It seems useful features like online updating of your account register is disabled when Intuit decides to sunset you, whether you want to upgrade to the latest version or not. Apparently this is routine, so Intuit has everyone upgrading at least once every three years in droves. That’s just evil.
As of April 25, 2006, in accordance with the Quicken sunset policy, online services1 and live technical support will no longer be available for Quicken 2003 users. These services include online bill pay; downloading financial data from your bank, credit union, credit card, brokerage, 401(k) or mutual fund accounts; downloading stock quotes, …
And Wachovia, which seems to have account downloading go down more often than my Microsoft Windows boxes — about every other time I try to get my account data –, is happy to play along. (I see Microsoft plays along with Money, so you really have no choices in the world of commercial banking software.)
Special note: Intuit and Microsoft will discontinue technical support for the 2003 version on April 25, 2006. To continue using the Account Download feature without interruption, we recommend upgrading to the 2006 version at your earliest convenience by visiting one of the links below:
Who owns your data, eh?
I’m so glad I use gnucash. And, the betas for the upcoming 2.0 release are out for testing.
Clinton Collins said,
March 2, 2006 at 9:03 am
I am looking at http://moneydance.com. It’s a $30 commercial java app that will run on Windows, Mac, or Linux. So far it looks pretty good. I can download transactions from the local credit union here in Gainesville (Campus USA) into it. I’m waiting on a credit card from Campus USA to arrive. If I am able to download those transactions into Mondydance then I’m pretty sure it’s a done deal. I keep my Quicken “notice of sunset” letter next to my computer so it will remind me to keep after finding an alternative. I have been using Quicken Deluxe 2003.