Should I update or not?

james.mccoy1

I'm currently using windows 10 Quicken subscription premier R36.38 and it's working fine. After reading about all the issues with updates I'm reluctant to update but keep getting pop up notices to update. Even some superusers say there are issues with the latest updates although they seem to be able to tolerate the apparent program bugs. I want to stress that my program seems to be working fine with a daily download time of 2.5 minutes for about 10 banking/investment accounts, planner works, have stayed away from mobile/Quicken online, don't use Schwab and haven't had a crash in months so is there really a need to update anytime soon?

Sherlock

For what it may be worth, we're also still using R36.38.  Based on the Release Announcements, both R37 and R38 still appear to be in staged mode.

mrzookie

I recently posted a similar question about r38.xx. The answer depends on what you use. I'm on r37.67 which is stable for me and includes some features I wanted that 36.xx didn't. I'm not going to 38.xx yet bc it has some problems with things I use (lifetime planner for one). It can also potentially mess with TurboTax, if you use that program (which I do). If the features you use are not mentioned in what's been reported, its probably OK to update, but there's no guarantee. [Removed-Disruptive]

james.mccoy1

Thanks for the comments, Sherlock and mrzookie. I keep hearing "don't try to fix what ain't broke" in my head so I'm gonna leave everything alone until it's necessary to update. I follow the comments here pretty regular so I'll wait until there's more of an "all clear" on updates.
Thanks again.

Unknown

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ProfileX

I agree, although in theory we should keep everything updated and we're paying a subscription fee to keep things moving at the speed of the cloud, in reality I lost faith in Quicken's ability to release quality software long ago and I disabled my auto-update. I'm still on 33.24 and follow the comments here every few weeks hoping to find a stable release. Now I just got a warning saying that if I don't update soon, upcoming changes may cause issues with my account balances, I have a good OS & data file backup strategy so I guess I should cross my fingers and do it.

TTSguy

Is there a way Profile X can just update to R36.38?

Sherlock

TTSguy said:

Is there a way Profile X can just update to R36.38?

We may update or revert to any release by performing a clean uninstall, installing while disconnected from the internet and applying the appropriate Mondo Patch.  If reverting, I suggest restoring a Quicken file saved prior to updating from the earlier release.  If you haven’t already, you may want to review: https://www.quicken.com/support/using-qcleanui-uninstall-quicken.  We may download Mondo patches at: https://www.quicken.com/support/patching-updates-windows, https://www.quicken.com/support/reinstalling-and-patching-your-quicken-subscription-version-after-your-membership-has, or http://www.quicknperlwiz.com/quickenpatches.html

To prevent Quicken from applying an update without your approval, I suggest you set Windows UAC settings appropriately (choose default or always notify).

ProfileX

Thanks TTSguy & Sherlock. Are there a lot of people happy with 36.38, is that the latest version that was generally stable?

Chris_QPW

ProfileX said:

Thanks TTSguy & Sherlock. Are there a lot of people happy with 36.38, is that the latest version that was generally stable?

I’m sure there are a lot of people happy with any of the releases.  What you hear about here is the problems people are having, not how many consider a given release is stable or not.

I personally wouldn’t want to announce to anyone “Release XX is stable”.  There isn’t a release that is trouble free for everyone.

With the way things have been going time isn’t any indication of stability, especially when you start to talk about the online services which can have problems that aren’t related to the release you have.

Another thing that is becoming evident is that they are making backend changes that aren’t backwards compatible.  So sooner or later you are forced to update if you need these services.

It is really disturbing to me that they have maintained three branches (main, R37 and R38) for so very long.

Sherlock

ProfileX said:

Thanks TTSguy & Sherlock. Are there a lot of people happy with 36.38, is that the latest version that was generally stable?

We can really only speak for ourselves.  Right now, we're happy at R36.38 and believe it is the latest version that is generally stable.  The only feature we feel we lack is the update for the 2022 tax rates.   We didn't need to upgrade to the subsequently released hot fixes or staged R37 releases as we closed our Schwab accounts a few years ago.  I think Schwab's decision to cut off the Direct Connect service was a poor one and would have motivated us close our accounts anyway.  We're hoping Quicken will manage to resolve the remaining significant problems in R38 and will be able announce R38's migration from staged to latest.  Only after that point, will we feel the distribution of the release is broad enough to determine its stability.

mrzookie

@Sherlock

How are you and/or Quicken defining "staged" releases? I'm currently on r37.67, and for the past 2 weeks or more, I have a "nag" banner at the top of the OSU screen indicating there's a new version of Q (initially r38.29, now 38.30) available. If I view the update, it says its the latest. Previously, when a release was staged, the nag would go away after a day or 2, and if I went to HELP->CHECK FOR UPDATES, it would tell me I was up to date and it did not indicate that the staged/latest release was available. Only when the OSU banner remained in place would CHECK FOR UPDATES show it as the latest. Currently, the banner has remained in place and CHECK FOR UPDATES is indicating that r38.30 is the latest, which tells me they consider it to be the current production release. 

I know the Schwab situation seems to have thrown the usual process out of whack, resulting in, as @Chris_QPW calls them, multiple code branches, but are Rs 37.xx and 38.xx still staged?

Sherlock

mrzookie said:

@Sherlock

How are you and/or Quicken defining "staged" releases? I'm currently on r37.67, and for the past 2 weeks or more, I have a "nag" banner at the top of the OSU screen indicating there's a new version of Q (initially r38.29, now 38.30) available. If I view the update, it says its the latest. Previously, when a release was staged, the nag would go away after a day or 2, and if I went to HELP->CHECK FOR UPDATES, it would tell me I was up to date and it did not indicate that the staged/latest release was available. Only when the OSU banner remained in place would CHECK FOR UPDATES show it as the latest. Currently, the banner has remained in place and CHECK FOR UPDATES is indicating that r38.30 is the latest, which tells me they consider it to be the current production release. 

I know the Schwab situation seems to have thrown the usual process out of whack, resulting in, as @Chris_QPW calls them, multiple code branches, but are Rs 37.xx and 38.xx still staged?

As stated earlier, I base my assessment on the Release Announcements.  

Chris_QPW

Sherlock said:

mrzookie said:

@Sherlock

How are you and/or Quicken defining "staged" releases? I'm currently on r37.67, and for the past 2 weeks or more, I have a "nag" banner at the top of the OSU screen indicating there's a new version of Q (initially r38.29, now 38.30) available. If I view the update, it says its the latest. Previously, when a release was staged, the nag would go away after a day or 2, and if I went to HELP->CHECK FOR UPDATES, it would tell me I was up to date and it did not indicate that the staged/latest release was available. Only when the OSU banner remained in place would CHECK FOR UPDATES show it as the latest. Currently, the banner has remained in place and CHECK FOR UPDATES is indicating that r38.30 is the latest, which tells me they consider it to be the current production release. 

I know the Schwab situation seems to have thrown the usual process out of whack, resulting in, as @Chris_QPW calls them, multiple code branches, but are Rs 37.xx and 38.xx still staged?

As stated earlier, I base my assessment on the Release Announcements.  

I base my assessment differently.  Many times, their announcements lag behind reality.
The stated policy is that the put out a release in staged release mode and after a short time pause it.

When I come back at a later time and find that a release is what is being downloaded for everyone that installs, or updates, I don't consider a staged release anymore.  I consider that release the "main/current" one.

Currently that release is R38.30.

Chris_QPW

P.S. If I think their processes aren't correct.  One shouldn't have to come to a forum to determine this.  And announcements should be up to date.  But it has been stated that the forum moderators don't have direct contact with the developers, and as such aren't a reliable source for this information in my opinion.

What's more it is an extremely bad policy to not let people know that they are in fact installing anything other than a released version.  Where else in the software industry do you get a beta/pre-release without being notified?  Without "opting into" getting such releases?

mrzookie

@Chris_QPW

Although I can't find one, I'd like to believe that at some point along the way, someone has written an "idea" post suggesting that Q indicate whether a release is "staged" or "production". Do you know of one that can be voted on? If not, I'll write it.

Chris_QPW

mrzookie said:

@Chris_QPW

Although I can't find one, I'd like to believe that at some point along the way, someone has written an "idea" post suggesting that Q indicate whether a release is "staged" or "production". Do you know of one that can be voted on? If not, I'll write it.

Here the one I put in 2018:
https://community.quicken.com/discussion/7765056/there-should-be-a-way-to-notify-the-user-that-they-are-getting-a-staged-release-and-what-that-means

mrzookie

Thanks. I just bumped it.

Q97

So did I.

Sherlock

Chris_QPW said:

Sherlock said:

mrzookie said:

@Sherlock

How are you and/or Quicken defining "staged" releases? I'm currently on r37.67, and for the past 2 weeks or more, I have a "nag" banner at the top of the OSU screen indicating there's a new version of Q (initially r38.29, now 38.30) available. If I view the update, it says its the latest. Previously, when a release was staged, the nag would go away after a day or 2, and if I went to HELP->CHECK FOR UPDATES, it would tell me I was up to date and it did not indicate that the staged/latest release was available. Only when the OSU banner remained in place would CHECK FOR UPDATES show it as the latest. Currently, the banner has remained in place and CHECK FOR UPDATES is indicating that r38.30 is the latest, which tells me they consider it to be the current production release. 

I know the Schwab situation seems to have thrown the usual process out of whack, resulting in, as @Chris_QPW calls them, multiple code branches, but are Rs 37.xx and 38.xx still staged?

As stated earlier, I base my assessment on the Release Announcements.  

I base my assessment differently.  Many times, their announcements lag behind reality.
The stated policy is that the put out a release in staged release mode and after a short time pause it.

When I come back at a later time and find that a release is what is being downloaded for everyone that installs, or updates, I don't consider a staged release anymore.  I consider that release the "main/current" one.

Currently that release is R38.30.

While the release announcements do lag, we prefer to be cautious.  

Note: You've misstated the staging policy.  It is not time based.  It supposedly based on number of pulls and the new issues reported.  If good, the staged release is incrementally exposed to more users and evaluated repeatedly.  If bad, the staged release is held until the next release is available.  

I have no clue how you determine what is being downloaded for everyone that installs, or updates.  That is why we rely on the release announcements.

Chris_QPW

Your correct it isn't "time based", it by a certain number of installs.  But basically, judging by the past they hit that number within a day.  So, if it is what is downloaded as the "latest" a week later, I certainly consider it "released to the general public".

Note that is another problem with this whole process.  You can't have a patch that goes out to all your customers and then say that isn't the "current release".

TTSguy

I think most users only want to use the latest patch with the "least likely issues" with it and or "released" version. My issue is with the fact that I loaded a new Deluxe version over my wife's Starter version, and it automatically loaded V38.30 instead of the last released version. That in my opinion is wrong!

Chris_QPW

TTSguy said:

I think most users only want to use the latest patch with the "least likely issues" with it and or "released" version. My issue is with the fact that I loaded a new Deluxe version over my wife's Starter version, and it automatically loaded V38.30 instead of the last released version. That in my opinion is wrong!

Add to that this announcement, and you see why I don't believe in their "stagged vs released".
https://community.quicken.com/discussion/7909179/new-online-banking-processes-will-require-latest-version-release-windows-u-s-subscribers

Sherlock

TTSguy said:

I think most users only want to use the latest patch with the "least likely issues" with it and or "released" version. My issue is with the fact that I loaded a new Deluxe version over my wife's Starter version, and it automatically loaded V38.30 instead of the last released version. That in my opinion is wrong!

I completely agree.  In the future, I suggest disconnecting from the internet before installing Quicken to prevent the update to a potentially staged release.  Then, you may download and apply the mondo patch for the desired release.

To prevent Quicken from applying an update without your approval, I suggest you set Windows UAC settings appropriately (choose default or always notify).

Note: If your wife was using a subscription, you did not need to install Quicken to upgrade from Starter to Deluxe.  The version rights are maintained by the Quicken ID associated with the Quicken file not by the installed program.

Sherlock

Chris_QPW said:

TTSguy said:

I think most users only want to use the latest patch with the "least likely issues" with it and or "released" version. My issue is with the fact that I loaded a new Deluxe version over my wife's Starter version, and it automatically loaded V38.30 instead of the last released version. That in my opinion is wrong!

Add to that this announcement, and you see why I don't believe in their "stagged vs released".
https://community.quicken.com/discussion/7909179/new-online-banking-processes-will-require-latest-version-release-windows-u-s-subscribers

We have been informed this backend change should only impact accounts using the Express Web Connect connection method and a Quicken version prior to R36.48.  In my opinion, it is bad policy for Quicken to be coercing their users on to the staged  R38.30 release when they say themselves say it is not required.

Note: We don't use the Express Web Connect connection method so we should be fine at R36.38.

Chris_QPW

Sherlock said:

Chris_QPW said:

TTSguy said:

I think most users only want to use the latest patch with the "least likely issues" with it and or "released" version. My issue is with the fact that I loaded a new Deluxe version over my wife's Starter version, and it automatically loaded V38.30 instead of the last released version. That in my opinion is wrong!

Add to that this announcement, and you see why I don't believe in their "stagged vs released".
https://community.quicken.com/discussion/7909179/new-online-banking-processes-will-require-latest-version-release-windows-u-s-subscribers

We have been informed this backend change should only impact accounts using the Express Web Connect connection method and a Quicken version prior to R36.48.  In my opinion, it is bad policy for Quicken to be coercing their users on to the staged  R38.30 release when they say themselves say it is not required.

Note: We don't use the Express Web Connect connection method so we should be fine at R36.38.

Makes sense R36.48 is the crossover point where they change Quicken to support Express Web Connect +/Schwab.

Sherlock

Chris_QPW said:

Sherlock said:

Chris_QPW said:

TTSguy said:

I think most users only want to use the latest patch with the "least likely issues" with it and or "released" version. My issue is with the fact that I loaded a new Deluxe version over my wife's Starter version, and it automatically loaded V38.30 instead of the last released version. That in my opinion is wrong!

Add to that this announcement, and you see why I don't believe in their "stagged vs released".
https://community.quicken.com/discussion/7909179/new-online-banking-processes-will-require-latest-version-release-windows-u-s-subscribers

We have been informed this backend change should only impact accounts using the Express Web Connect connection method and a Quicken version prior to R36.48.  In my opinion, it is bad policy for Quicken to be coercing their users on to the staged  R38.30 release when they say themselves say it is not required.

Note: We don't use the Express Web Connect connection method so we should be fine at R36.38.

Makes sense R36.48 is the crossover point where they change Quicken to support Express Web Connect +/Schwab.

According the release announcements, it was R36.38 where they change Quicken to support Express Web Connect +/Schwab.

Chris_QPW

Sherlock said:

Chris_QPW said:

Sherlock said:

Chris_QPW said:

TTSguy said:

I think most users only want to use the latest patch with the "least likely issues" with it and or "released" version. My issue is with the fact that I loaded a new Deluxe version over my wife's Starter version, and it automatically loaded V38.30 instead of the last released version. That in my opinion is wrong!

Add to that this announcement, and you see why I don't believe in their "stagged vs released".
https://community.quicken.com/discussion/7909179/new-online-banking-processes-will-require-latest-version-release-windows-u-s-subscribers

We have been informed this backend change should only impact accounts using the Express Web Connect connection method and a Quicken version prior to R36.48.  In my opinion, it is bad policy for Quicken to be coercing their users on to the staged  R38.30 release when they say themselves say it is not required.

Note: We don't use the Express Web Connect connection method so we should be fine at R36.38.

Makes sense R36.48 is the crossover point where they change Quicken to support Express Web Connect +/Schwab.

According the release announcements, it was R36.38 where they change Quicken to support Express Web Connect +/Schwab.

It was the "start", but it had problems and I believe R36.48 is where they figure that they had all the needed changes in.  Actually I seen in R36.56 they mention another fix for Schwab...

So, clear as mud, as usual.

TTSguy

All I did in upgrade to Deluxe from Starter was what support recommended. I was taken to a page where all I needed to do was input my keycode for Deluxe. I also was able to download from my FI all transactions from Oct 2018 to the FI website then to Quicken with Deluxe version, (using web connect only, not Express web connect) but my registers are all screwed up with missing / extra transaction. So something went south during the upgrade, even though I have Sync turned off! Go figure. Can't even upgrade without issues anymore!

james.mccoy1

As the originator of this thread I thought I'd update my situation after questioning whether to update from 36.38 or not. Since the popup I received indicated I would have problems downloading transactions I crossed my fingers as ProfileX stated above and updated to R38.30.
I'm happy to report that all went well. Not a single glitch. Everything is functioning properly and have not experienced any of the bugs others have mentioned. My faith in Quicken has been restored a bit since my successful update but will also continue to monitor this forum for potential problems in the future.

mrzookie

Great news! Keep us posted if anything comes up.