Intuit puts IE on Quicken menu

Microsoft and Intuit have struck a deal to integrate Internet Explorer (IE) into future versions of Intuit's Quicken, QuickBooks and TurboTax products, in preference to Netscape's Navigator browser. The deal will also make Intuit's Web service, the Quicken Financial Network, a premier Microsoft Active Channel content provider, pre-configured with IE 4.0.

The deal represents a switch in policy away from Navigator, which has been included in Quicken for the past two years. Although the software will still be compatible with the browser, according to Intuit, it will take a back seat, as IE will provide the main impetus for Intuit users to access online financial and news services.

The deal to get the Quicken Financial Network on the menu of IE's Active Channel will be a boost for the company. Intuit said that it chose IE "because of the flexibility its open architecture offered for seamlessly integrating the browser into its desktop software products," according to a company statement. "Now Quicken users will be able to access online banking, financial news, quotes and other connected services in a Web-enabled environment, without sacrificing the speed, convenience and productivity of their familiar desktop software."