I've used Quicken on the Mac since 1999, and was reasonably satisfied. However, about six years ago I became interested in Linux and began transitioning to it. The one app that prevented me from going fully linux was Quicken. I began looking for an alternative and heard an interview Sean Reilly gave on the Linux Link Tech Show in May of 2007. It impressed me enough to buy Moneydance. However, I had great difficulty getting MD to correctly import my Quicken data and finally let it go and continued with Quicken. More recently, it seems that Quicken support on the Mac is fading, and I might as well give MD another shot. I have been pleasantly surprised with MD 2010!

Importing from Quicken worked very well this time, and MD required very little tweaking after the import. However, I decided to start a new MD data set with about a year (2009) overlap with my old Quicken data. The fresh start allowed me to set up my accounts more logically than in the old data set. This worked well in MD, and did require a bit of a learning curve -- but not too much.

I'm not a great fan of Java apps, but MD works pretty well. The look and feel of MD on the Mac is somewhat better than on Linux though. There are several minor issues on linux, but no show stoppers -- I can happily use MD on either platform.

I've been running quarterly reports using Quicken for years, and the "Portfolio Grouped by Account" was a key element. In MD there is a Portfolio Report which looks and works quite similarly. I use it exactly the same way. However, it would be nice if the MD Portfolio Report were more customizable. Namely the ability to add custom data columns, like a "% of portfolio" to show what percentage each security was in the total portfolio at a glance. Also %gain (or loss) would be nice.

Data import via Direct Connect or downloaded file works great in MD. Because of differences in various financial institutions, I use several methods to get my data including Direct Connect, and downloading OFX/QFX files, QIF files and even csv ones. No manual entry is necessary -- one of my main goals, but a little manual tweaking of some transactions is still needed (and would be in Quicken too).

Good, but needs improvement: the forums. They are pretty good, and I realize that managing a forum for financial software is a daunting task. I have found many answers by searching the forum and by posting. It is a great resource and as I'm sure you're aware often the deciding factor whether customers will actually learn and use your software. So I hope the forum will only continue to get better and perhaps a bit quicker on the responses...

As a linux user, I applaud your support of that platform. Of course Java is cross-platform, but MD support goes well beyond that as one can see in your FAQ and the forums. Many linux users are practical and will support the app that best serves their needs even when it is not an open-source one. So thanks very much for your continued linux support!

Regards,
feffer777