Quicken users: Don't update to OS X Lion until you read this

IGG software, the folks who bring you the iBank personal finance application, sent out a reminder this morning via PR channels that bears repeating. If you use any version of Quicken prior to Quicken Essentials, be sure to export your data from the app before you update to Lion. You'll need that export file to get you up to speed in Quicken Essentials, iBank 4, or whatever other personal finance app you choose.

If you don't export the data before jumping to Lion, you won't be able to run your old version of Quicken, meaning that your years of checking and savings account information are stuck. You won't be able to open the Quicken data file from a new app, nor will you be able to launch the old Quicken app to export your data. In other words, you're screwed.

Take the words of the experts at IGG Software and please, please, PLEASE export your Quicken data before you update to OS X Lion. If you are looking for a Lion-compatible alternative to older versions of Quicken or Quicken Essentials for Mac, be sure to look at our report from earlier this month titled "Quicken won't run on Lion: 10 Mac finance apps that will." We'll have another look at financial software later this summer.