updating to Quicken 2020 Mac with an old operating system

sradant

I am using Quicken 2017 on an iMac with Yosemite 10.10.5, and would like to update to Quicken 2020. However the system requirement for updating requires at least El Capitan 10.11. Does anyone have experience updating and know whether Quicken 2020 will work with Yosemite? I hate to go through updating my operating system and potentially messing up all my current programs. Thanks!

jacobs

The system requirements are as stated, I believe. Upgrading from Yosemite to El Capitan shouldn't break many programs, as best I recall.

jacobs

The system requirements are as stated, I believe. Upgrading from Yosemite to El Capitan shouldn't break many programs, as best I recall.

smayer97

sradant said:

I am using Quicken 2017 on an iMac with Yosemite 10.10.5, and would like to update to Quicken 2020. However the system requirement for updating requires at least El Capitan 10.11. Does anyone have experience updating and know whether Quicken 2020 will work with Yosemite? I hate to go through updating my operating system and potentially messing up all my current programs. Thanks!

Depending on how many software you have, it can be a lot of work to do an inventory of what might break with a macOS update. I suggest you start with those software that are most important to you to check their compatibility. Don't forget thinks like printers, and other small utilities and peripherals.

Another approach is to create a second partition on your drive or get a second drive, clone your existing drive to that as a full duplicate backup of your computer, then update macOS. Then see what fails and try to update that.

After a period of time if you find there are too many things that do not work, you can always restore your drive from the backed up clone.

All this does require some know how. If you cannot figure it out, you may need to get some help.

sradant

Thank you smayer97 and jacobs. It sounds like you are both thinking that Quicken 2020 won't work with my current operating system?

jacobs

I don’t have a Mac with Yosemite to test it, so I can only go by what Quicken states for the minimum system requirements. I don’t know if the software performs a check of the OS upon launch and will simply refuse to run on Yosemite, or if it will run but some user interface elements won’t work right.

I know they’ve had a few compatibility issues with El Capitan and Sierra in the past year, and have released fixes for them — while warning users that they should consider upgrading to High Sierra or newer, as they may case support for older operating systems later this year. 

You could buy Quicken and try it. Quicken 2017 and 2020 can both exist on the same computer, and 2020 will make its own copy of your 2017 data file, so they stay completely separate. If 2020 does not run, you can get a refund from Quicken within 30 days of purchase.

sradant

Thank you Jacobs!