10/17   From various reviews I've read it seems like Quicken used to be really
        good and at some point it started to suck. Lots of people seem to hate
        the 2004 version. I want to get a version that's fairly recent (not
        the 2004) and start using it on a regular basis. Can someone who has
        used it over the years comment on which version is best?
        \_ I use QuickBooks 5.0 and I'm happy with it. It's much nicer than
           Quicken (its sibling) but may be overkill for you.
        \_ I keep my money under my matress.
        \_ It's the AOL effect. AOL at one time was actually not too
           expensive and the features were pretty intuitive to use. Now,
           everything's jam packed into one screen with icons flying all
           over and the GUI simply sucks. It's a bloatware POS. I hope AOL
           goes out of busness.
           \_ They are.
        \_ I got Quicken 2003 for free.  It feels more cluttered than 2002.
           I just use Quicken to balance checking and saving accounts, so
           I can't comment on its downloading, stock tracking features.
           The last time I tried these features on an older version (2000?),
           they sucked, partly because it involves not just Intuit but also the
           The last time I tied these features on an older version (2000?),
           financial institutions.
        \_ It's missing some very obvious features that would vastliy improve
           it...  E.g. being able to customize the screens (to get rid of their
           ads, and remove some of the clutter), a better way to go through
           the options with tabs... (instead of having to go through the menus
           one by one), no good way to reduce the bloat of the file size...
           I'm using 2003 because in some way's it's useful, but actually
           liked 2002 better.  Afraid of 2004.  (what's up with the basic/
           deluxe/premier tiers?  Any use for getting the higher versions?)
        \_ One thing I like about 2003 vs 2002 is that it allows for
           they sucked, partly because it's not just Intuit but also the
           financial institutions.
           deluxe/premier tiers?  Any use for getting the higher versions?)
           very long memo field.