I have used Quicken probably longer than most of their developers have worked at Intuit. Each year new features are added in a hope that you will make your annual upgrade. I recommend waiting until enough of the “new” features are incorporated into the product before making the investment.
With that said, I don’t think it is reasonable to look at a competitors program as an option at least after you have several years of data and experience with Quicken. Quicken’s cash flow view is a huge addition to the tool. I also like the attachment feature, but wish it would accommodate bulk uploads or automatic statement download from a financial institution much like it does for transactions. A few versions back Quicken started phasing out support for QIF downloads, too bad many financial institutions haven’t updated their sites. Overall I give Quicken High marks, but its dependence on financial institutions to provide services for their software to be a full solution is frustrating to the consumer caught in-between.