While I consider myself an early-adopter, at the same time my approach to major computer upgrades is one of caution. After all, I can keep working safely if I let the rest of the world test the new software and operating system upgrades for me.

I have a client who was not so cautious and even though he is a home user with personal needs rather than the more demanding business requirements, it was a headache for him when he updated to the latest Apple operating system, Lion.

Two issues created a problem for him:   Quicken and iPhoto.  Quicken 2007 and earlier will not run on Lion (OS 10.7) and unless you have the latest version of iPhoto, you will feel a heart-stopping jolt when iPhone is simply gone after the upgrade.

The iPhoto issue is pretty easy to resolve — simply go to the App store and download the newest version of iPhoto for $14.99. However, the Quicken problem is not so easy to fix.

Intuit has made the decision that they will no longer support or upgrade Quicken for the Mac.  They are suggesting that you upgrade to Quicken Essentials.  For the most part, this is a good solution unless you use the online banking function in Quicken, which will no longer be available in Essentials.  But here’s the annoyance:  if you do not move your Quicken to Essentials and use their conversion tool before you update to Lion, you’re out of luck.  You will have to find someone who can take your Quicken data file to their pre-Lion Mac and create an export of your accounts using the Quicken export function.  From here, Essentials Conversion Utility will bring the Quicken data into the new Essentials program.

The problem I see is not that Intuit has made the decision not to upgrade Quicken to Lion, but that their conversion utility won’t import your Quicken data into Essentials while in the new Lion operating system. Check this Intuit support page for more information.  There is a 50% discount right now on Essentials if that makes you feel a little better about the process. If you have already done the Lion update and you didn’t make the transition to Essentials first, then you will need to find a Mac friend to help you out — one who uses Quicken and has not updated to Lion yet.

You may want to look at Apple’s Lion Technical specs page before you run the update. And be sure to check that all of your applications are Lion compatible using this Roaring Apps Compatibility Chart.

Chesa
www.computergoddess.com

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