Intuit Quicken Deluxe 6 Versus Microsoft Money 97 Quicken's Strength is Unsurpassed! Douglas Smith
Money management and check writing have become big business these days and two giants in personal finance are competing for the best of the best, or so it seems. Quicken Deluxe 6 is the most popular personal finance manager on the planet, but the Microsoft offering is hiding just under the bed. It’s no surprise, then, that this year's edition of Quicken tries hard to steal the ease-of-use reputation from Microsoft Money 97. Quicken is simple to use, yet sports extremely strong links to both e-banking and online financial information. The Activity Bar at the bottom of the screen is the key to Quicken's new-found simplicity. By grouping financial tasks by topics such as Bills, Planning, and Online, it both reduces confusion for rookies, and gets vets to the right place faster. Wave the pointer over a topic and a list of chores pops up. For example, Write a Check, Record a Paid Bill, Schedule a Future Payment. Checkbook balancing is also more straightforward. You can now sort a register by date, amount, or check number, and new right-click shortcuts from the register let you schedule payments and show all the payments to that payee. The one substantial addition to Quicken is the new Debt Reduction Planner, which uses your data to compose and present a custom scheme to trim expensive interest payments. Quicken Deluxe 6's online abilities are similar to those of last year's version, but show evidence of some serious tweaking. The program supports online banking--which includes electronic bill payment, transaction downloads, and fund transfers--with over 30 banks and other financial institutions. Now, however, all the online activities can be completed with just a single call. Matching downloaded transactions to those already entered in your checkbook is easier, too, because everything is posted on a single screen. Intuit reigns over Microsoft when it comes to general online value. Much of the credit goes to Quicken's free Internet access (a copy of Navigator 3.0 is bundled with the program), which lets you tap into the Intuit financial site, download no-cost quotes into your investment portfolio, and automatically retrieve program updates. If you already have an Internet account, Quicken configures itself to use that access without a glitch. In the past, it's been tough to recommend Quicken across the board, because it often overwhelmed beginners. Not anymore. Be bullish on this edition--although Quicken has a surplus of financial tools, it does an excellent job of keeping them out of the way.
