Why does Quicken hate MAC-users?

Yesterday afternoon (Saturday, March 17, 2012) I took on an incredible challenge, starting a new checking-account in my recently downloaded and installed Quicken-Essentials.
My ancient Quicken-2003 would no longer print checks.
Long Story. This seemed to start after Apple did an “update” to my OS-X Snow Leopard. (I always let it.)
I’ve been told by a MAC-maven, who I trust, this “update” wasn’t supposed to do that.
But all-of-a-sudden all my older software applications, like Quicken 2003, no longer worked.
This included my AppleWorks-6, my Photoshop-Elements 4.0, and my Fine-Reader Express Optical-Character-Recognition (OCR) software, all of which go back about six years or more.
My Apple “Pages” word-processor would open my AppleWorks files.
I guess “Pages” succeeded AppleWorks, which is no longer made.
I had to purchase and install a new Fine-Reader (100 smackaroos), and a new Photoshop-Elements (-10; 76 bucks).
I downloaded and installed Quicken-Essentials for MAC.
It of course wouldn’t read my ancient Quicken-2003 files.
Rather than call Quicken to attempt to convert — as a stroke-survivor I have difficulty making phonecalls — I decided to do my new Quicken from scratch, balance-forward my old Quicken-2003 files, and create new Quicken-Essentials files.
I don’t do much with Quicken. I only keep track of accounts. —I don’t do budgeting or all the fancy bells-and-whistles.
We’re down to only two accounts, my checking-account and my credit-card.
I only do it so I can reconcile. And those banks better not make any mistakes.
So far they haven’t.
I worked for a bank eons ago, so have a pretty good understanding of how things work.
Those accounts better reconcile to-the-penny. If they don’t, I’ll figure out why.
And if the bank erred, they’ll hear about it. At full volume!
And so began the wrastling-match. Set up a checking-account in Quicken-Essentials, and try to get it to print checks.
Setting up an account went fairly easy.
There was little to carry forward; just two Electronic-Fund-Transfer (EFT) deposits, our Social-Security, and one uncleared check from last Christmas.
All of this was trial-and-error. There’s no startup manual at all, and “Help” was no help at all.
But I managed to do it after blowing about an hour.
Next was to attempt to print a check.
I created a small check to my dental-service, a $4 bill to pay, but it wouldn’t print unless it was “to be printed.”
After perhaps another half-hour, I ascertained I had to make the check “to be printed;” a checkbox.
Nothing like my Quicken-2003.
The check got created and deleted at least four times before I found that “to-be-printed” checkbox.
With that the check appeared in the “to-be-printed” window, I printed it on blank paper, but it printed the size of a giant business-check.
My Quicken checks are much smaller.
“Make sure your check-format to print is the same as your checks,” said Quicken-help.
Some help that was! Nothing about setting check-format.
We Googled “check-format in Quicken-Essentials.”
Fevered discussion-groups where self-declared “gurus” and “Jedi-masters” say “Why does Quicken hate MAC-users” and “So much for Quicken. I’m switching to iBank.”
I had to keep making the $4 check “to-be-printed” over-and-over, an edit function.
“To make the check ‘to-be-printed’ again, click the edit-function.” So I did.
No sign of the “to-be-printed” checkbox, but I did notice an “edit-check” button in the edit window.
I tried it. VIOLA! The “to-be-printed” checkbox appeared.
There was no indication in Quicken-help I would see that “edit-check” button in the edit window.
I just noticed it. Trial-and-error.
Thanks for all your help, Quicken. It’s always trial-and-error that notices these things. The “edit-check” button in your “edit-check” window was my noticing it. It wasn’t predicted.
I could make the check “to-be-printed” again, so it would reappear in the “to-be-printed” window.
None of these shenanigans were in my Quicken-2003.
Next problem (or is it “issue”): alter the check-printing format to be what I had.
After I clicked the “print checks” button I noticed (there’s that “notice” bit again) I could select from three check formats: “business,” “voucher,” and “wallet.”
Well I had no idea, so I tried “wallet.” (The old “trial-and-error” bit again.)
WHOA! It printed the same size as my checks, but somewhat misaligned.
That format-menu was in a strange place; or so it seemed. It was after the “print”-button instead of before.
Next step: “adjust alignment.”
After about a half-hour of searching I found the “adjust alignment” checkbox.
Reams of blank printing-paper got used fiddling the alignment to put things where they belonged on my check.
And everything moved as a unit. Too far left and stuff prints off the check. Offset that, and you’re into something already on the check.
After about 15 tries everything lined up fairly well; “the best I can do.”
I was ready to print an actual check.
That check to my dental-service went out in this morning’s mail.
Next is our credit-card account; which has a slew of carried-over entries.
Plus I have a slew of checks to print.

• “OS-X Snow Leopard” is my computer operating-system. “Snow Leopard” is a recent version of OS-X (operating-system 10). My computer is an Apple Macintosh.
• Optical-Character-Recognition software reads a scan of text, recognizes the letters, and creates a computer text-file.
• I had a stroke October 26, 1993, from which I pretty much recovered.
• “Electronic-Fund-Transfer” is just that. Instead of the payer issuing a check for me to deposit to our checking-account, the payer deposits the funds electronically directly to our account.