Quicken 2008 is a small upgrade of Intuit's popular personal finance program. This well-built money manager is easy enough for novices yet powerful enough for veteran number crunchers, although it feels like a warmed-over version of last year's model with a few helpful enhancements. That said, the 2008 version is a bit better at managing savings and investments, categorizing expenses, and tracking 529 college savings contributions.

Setup and interface
Setup for Quicken 2008 is mostly unchanged from last year, and the process is largely automated and fast. Luckily, Intuit doesn't demand that you have a brand-new computer, as the application can run on Windows 2000 or more recent, and a recommended 256MB of RAM. Software installation took only 5 minutes in our tests on both Windows XP and Vista machines, and we successfully downloaded transactions from a major bank and a brokerage firm in about 10 minutes. Since Quicken's account registers automatically categorize your transactions, setup doesn't require a lot of manual labor. And tweaking is easy; to rename a transaction, for instance, select it and click the Edit button. Unfortunately, during installation Quicken rudely dumped four icons on our Windows XP desktop, including junk-mail pitches for credit report, credit card, and bill-pay services.

System Requirements
• Computer Computer: IBM or compatible Pentium II 300
• Operating System Windows 2000/2003/XP/Vista
• Memory 128 MB RAM (256 MB RAM recommended)
• Hard Disk Space 100 MB, plus 45 MB for Microsoft Internet Explorer if IE 6.0 or higher is not already installed
• Monitor 1024x768 with 16-bit color
• CD-ROM Drive Double speed (4X or higher recommended for multimedia)
• Internet Connection 56 kbps modem or higher
• Sound Sound card and speakers recommended
• Printer Any printer supported by Windows 2000/2003/XP/Vista

OVERVIEW

Optimize Your Portfolio (1:42) Includes all the features of Quicken Deluxe, plus powerful investing tools to help you plan for your financial future and grow your investments
Make online banking even better -- bring all your online accounts together in one place
Connect to your bank, credit card, 401(k)s, or brokerage accounts with a single password
Smart investment tools help you research, balance your portfolio and monitor your net worth
Organize your tax information and help maximize deductions

FEATURES AND BENIFITS

Quicken Premier has all of the features of Quicken Deluxe -- plus investment planning tools to help better manage your portfolio and help maximize your investments.

Size: 60.7 MB