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But special boxes titled "Up To Speed" add basic information in more detail to clarify an issue. (Not to mention the fact that some of those old manuals lost something in the translation from an original unknown language). Just as Quicken seems to balloon as it adds annual bells and whistles, the 2009 Missing Manual is nearly 75 pages longer than last year's edition. As a fairly experienced Quicken veteran, I found it fun to just leaf through the book and read the special boxes fIrst.I picked up some tips I'd never heard before and found other information that I never saw documented before. If you don't consider yourself an experienced Quicken user, the best solution is a good book.
As O'Reilly says of its "Missing Manual" books," this is the book that SHOULD have come with the program". And for those upgrading from an earlier version, there's a whole section in the Introduction that describes what's new this year. But even back in the days when most computer programs came in a box with a bound User Manual included, rarely were they as comprehensive, clear, and amusing as this one. Biafore presents us with a must for your bookshelf and sanity when using Quicken. "Power Users Clinic" boxes offer technical tips, tricks and shortcuts for the more experienced user. Actually, there are more box titles than this, but all of them are useful, and the tips they offer are very valuable.
Even veteran Quicken users need help when they update to a new version. (Not too much). In addition, black and white illustrations abound, providing screen shots that help you visualize instructions. In response to these needs, Bonnie Biafore continues her jargon-free, step-by-step instructions in this volume covering Quicken 2009. There also are "Frequently Asked Question" boxes, covering such things as where on earth your data fIles are kept by Quicken, and "Troubleshooting Moment" boxes, covering panic-causing incidents like the sudden loss of a window. The main text discussions are aimed at beginner or intermediate users.
However, unlike some of Quicken's additions, these are valuable and highly understandable pages, covering what has become a pretty complex program. To my jaded eyes, the true gift of this book is that the author not only tells you WHAT Quicken does, but WHY and HOW it's done, as well as why you might want to use the feature she's describing.This Missing Manual is divided into fve parts: Getting Started; Getting Down to Business (follows your money from paycheck, to deposit and spending, to reconciling accounts); Tuning your Financial Engine (budgeting, tracking assets, debt and investments, planning, using Quicken reports and tax planning); Quicken Power Tools (customizing Quicken, protecting your data, exporting and importing data); Appendixes (keyboard shortcuts, guide to Quicken resources, and installation and upgrading instructions).The book is written to accommodate readers at all levels of Quicken knowledge.
As with my other reviews, I recommend browsing the Quicken "how to" book until you find the one that seems logical and demonstrative to you and buy that. So the author may have been hamstrung with the material she had to work with. But, they have a corner on the market because no one else will take the time to do the simple programming to create a decent competitor.
It is not well laid out. It may not be the author's fault. I gave the book a 3 star, because I don't know what to think.
Quicken is a junk product. But, ethics would require you to then purchase that copy from the establishment in which you did the browsing. It, like other "missing manual" books I reviewed, contains a mishmash of topics jumbled together in less than logical order.
But, compared to the "Quicken for Dummies" books, it is more consistent, has better examples and illustrations.
It was indeed The Missing Manual. The book was very helpful and was well done. The maker of Quicken 2009 definately left me with many unanswer questions of just how to begin. It didn't help that they offered to answer my questions (at an additional expense)because I wasn't even elightened enough to ask good questions.
Excellent return for the money. The book covered the Quicken 2009 program effectively - good explanations on how to use pretty much every function available in the program. While most of the information was readily available elsewhere, the book had some very useful info that can't be found anywhere else (at least very easily)-- particulary related to file functions such as the capabilities of the "File Copy" feature.
In fact, I gave up and went back trying to use the Quicken help features instead. I ordered this book to help me with the new version of Quicken. The book is long,tedious and hard to understand.
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