- Quicken Mac Essentials
- I Hate Quicken For Mac Catalina
- I Hate Quicken For Mac Osx
- Quicken For Mac Vs Pc
- Quicken Mac Support
I am using Quicken 2007 for Mac and insert violent rant against sucky SUCKY PIECE OF CRAP software that causes me HOURS of wasted time doing the very thing I HATE to do most in the world. I do not need the fancy features of QuickBooks and I hate to switch over because I have a system that works when it works which lately is not very often in. (Note the 17 in the red Quicken icon) According to the Quicken website the current version of Quicken 2017 is 4.6.8. And the current version for Quicken 2018 is 5.5.3. If this is a review for Quicken 2018, as it appears to be, the icon should be changed.
Yesterday afternoon (Saturday, March 17, 2012) I took on an incredible challenge, starting a new checking-account in my recently downloaded and installed Quicken-Essentials.My ancient Quicken-2003 would no longer print checks.
- I really hope Scimonoce Software stays in business (though Apple seems to be making it harder and harder for small developers to do so) and this program continues to be supported and improved. I absolutely hate the Quicken subscription model – especially since I have very meager finance-tracking needs.
- Quicken for Mac was originally developed for the 'Classic' Mac operating system of the 1980s and 90s, and when Apple switched to the Unix-based Mac OS X in 2001, developers were aware that while Apple aimed to maintain compatibility as long as possible, eventually the underpinnings of old Mac OS would be retired and programs would have to be re.
- If you hate Quicken as much as I do, or are just looking for an easy-to-use personal finance program that doesn’t suck, I think you’ll find a lot to like in iBank. You see, Quicken for Mac.
Long Story. This seemed to start after Apple did an “update” to my OS-X Snow Leopard. (I always let it.)
I’ve been told by a MAC-maven, who I trust, this “update” wasn’t supposed to do that.
But all-of-a-sudden all my older software applications, like Quicken 2003, no longer worked.
This included my AppleWorks-6, my Photoshop-Elements 4.0, and my Fine-Reader Express Optical-Character-Recognition (OCR) software, all of which go back about six years or more.
Quicken Mac Essentials
My Apple “Pages” word-processor would open my AppleWorks files.I Hate Quicken For Mac Catalina
I guess “Pages” succeeded AppleWorks, which is no longer made.
I had to purchase and install a new Fine-Reader (100 smackaroos), and a new Photoshop-Elements (-10; 76 bucks).I downloaded and installed Quicken-Essentials for MAC.
It of course wouldn’t read my ancient Quicken-2003 files.
Rather than call Quicken to attempt to convert — as a stroke-survivor I have difficulty making phonecalls — I decided to do my new Quicken from scratch, balance-forward my old Quicken-2003 files, and create new Quicken-Essentials files.
I don’t do much with Quicken. I only keep track of accounts. —I don’t do budgeting or all the fancy bells-and-whistles.
We’re down to only two accounts, my checking-account and my credit-card.
I only do it so I can reconcile. And those banks better not make any mistakes.
So far they haven’t.
I worked for a bank eons ago, so have a pretty good understanding of how things work.
Those accounts better reconcile to-the-penny. If they don’t, I’ll figure out why.
And if the bank erred, they’ll hear about it. At full volume!
And so began the wrastling-match. Set up a checking-account in Quicken-Essentials, and try to get it to print checks.
Setting up an account went fairly easy.
There was little to carry forward; just two Electronic-Fund-Transfer (EFT) deposits, our Social-Security, and one uncleared check from last Christmas.
All of this was trial-and-error. There’s no startup manual at all, and “Help” was no help at all.
But I managed to do it after blowing about an hour.
Next was to attempt to print a check.
I created a small check to my dental-service, a $4 bill to pay, but it wouldn’t print unless it was “to be printed.”
After perhaps another half-hour, I ascertained I had to make the check “to be printed;” a checkbox.
Nothing like my Quicken-2003.
The check got created and deleted at least four times before I found that “to-be-printed” checkbox.
With that the check appeared in the “to-be-printed” window, I printed it on blank paper, but it printed the size of a giant business-check.
My Quicken checks are much smaller.
“Make sure your check-format to print is the same as your checks,” said Quicken-help.
Some help that was! Nothing about setting check-format.
We Googled “check-format in Quicken-Essentials.”
Fevered discussion-groups where self-declared “gurus” and “Jedi-masters” say “Why does Quicken hate MAC-users” and “So much for Quicken. I’m switching to iBank.”
I had to keep making the $4 check “to-be-printed” over-and-over, an edit function.
“To make the check ‘to-be-printed’ again, click the edit-function.” So I did.
No sign of the “to-be-printed” checkbox, but I did notice an “edit-check” button in the edit window.
I tried it. VIOLA! The “to-be-printed” checkbox appeared.
There was no indication in Quicken-help I would see that “edit-check” button in the edit window.
I just noticed it. Trial-and-error.
Thanks for all your help, Quicken. It’s always trial-and-error that notices these things. The “edit-check” button in your “edit-check” window was my noticing it. It wasn’t predicted.
I could make the check “to-be-printed” again, so it would reappear in the “to-be-printed” window.
None of these shenanigans were in my Quicken-2003.
Next problem (or is it “issue”): alter the check-printing format to be what I had.
After I clicked the “print checks” button I noticed (there’s that “notice” bit again) I could select from three check formats: “business,” “voucher,” and “wallet.”
Well I had no idea, so I tried “wallet.” (The old “trial-and-error” bit again.)
WHOA! It printed the same size as my checks, but somewhat misaligned.
That format-menu was in a strange place; or so it seemed. It was after the “print”-button instead of before.
Next step: “adjust alignment.”
After about a half-hour of searching I found the “adjust alignment” checkbox.
Reams of blank printing-paper got used fiddling the alignment to put things where they belonged on my check.
And everything moved as a unit. Too far left and stuff prints off the check. Offset that, and you’re into something already on the check.
After about 15 tries everything lined up fairly well; “the best I can do.”
I was ready to print an actual check.
I Hate Quicken For Mac Osx
That check to my dental-service went out in this morning’s mail.
Next is our credit-card account; which has a slew of carried-over entries.
Plus I have a slew of checks to print.
Quicken For Mac Vs Pc
• “OS-X Snow Leopard” is my computer operating-system. “Snow Leopard” is a recent version of OS-X (operating-system 10). My computer is an Apple Macintosh.• Optical-Character-Recognition software reads a scan of text, recognizes the letters, and creates a computer text-file.
• I had a stroke October 26, 1993, from which I pretty much recovered.
• “Electronic-Fund-Transfer” is just that. Instead of the payer issuing a check for me to deposit to our checking-account, the payer deposits the funds electronically directly to our account.
Quicken Mac Support
Labels: 'pyooter ruminations