Quicken for Linux

seasoned_geek

Since someone closed the original Quicken for Linux discussion it is time to ask again. Microsoft has doubled down on killing off Windows 10. All of these 240 million PCs will move to Linux.

If Quicken developers had used a decent C++ Cross Platform library like CopperSpice, wxWidgets, LVGL, even Elements, etc. spinning up on a YABU (Yet Another uBUntu) Linux would be nothing. FlatHub allows FlatPaks to be installed on basically any Linux desktop. Or you could stick with the much older AppImage packaging. I would not recommend Qt given its focus on QML turning it into a non-viable platform for anything.

So, when are you going to ship a Linux version?

Chris_QPW

None of the APIs you mention were around when Quicken windows was first created in 1991. Over the years Quicken Windows has had many different APIs used in it, many of which are still being used for different parts of Quicken.

To have a Linux version, Quicken Windows would have to be totally rewritten and that just isn't going to happen.

Your best bet if you want to use Quicken Windows is something like a virtual machine, crossover or Wine.

Boatnmaniac

@seasoned_geek said:

Since someone closed the original Quicken for Linux discussion it is time to ask again.

Discussion threads get closed by the Quicken Moderators/Administrators when there has been no posting activity for a period of time which is usually after about 1 month. That is logical since no activity in a thread indicates there is little users interest.

BTW , I have seen very few posts requesting Linux over the last 13 yrs. Quicken is going to need a lot more incentive than that to be convinced that making a major development capital investment is warranted and justified.

Microsoft has doubled down on killing off Windows 10. All of these 240 million PCs will move to Linux.

What is the issue with killing off Windows 10? Windows 11 is working fine for millions of people.

Why do you think that "all of these 240 million PCs will move to Linux? I've been hearing that mantra for decades now and it hasn't happened. Why would that change now, especially since Windows 11 is so popular and most Windows users, like me, have no absolutely no interest in switching to and learning what for us would be a whole new operating system along with needing to replace most of our other Windows-based apps?

I agree with everything @Chris_QPW said and suggested.

splasher

So, when are you going to ship a Linux version?

That makes this perfect storm of "Microsoft has doubled down on killing off Windows 10" and Quicken probably creating a Linux version for a "seasoned geek" such as yourself to write a Quicken-like program that would run on all three of the platforms of Linux, Windows and Mac, but at the very least Linux. It must be pretty simple to do if you believe that Quicken can do it so easily.

Chris_QPW

All of these 240 million PCs will move to Linux.

That is going to be one huge jump in users. *not going to happen, jumping to Mac is more likely*

But even more likely would be that those Windows 10 users will jump to Windows 12 when it comes out.

Windows Vista or 8 anyone?

Boatnmaniac

Here is some Feb 2023 data showing computer OS usage by platform. Windows still commands this space by a large margin (and from other data that I've seen has actually grown market share this past year). Linux isn't much more than a footnote.:

Here is the Nov 2023 data….note the big jump taken by Win 11 over the 2022 data posted by @Chris_QPW. Not surprising since the vast majority of new PCs being sold today are pre-loaded with Win 11 and there are also those who continue to migrate from even older Windows versions as there are fewer and fewer apps available that can be run on XP, Vista and Win 7 and Win 8.:

Here's a cool chart showing Windows versions usage percentage by year. Win 10 is dropping pretty quickly the last 2 years and is being replaced by Win 11. Win 11 is also showing incremental growth. This is per data from Oct 2023:

Windows is going to be around for a long time. Except for perhaps among developers and after 32 years there just does appear to me much interest nor demand in Linux.

Award-Winning-Author

>What is the issue with killing off Windows 10? Windows 11 is working fine for millions of people.

The number being quoted by most of those articles are the machines currently in use which are incapable of running Windows 11 and "working fine" is not how most people are describing Windows 11. Not as bad as Windows 8 but not good either.

>Why do you think that "all of these 240 million PCs will move to Linux? I've been hearing that mantra for decades now and it hasn't happened.

Sorry for logging in with what appears to be different name, but the email server for site wasn't getting "forgot password" emails delivered. Server might be working now but it wasn't worth the hassle.

Think, no, I know.

Multiple times now I worked on the IPOS system for the marketing agency handling the Intel Point of Sale software. This is the "Explore this PC" application you see running on computers in retail locations. I was the one and only Linux developer, had to create custom Ubuntu spins and basically handled the entire EU. In the EU and many other countries it is illegal to bundle an OS with hardware so almost every unit comes with some flavor of Linux. This was Intel's own retailer data.

Off-lease desktop and laptop computers that are only a few years old have many units consumed in the U.S. "refurbished" market, but there are too many units for such a quantity, many of them get shipped to "second world" markets. Most of the gen-4 stuff is currently being unloaded in former Soviet Block countries with gen-3 and earlier units being shipped to India because third and fourth world locations need working computers too. The ones being shipped to the poorer parts of China get the Chinese government funded version of Ubuntu on them.

jacobs

A few words about computer OS stats and their relevancy to Quicken…

First, any stat which shows worldwide usage isn't relevant, since Quicken is only sold and mostly used in the US and Canada. Here's a stat for worldwide desktop computer (exclude tablets and phones) OS usage:

Now look at the same stats when narrowed to just US and Canada:

That's a very significant difference. (The stats are within a percentage point if changed to view just US rather than North America).

Second, almost all usage stats measure all computers in use, meaning work as well as home computers. But that isn't the market for Quicken, which is almost all home computers (with smaller numbers of home/work hybrid laptops and work-from home desktops). Many OS stats are also based on browser page views rather than unique users, which also skews those stats towards work users. It's hard to separate out home computers from work computers. I've seen such stats somewhere but can't find it at the moment, but macOS usage is a higher percentage when looking at just home computers and excluding work computers. (And Linux usage is a very small percentage, no matter how things are sliced!)

Chris_QPW

@Award-Winning-Author if there is one thing I know for sure, it is that Quicken Inc isn't really interested in the "rest of the world". Frankly, it barely supports Canada, and mostly probably just because Quicken has for a very long time.

Every time that subject comes up the answer is basically, "Well if it works for you (manually), great, but if it doesn't don't call us.".

Not only do they not have the personal/money for a rewrite, but they also don't have it for supporting other countries and they know that VERY well. Intuit abandoned the other countries back in 2005, and it doesn't look like that is going to change any time soon.

It is very ironic that the Quicken Windows developers are basically all in India, and they can't even use the product for their own personal use. But that has been true for decades.

But now that you mention Windows 11s requirements that it can't be used (without tweaks) on some older machines, yes there might a lot of people looking for another operating system. And given most of Quicken's users are old diehards, that might indeed impact the number of people that will quit using it. But the fact is, they don't really have any choice in the matter, Linux is just plain off the table. I guess they hope Simplifi will take up the slack and then some.

But my real belief for at least the US/Canadian market is that all the doomsayers that everyone will go to Linux have it wrong. Most of them will get Windows 11 or Windows 12 with a new computer. The rest are not guaranteed to go to Linux, they might end up as Mac users or Chrome or just keep using Windows 10, there are some people still using Windows 7, and then there are virtual machines too. If there is an OS that is really taking away market share from Windows in the US/Canada it would be Mac OS.

Back when Intuit started the rewrite of Quicken Mac one reason it took so long is the size of the development team, that was sized based on the number of users. That was just a few percentage points. Look at it today. And that shows. One of the first things the new company of Quicken Inc did is increase the size of the development group for Quicken Mac. And that is way it really works. Quicken Inc isn't going to invest money into doing anything with Linux until at least the percentages are a lot higher. They aren't going to be "proactive". I'm not sure if they will ever have a Quicken Linux, I doubt it, the cost to reward will never be there. Why do I believe that? Because I don't believe that Quicken could ever be a product today if someone was to start developing it today. Back in the day it was "cutting edge" into a new market with no competitors. These days there just isn't a compelling reason for it.

EDIT: Another point on losing customers, I think by far Quicken Inc will lose more customers to the fact that Quicken Windows can't really perform well because of #1 no standardization of downloading of transactions by the financial institutions (and Billers) and #2 old hard to maintain code base with probably not the most experienced programmers trying to maintain it. But like I said, Quicken Inc's hands are tied. They can't really fix either of these problems, not for any technical reasons, but purely because of the time, money and reward for such an effort isn't there.

Chris_QPW

One last note, here is the Idea thread for Linux development you can vote on:

https://community.quicken.com/discussion/7333180/quicken-on-linux-by-2020-for-those-rejecting-windows-10-15-legacy-2-merged-votes

jacobs

here is the Idea thread for Linux development you can vote on…

It's pretty telling that that Idea thread has existed for more than 7 years, and yet has fewer than 40 votes. There's just not the level interest by users to compel Quicken to sink a huge amount of time and money into developing for a new operating system.