Last year, both Quicken 2006 and Money 2006 were well-designed personal finance programs that offered similar features, such as helpful expense pie charts and budgeting help, but we didn't find that one tool far surpassed the other. This year, however, Intuit has earned our Editors' Choice award for Quicken Premier 2007.
That's not just due to Quicken's new layout, which nicely displays your cash flow within bold boxes instead of showing a long text list by default. Other highlights include the ability to pull up mini windows within a register of transactions so that you can see instantly what you've spent at a particular store. In addition, only Quicken lets you securely store pictures of checks, receipts, and invoices so that you can toss your paper copies.
The ability to update data from your various online accounts makes both programs breezy; however, you'll need to set up Web-based accounts at your financial institutions first. Some users still have qualms about turning over their data to a third party via the Internet. If so, you can use both Quicken and Money locally.
Should you choose to connect with your online accounts, Quicken stores your various passwords for banks, credit cards, and investment accounts within a PIN vault that you can't access outside the program. And Microsoft encrypts its transactions, but we feel a bit less secure with Money because it requires a Windows Live ID, which you may use for a slew of other, more casual online services, such as mapping. Make sure to pick a hard-to-crack password and change it often. While travelers might like that you can access your Money details online, take care not to do so if you're surfing via an unprotected Wi-Fi hot spot, say, at the airport.
Unfortunately, you'll be forced to upgrade periodically if you rely upon either application's links to online financial institutions--that access expires every other year for Money and after every three versions for Quicken.
| |
Quicken Premier 2007 |
Microsoft Money 2007 Premium |
| Overall rating |
8.0 |
7.3 |
| Setup and interface |
8 |
8 |
| Features |
9 |
7 |
| Service and support |
7 |
7 |
| System requirements |
Windows 2000/XP or Mac OS X |
Windows XP |
| Connects to financial institutions online |
Yes, one-step update |
Yes, with Windows Live ID |
| Displays accounts online |
No |
Yes |
| Stores images of bills and checks |
Yes |
No |
| Online backup |
$9.99/year for 100MB, up to $149/year for 10GB |
Free for one year |
| Retirement, investment, and debt reduction tools |
Yes |
Yes |
| Exports data to tax software |
Yes |
Yes |
| Creates reports and charts |
Yes |
Yes |
| Has ads within interface |
Yes, for Intuit |
Yes, for Microsoft and third parties |
| Links to articles |
No |
Yes |
| Other editions |
$29 Basic, $49 Deluxe, $79 Home & Business, $59 Mac |
$19 Essentials, $49 Deluxe, $89 Home & Business |
| |
Quicken Premier 2007 |
Microsoft Money 2007 Premium |
Read the CNET editor's take
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