

From Quicken: Upgrade Features