I've been a personal financial app user since '96. I've been using Q since '02. I don't use all of the Q functionality, but my friends would probably say I capture a lot more detail than they'd ever consider.
I've got an older machine running XP that I use mainly for Q. That XP machine just sufferred a catastophic OS failure.
So, as I was going thru the inordinate amount of time to re-install XP, followed by the onslaught of patches & extending all the love I could to Mr. Gates, I got to wondering "What are my alternatives, both online & for Mac. I’m reasonably pleased with the iPhone I got 6 mos. ago. Maybe it's time to retire the 5 year-old XP for a sleek, new AirBook....
Since my current frustration is with MS (not Intuit), I explored the diffs between Q for Windows vs. Q Essentials for Mac. That revealed what I consider to be the most important difference between the versions, a lack of detailed support for investment transactions; the same difference that prevents me from abandoning the desktop version for Mint.com. I also use the tax planner, which isn't in Mint & not explicity listed as a feature for QEfM.
No detailed investment support for the Mac desktop version? Account balance only? Really????
I can understand the deviation for a web-based version. I had assumed Mint.com's target audience is either "Gen Z" who probably don’t have a significant pool of assets and would be more concerned with their monthly Starbucks spend than determining gain/loss netting, or perhaps just the average user; a reality that would mean I represent only a sliver of society; that most people just don't care about the details (which could go a long way toward explaing the current economic woes of the U.S.).
In reading posts to this group, I get the idea that most regular contributors are a little further along in life. For me, knowing what my cost basis is & how it could affect my taxes is every bit as important, if not more, than how I categorize daily cash flow transactions.
I used Google to search “Intuit Quicken desktop online”. I found some
2-3 year old articles that seem to indicate that Intuit’s revenue stream for Q is dwindling. That usually means the end of days. I found NO articles indicating reassurance from Intuit that they aren't abandoning the desktop versions and their additional functionality.
Can anyone tell me why the Mac version doesn't include solid support for investment accounts?
More importantly, can anyone tell me whether Intuit plans to add solid support for investments, the tax planner, etc. to either Mint or the Mac version? Or is the master plan to pull the plug on the desktop versions sometime after Q '12 & move to Mint? I don't know the Q code set, but I've built enough spreadsheets to know that those bells & whistles are probably the majority of headaches. Abandoning that maintenance would seem to align closely with the (free) online version.