I'm giving this 3 stars because, even though at the moment it's more like a 1 or 2 due to a couple bugs that affect me, they might not affect others...and without those bugs, I'd say it is a 3...maybe better.
Let me start out by saying that I've been using Quicken since 1995. For a while it got better, but the last couple versions have gotten worse -- not feature-wise (features are very good), but quality-wise....at least initially until there had been several patches via the auto-update.
Now for the PROBLEMS. I've been using this for under two weeks and have already found two bugs that I consider significant. I'm what I would consider a very technical computer user (software engineer by trade):
BUG #1: If you password-protect your data file within Quicken, then *scheduled* one-step updates will fail. (Manually started one-step updates work fine.) When the scheduled update fails, the icon in the task bar will indicate a failure, but when you go into Quicken, the update summary does not (everything is "green")...until you notice that the "last updated" times haven't changed for any accounts. Worse, Intuit wasn't even aware of this issue. It took a lot of going back and forth with them wasting my time checking things that I knew was okay, before I got frustrated with them and did my own experimenting and determined the real cause of my scheduled backup failures. I reported my findings to them four days ago and haven't heard back. (I got quick responses when they wanted me to try useless stuff, but nothing when I identified a real bug of theirs.) The good new is that if you don't put a password on the quicken file, the scheduled updates work fine...or if you are someone that prefers to update manually, then they'll also always work. So, though a bug that indicates to me they didn't test this very well, it's not something that will affect everyone.
BUG #2: Backups refuse to recognize my DVD-RW media. I'm using the same DVD-RW drive and same DVD-RW disc (UDF formatted, so it looks like any other disc) that was working fine for Quicken2005 , but Quicken's backup tells me that there is no "CD" in the drive and asks me to insert one -- this is AFTER, within Quicken, I browsed to the drive and navigated into the folder I wanted the backup placed. (Obviously, there is a disc in the drive!) I even tried a new, freshly formatted disc. Furthermore, I can read/write/create/delete files on that DVD-RW from everywhere else.
I just reported this bug to Intuit an hour ago, so I have no response yet. Hopefully it won't be something stupid to try, like how things started out from them when I reported the issue with scheduled updates failing.
On the bright side, they did respond quickly and were friendly...just not too helpful.
>> UPDATE 2/14/08 <<
I have to admit, Intuit does respond quickly -- I've already gotten two replies from them in under 24 hours. The bad news is their response made it obvious they didn't read the problem description (their solution was to put in a new CD and format it -- which I already had told them I did for both a DVD+RW and a CD-RW disk, not to mention that I told them I could read/write/create/delete files from everywhere else, but not use Quicken't backup. Their second response failed to acknowledge there was any problem (even though it worked on Quicken2002 and Quicken2005, but broke in Quicken2008), and told me to back up to the HDD first, then copy the files to the CD-RW or DVD+RW using Windows. I used to think of Intuit as a great company with good quality products. That opinion is rapidly changing, and has already changed in respect to the quality of their technical support. I'm hoping they can change my opinion back by simply acknowledging the bug and telling me it will be fixed in an upcoming patch.
>> END OF UPDATE <<
I sure hope I don't keep finding more bugs! It's annoying enough to be forced into buying an upgrade in order to keep using a feature (online access), but when that updgrade has problems you didn't have before, it's just salt in the wound! (This loyal customer of 13 years is starting to question his loyalty....but I've heard bad things about MS-Money, too. What happened to quality?)
BUT HOW ABOUT THE FEATURES?
Okay, let's talk about that a little bit. If / when they get the bugs fixed, I would say 2008 is an improvement over 2005 (the last version I had). The user interface is more intuitive with a nicer layout. The features that I had before (at least those I used) are still there and work as well or better (except for those two bugs). There are also some new features that show promise, but honestly, I haven't tried them yet. I use Quicken to track my checking, savings and credit card accounts, as well as watch values in my 401K and a similar account, but I don't use it for much else (for example, I don't set up a budget / savings plan in it). Maybe some other reviewer can touch on those features....or maybe I'll update this review if I ever try them out.
Since I started out by complaining about bugs, I should also point out that Intuit also fixed a bug that plagued me for the past 3 years -- since I upgraded from 2002 to 2005. A bug they gave me a workaround for, but kept creeping back up. With 2005, some transactions that had already cleared and been reconciled (they were my paycheck deposits), would always be matched with newly downloaded transactions instead of it matching the new transactions with those in the register that had the same date as what was downloaded, and which had not already been reconciled. Go figure! Finally, after 3 years of having to un-match and manually rematch, that problem is gone.....or at least it hasn't popped up yet. Then again, I've only had two paychecks since I started using 2008....but I have high hopes it really is gone.
Lagniappe