I've used TurboTax online for the past several years. This year, i discovered that the Deluxe online version no longer included the Schedule D form. So I either had to upgrade to the Premier online version, or get the Desktop version.
OK, fine. I purchased the Desktop version for my Mac. Installed, updated, downloaded State. Opened up the tax return that I had started online and then saved to my computer. Finished everything up, finished state, went through the final validation and went to file.... and it failed. Right before transmission, there is a "Validation" step, which failed. The error said this was because there were updates available that I needed to install. But when I went to the menu to check for updates, it said I was up-to-date. Weird, OK - I'll just quit out and open up the program again. Hey, now it won't even open! The program tries to start, and then crashes immediately. I reboot, no luck.
Finally, I find suggestions online from other people with a similar problem (crashing on opening) after having downloaded state. The fix? I had to uninstall the program (not easy since there is no uninstaller - there are about 6 hidden directories that you have to locate and delete). Then I started over from scratch - initial install from CD, download updates. Then I QUIT, and started the program back up. Downloaded State, QUIT again, and started the program back up. Only then did I open up my return, and was ultimately able to file.
This seems like an obvious bug that is affecting many people, and should be fixed - either force the program to re-open after downloading state, or give some other indication of an issue before you get to the very last step. Obnoxious.
I have used TurboTax for may years. ItsDeductible needs updating--The categories and items listed are not adequate; many normal items are not listed (e.g.: pan covers for cookware; picture frames of various general sizes; more varieties of furniture; etc.) In general TT works well. The import of previous year's info is very nice. Comparisons of past and present years is good. General comparison of your filing with others of similar demographics appears to be missing this year.
TurboTax walks you through each step and makes preparing taxes relatively simple. Since we have used this product in the past, most of our information is already stored which the process faster. I have recommended this software to my friends and coworkers.