Quicken 2003 Premier offers far more record keeping capabilities than I use. I was happily using Quicken 2001 Basic when I impulsively said I would do a review of Quicken 2003 Premier.

Quicken 2003 Premier installed without incident and I transferred my records from Quicken 2001 Basic into Quicken 2003 Premier. The presentation of Quicken 2003 Premier is much improved from Basic 2001. I use Quicken products to keep track of my bank account, the checks I write, and the payments made from my account from the bank. All of the other capabilities I do not use. I use other programs for stock record keeping and I use another program for pricing information on stocks and downloading information about stocks. I do not use the budgeting capabilities, which are thorough and complex. It has yet to become important to me to consolidate all this information and load it into one complex program. Quicken 2003 Premier is recommended for customers that are looking for a tool that is efficient, elegant, and powerful.

I would like to see producers of programs such as Intuit, to give the purchaser of their programs, a checklist at the beginning of the program, detailing the capabilities of the program so the user could check off what they want to use. Then the purchaser could go through the ceck list and highlight the portions of the program they desire. It would take less space on the users computer. At a later date, if the user wants to add a capability that the program has, but the user has not been using, the user can always put the program disc in the computer and load the capability desired. It would give the choice to the user and not to the producer of the program.

What does Quicken 2003 Premier offer to the user? Quicken's excellent bread and butter checkbook and budgeting tools. The redesigned main screen is called the Home Page. This year's main screen features different "centers" from which users can access account registers, open their budget, check portfolio information and plan taxes. Quicken 2003 Premier organized common financial tasks into categories. For example, one category collects property and debt information, another tracks investments, and another, called "cash flow" collects checking and savings account information. Users can customize the page to reflect their preferences and work styles (more graphs, for example, or a schedule of upcoming bills). Quicken can automatically download financial information from on line banks and investment houses.

What is required to use Quicken 2003 Premier? Minimum requirements for a PC: Windows 95/98/2000/ME/XP; Pentium 133 CPU or faster; 32MB RAM, 67MB hard disk space; 2X CD-ROM; color display; mouse. Audio support recommended.

Price on the internet for Quicken 2003 Premier ranged from $55.00 to $90.00. Intuit itself on its home page, offers Quicken for $59.00, downloaded or CD-ROM.

Pros: All the financial tools you need for planning, investing, tax information, tracking and budgeting your personal finances.

Cons: If your financial needs are simple, all these tools might overwhelm you.