can QWin and QMac coexist? Quicken Premier subscription user

Question

I prefer Quicken Mac for day to day use.  I want to use Quicken Windows lifetime planning feature.  I downloaded Parallels and downloaded Quicken for Windows.  I copied my Quicken Mac file and tried to import the copy into Quicken Win - but it opened in Quicken Mac instead (and tried to convert that data).  Even though I have downloaded it into Windows, Quicken Windows will not open.   I tried using Lifetime Planner without importing any files but it did not save.  I just found something on support stating I can only run one version of Quicken on a PC at a time.  I suspect this is my issue.   But isn't the Parallels virtual machine a separate PC from the Mac?   To get lifetime planner am I forced to run Quicken solely in Windows through Parallels?

(and thank you  for the responses to my last question, it helped narrow the search for a solution)

kinseattle · Answer

I do not believe I need anything more than the balances in the investment accounts which I would update every so often.  If I can run both but can only keep one updated, I will keep QMac updated and manually enter account balances in QWin as necessary.  You are correct, I am only interested in QWin for Lifetime Planner (ie: retirement).

I will go to Parallels support site.  Thank you very much

J_Mike · Answer

QWin and QMac can coexist on a Mac - using Parallels and Windows for the QWin version as you describe. You can have both the versions running simultaneously. I have been running both Mac and Win versions side-by-side for over 10 years now.

Not sure what your QWin installation issues are. The QWin installation must be done from a Windows folder. I would suggest going to the Parallels support site - it is an excellent site for help. I used it a few times early in my experience - but haven't been back for several years - no major issues,

Your biggest (insurmountable?) issue lies in converting your QMac data file to QWin. The Mac to Win conversion works on a VERY LiMITED scale. Non-investment accounts partially convert. Investment accounts do not convert at all - nada - just error ,messages for each investment account. 
As your stated objective is to run the QWin Lifetime Planner, this implies to me the need for using investment accounts - true?

EDIT - My assumption is that you are using the current subscription version of QMac.

Sherlock · Answer

Quicken for Windows and Quicken for Mac are distinct applications.  They do not  share the same data files.  Data file conversion between the programs is achieved by exporting and importing of a QXF file and is incomplete at best.

We may run Quicken for Windows in a guest Windows virtual machine and Quicken for Mac in a guest OS X (aka MacOS) virtual machine concurrently on the same host machine.