How do I obtain a version that runs on older Mac OS

ManualUser

I have a 2011 iMac that is capable of running Snow Leopard (10.6.8) thru High Sierra (10.13.6). My working software runs on either Snow Leopard or El Capitan (10.11.6). I do not use High Sierra at all, nor do I intend to use it.

I want to run a yet-to-be-purchased version of Quicken on El Capitan (10.11.6). I still use Quicken 2007 on Snow Leopard, but will be phasing out use of this system in the near future.

After reading thru many questions here, it appears that I will want the Deluxe version of the software, even though I use Quicken only for the most basic functions; not interested in reports, not interested in importing transactions from banks. I’m an old-school, manual entry guy. Once the subscription runs out, I will not want to renew it provided I can continue using the program in manual mode.

My question is: Which version of Quicken can I run, and where do I obtain it, since it seems Quicken sells only the current year’s version — one which will not run on my OS?

smayer97

The only version of QM2007 that was on a CD was v16.0.x which is NOT compatible with Mac OS X 10.7 or higher. Check the version number of Quicken... Quicken menu > About Quicken.

You need v16.1.x or higher (last released version was 16.2.4) to run on Mac OS 10.7 or higher.

When you said "My working software runs on either Snow Leopard or El Capitan (10.11.6)" I understood that to mean your version of QM2007 also.

smayer97

This means that you will only be able to import your data into the current version of Quicken for Mac but will not be able to run them in parallel on the same computer or you can procure a copy of QM2007 v16.1.x or higher (most likely not easy to do) or keeping a separate partition to boot into a Mac OS X 10.6.8 Snow Leopard. In your case, this of course would require rebooting to switch between 2 versions of Mac OS X.

smayer97

Your version of QM2007 will run on macOS up to and including 10.14 Mojave. Current version of Quicken will run on macOS 10.13 High Sierra and higher, though officially is only supported on "Current and previous two versions of macOS" as per https://www.quicken.com/system-requirements/mac. Not sure if Quicken is intentionally blocking the ability to install it on 10.13 yet.

BTW, the current version has a 30-day money-back guarantee.

jacobs

There is only the current version of Quicken available for purchase. As noted above, the current version will run on macOS High Sierra, but nothing older than that.

You said you could run High Sierra on your Mac, but do not intend to. In that case, you would not be able to install and run the current Quicken Mac. Perhaps you have some specific software which runs on El Capitan but not Sierra or High Sierra, but most Mac software which ran on El Capitan continued to work on Sierra and High Sierra.

Perhaps you could find someone selling a copy of the discontinued Quicken 2017 on eBay or somewhere (although that violates the license terms). That version would run on El Capitan, although no online services (transaction downloads, security price downloads, imports of downloaded QFX files from financial institutions) will work.  I would discourage you from going this route, as there have been hundreds of bug fixes and feature improvements since Quicken 2017 was discontinued. 

smayer97

Not sure how purchasing an old version from a third party would violate the license terms.

Older versions of Quicken for Mac can be found on the following Quicken site:

https://www.quicken.com/support/reinstalling-and-patching-your-quicken-subscription-version-after-your-membership-has-0

The oldest version there is v5.3.0, which is a Quicken for Mac 2018 version that runs on Mac OS X 10.11 El Capitan. In fact, it is not until version 5.8.3 that the minimum system requirement is macOS 10.13 High Sierra. So theoretically, you can purchase a current license, then install the older version.

That said, since you have not installed the older versions before, it is unclear if you would be able to activate it on a new data file, since it is the data file that is registered with Quicken.

Again, you do have a 30-day period to try it risk free.

And you would still be able to run QM2007 in parallel until you are satisfied.

jacobs

smayer97 said:

Not sure how purchasing an old version from a third party would violate the license terms.

It's in the license agreement. "Unless otherwise permitted by Quicken in writing you agree that you will not… Transfer your license to the Software to any other party." I'm not saying it isn't done; I'm only saying it violates the license agreement to sell the software to another user. 

smayer97 said:

So theoretically, you can purchase a current license, then install the older version.

I agree that it might work, but it's definitely not what they provide those old version downloads for. They are clear that they provide those copies if your Membership has expired and if you need to reinstall the version of Quicken you were using when it expired. If you buy a new subscription, it hasn't expired. When you install these older versions, it checks your membership status to see if you are qualified to run that version. My guess is that if you have a subscription that expires in October 2022, it will not allow you to install and run a 2018 version, but I haven't tried it and don't know if it would work.


@ManualUser  Out of curiosity, what's your reason for not updating your computer to run High Sierra, and thus being able to run the latest version of Quicken?

smayer97

Quoting those terms, you are assuming someone is selling a pre-owned version. False assumption.

So many other assumptions. What is offered is information for the OP to try to work with and to use as might fit their needs. Never guaranteed any results. Just that there is a 30-day window to experiment.

ManualUser

Quicken 2007 for Mac will run on PowerPC and on Intel up to system 10.6.8. I tried (1) copying the app from OS 10.6.8 to OS 1011.6 and the icon is "X"ed out; and (2) reinstalling Quicken 2007 from the original CD, and all icons were "X"ed out. So no, Quicken will not run on El Capitan (10.11.6).

smayer97

The only version of QM2007 that was on a CD was v16.0.x which is NOT compatible with Mac OS X 10.7 or higher. Check the version number of Quicken... Quicken menu > About Quicken.

You need v16.1.x or higher (last released version was 16.2.4) to run on Mac OS 10.7 or higher.

When you said "My working software runs on either Snow Leopard or El Capitan (10.11.6)" I understood that to mean your version of QM2007 also.

ManualUser

Thank you for your clarification. And I apologize for the wording of the statement you pointed out: "working" in this case does not include Quicken, but rather some of my business software.

smayer97

This means that you will only be able to import your data into the current version of Quicken for Mac but will not be able to run them in parallel on the same computer or you can procure a copy of QM2007 v16.1.x or higher (most likely not easy to do) or keeping a separate partition to boot into a Mac OS X 10.6.8 Snow Leopard. In your case, this of course would require rebooting to switch between 2 versions of Mac OS X.