Amazon.com Review
Although millions of PC users the world over already use Microsoft Office for everyday productivity, that doesn’t mean we can’t stand to inject some additional creativity into our letters, spreadsheets, and presentations. Personal Portfolio 2002 comes on the scene just as Office XP makes its debut. But Personal Portfolio is not limited to the new Office–users of Office 97 and 2000 can use it to brighten up their stationery as well.

Personal Portfolio complements the Office suite of applications with 300 new Word templates, 120 Excel templates, 90 PowerPoint templates, and 90 new stationeries for Outlook. Use this collection to add a little spice to your letters, e-mails, and even shopping lists, should you wish. And if you must stare at Excel spreadsheets all day, any change to the dull gray and white grid, the default display, is an improvement.

Personal Portfolio is not just for fun and games–it’s a useful business application, too. PowerPoint users may be looking for new ways to make their professional presentations stand out from the crowd, and the résumé templates can add a structure and discipline that your current curriculum vitae may be missing. You can even create slick-looking fax covers, reports, and business stationery to show off your savvy professional self. –John Rennie

Microsoft Office Personal Portfolio 2002

Amazon.com Product Description
Quicken 2002 Deluxe saves you more time and steps by improving the features people use most. Now you can download your participating brokerage transactions from the Web so your investment account data is more accurate and current. Update all your online accounts in one step. Compare the tax impact of selling different stocks and mutual funds before you sell. Automatically reconcile your accounts when your online balances match your Quicken balances. And, most importantly, Quicken 2002 Deluxe is built for Mac OS X, so you can take advantage of Apple’s latest operating system. It also works with Mac OS 9.0.4 or later.

Set up accounts with step-by-step ease. Quicken provides an assistant to guide you through a complete setup of your accounts. Enter your financial information in one sitting so you can put Quicken to work sooner. Download your account information, such as credit card, banking, or brokerage transactions, from more than 1,000 financial institutions. Pay bills, transfer money, and get stock and mutual fund quotes, all in one step. After you download and accept your online banking transactions, if your register balance matches your bank’s online balance Quicken will automatically reconcile your account. Never miss a bill, as Quicken will proactively find past repeated bills you’ve entered and alert you when these bills, such as a monthly mortgage or credit card payment, are due. Simplify the process of finding a particular transaction with global find and replace options that search all Quicken accounts at one time.

Save time by downloading your brokerage transactions from the Web so your investment account data is more accurate and up to date. This option works with TD Waterhouse, Fidelity, and more. Quicken now helps you set up the correct tax categories to more accurately track your taxable items, making tax time easier. Compare the tax impact of selling different stocks and mutual funds before deciding which ones to sell. Optimize your capital gains and losses to help you keep more money. Get a more accurate picture of your net worth. Even if you don’t know the original purchase prices, you can still start tracking the value of your stocks and mutual funds with just the balances from your latest statement.

Quicken 2002 Deluxe

Amazon.com Product Description
Quicken 2002 Deluxe saves you more time and steps by improving the features people use most. Now you can download your participating brokerage transactions from the Web so your investment account data is more accurate and current. Update all your online accounts in one step. Compare the tax impact of selling different stocks and mutual funds before you sell. Automatically reconcile your accounts when your online balances match your Quicken balances. And, most importantly, Quicken 2002 Deluxe is built for Mac OS X, so you can take advantage of Apple’s latest operating system. It also works with Mac OS 9.0.4 or later.

Set up accounts with step-by-step ease. Quicken provides an assistant to guide you through a complete setup of your accounts. Enter your financial information in one sitting so you can put Quicken to work sooner. Download your account information, such as credit card, banking, or brokerage transactions, from more than 1,000 financial institutions. Pay bills, transfer money, and get stock and mutual fund quotes, all in one step. After you download and accept your online banking transactions, if your register balance matches your bank’s online balance Quicken will automatically reconcile your account. Never miss a bill, as Quicken will proactively find past repeated bills you’ve entered and alert you when these bills, such as a monthly mortgage or credit card payment, are due. Simplify the process of finding a particular transaction with global find and replace options that search all Quicken accounts at one time.

Save time by downloading your brokerage transactions from the Web so your investment account data is more accurate and up to date. This option works with TD Waterhouse, Fidelity, and more. Quicken now helps you set up the correct tax categories to more accurately track your taxable items, making tax time easier. Compare the tax impact of selling different stocks and mutual funds before deciding which ones to sell. Optimize your capital gains and losses to help you keep more money. Get a more accurate picture of your net worth. Even if you don’t know the original purchase prices, you can still start tracking the value of your stocks and mutual funds with just the balances from your latest statement.

Quicken 2002 Deluxe

Amazon.com Review
Whether planning a retirement strategy or just balancing a checkbook, it can be tough to deal with financial data sensibly and securely. Quicken 2002 Home & Business helps new and upgrading users devise the best arrangements for their information and plan for the future. The program’s Web-page-based tracking system (which integrates Internet Explorer thoroughly) is simple, customizable, and easy on the eyes.

Installing the upgrade is practically transparent, and new users will only have to pay attention for a few minutes before taking a quick coffee break and letting the computer do the work. Data entry is painless now that nearly every major bank and investment house has online information access, though this can be moderately tricky to implement, depending on the business in question.

Those who are a bit more daring can branch out from basic data maintenance and ask the onboard experts for advice on debt reduction, college payment, and many other common financial milestones. The program also includes information and guidance on starting and running a business, including helpful tax information. Links to helpful online services abound–though they’re incomplete, they’re a good start–and users should be able to find information on just about any topic they need.

Upgraders will find the 2002 version a bit slicker and better suited to Web transactions, but little is otherwise different. Those shifting from other packages or new to personal financial management software will have a short but steep learning curve.

Quicken 2002 Home & Business also lets users create customizable estimates and invoices, manage business taxes, and track accounts payable and receivable. This version also lets managers and employees track jobs, projects, and customer payments.

Will Quicken make up for sloppy budgeting, bad investment advice, or the heartbreak of tax day? No, but it will help users committed to financial responsibility achieve their goals without going crazy, and that’s more than enough. –Rob LightnerAmazon.com Product Description
Quicken 2002 Home & Business includes all the business features you need
with the ease you want. Because it’s from Quicken, Home & Business provides
familiar, user-friendly approaches to managing your business finances. It also
includes the latest features of
Quicken 2002 Deluxe to help you
manage your personal finances easily.

Home & Business can help you handle many aspects of your business finances.
Create customizable estimates and invoices effortlessly with onscreen editing.
Utilize the user-friendly approaches of Quicken to help you manage your business
accounts. Quickly balance your checkbook and reconcile your statements. Get a
quick overview of your business on one screen.

See the financial status of your business and check your unpaid invoices all in
one place. With Home & Business you can monitor invoices and upcoming bills. Set
up account receivables and payables so it’s easier to track your customer
invoices and bills from vendors. More accurately track your finances using
reports and graphs, and track multiple projects at once, including all the
estimates, invoices, and payments. Also simplify your business taxes by tracking
expenses and assigning categories such as Schedule C.

The Quicken 2002 Deluxe features will help you automatically categorize your
expenses, reconcile your downloaded statements, set up accounts and bills
faster, analyze your portfolio to see where you stand, and much more.

Quicken 2002 Home & Business

Amazon.com Product Description
Quicken 2002 Basic is the easy way to start organizing your finances. Quicken Basic works just like your checkbook, so it’s easy to get started. Balance your checkbook and pay bills easily. Bank online conveniently and track where your money goes with reports and graphs.

Reconcile your bank statement in minutes and see all your account balances at a glance. Write checks, print checks, or send payments online–all conveniently and quickly. You can schedule payments and get reminders of when they are due. Download your data from the Web. Access your account balances, transfer funds, and pay bills, all online. Quicken works with more than 1,700 banks, credit card institutions, and brokerage companies. Track your spending and see where your money goes using customized reports and graphs. Find quick and easy answers to questions about your spending, budget, net worth, and more.

Quicken even allows you to keep track of your investments so you can manage and optimize them. You can also download the latest prices on stocks and mutual funds into Quicken from Quicken.com, and download your records from participating brokerages so you don’t have to type them in. You can then transfer all of this data directly into TurboTax, cutting tax preparation time.

Quicken 2002 Basic