Running Quicken for Windows on a Mac

Question

I have used Quicken for Windows for over 30 years , and for one month ran Quicken for Mac.  I found errors converting and have decided to convert back to Q for Windows . Beside dollar errors in stocks here are two main issues .

* I had one fund merge and Q for Windows alerted me where Q for Mac " put in a placeholder"
* Q for Windows does a cross check on the number of stock shares I have in Etrade ( indicates if one is off) Q for Mac does not have this feature

I will be purchasing Paraells and run on Q for Windows on my Mac  A few questions

* Is it an easy transition downloading Paraells and then downloading and installing Q for Win ?  
* Did your financial data from your  Windows computer remain the same on your Mac ?

jjrichards · Answer

Hi Jon

Thank you for the comments . I another question  I posted regarding the Q versions between Mac & Win , the other issue I like in Q for Win is there is a built in alert if my share balances are off between what Q shows and my brokerage account ( E trade ) . A Q for Mac superuser confirmed this.

Great point on Paraells/ Windows  software updates running , then requiring a restart of a computer.  I do have a few other baseball / football games I play on occasion that run on Windows only , no Mac version .

Understand Pararells has annual fee and I need to check into Windows subsciption how long it would be good for if I purchase a new laptop . My Microsoft surface laptop is 6 years old , and needs to be updated

John_in_NC · Answer

Here are my thoughts as one who has had Macs and PCs for roughly 40 years (and used Quicken (Mac) for 35):

I ran Parallels on my Mac back in the Intel Mac days (I can't speak for performance of Windows under Apple Silicon chips-others can chime in), but it was great then. It was a very nice solution if I required or could only have one machine.

If you install Quicken in the virtual environment, you basically will have a Windows machine on your Mac, and Quicken ran well.

My biggest gripe with virtualization such as Parallels is that in the occasional times I needed it, I was always waiting for something to be updated:  either Parallels or Windows was installing updates and each requiring a restart of Windows. Moreover, when I stepped back and looked at the cost of Parallels+the cost of a Windows license, I determined it was just easier/cheaper to buy an inexpensive Windows notebook. That is what I have done for the past 15 years.

That said, and you free to do what you wish. But, are silently added placeholders really a dealbreaker? Perhaps when coupled with the data conversion issues.  But I just wonder if the program is different than what you have used for 30 years. If you are missing features, then of course go back to the Win version.

Good luck in whatever you decide!

jjrichards · Answer

Hi Chris & JF

Thank you for your response.