QuickBooks 6.0 and QuickBooks Pro 6.0 are optimized for Windows '95, Windows NT and new Windows '98, and will be widely available in most major software retail stores beginning this week.

"When it was introduced in 1992, QuickBooks revolutionized the small business accounting software market because it was the first truly easy-to-use solution for small business owners," said Scott Cook, chairman and co-founder of Intuit. "Now we expect that QuickBooks Pro 6.0 will revolutionize small business accounting again by providing growing small businesses with a multi-user accounting solution that is truly easy to set up and use."

Record Level of Customer Demand
A record number of users volunteered to test new QuickBooks 6.0 prior to its release. The QuickBooks team was especially pleased that so many Peachtree customers expressed interest in trying out new multi-user QuickBooks Pro. "We were expecting to have a dozen or so Peachtree customers volunteer to test the new version of QuickBooks Pro. Instead, more than 2,300 Peachtree users voluntarily went to our web site to ask us if they could test new QuickBooks Pro," said Drew Paxton, QuickBooks group product manager at Intuit. "We were very happy to have the feedback from these customers because it helped us to make the new multi-user capabilities in QuickBooks Pro even better."

"After trying other accounting software, I realized that all of them had features that I liked, but none of them had all of the features that I needed... until I discovered QuickBooks," said small business owner Ken Mathews, who recently started using QuickBooks Pro 6.0 in his own company, Mathews Investments Inc. "QuickBooks combines the robust accounting features that all businesses need with the easy-to-use features that we all want... and ease of use becomes more important than ever when you have to teach an accounting program to several employees in a multi-user environment."

Ease of Use is Still the Most Important Feature
As a result of extensive customer research, Intuit set three overall design goals when developing the QuickBooks 6.0 product line:

1. Make QuickBooks easier than ever to learn and use overall;
2. Add new Internet features that help customers save time and money; and
3. Provide customers with a truly easy-to-use multi-user accounting software solution.

According to Intuit's research, small business owners continue to rate ease-of-use as the most important feature when purchasing either single-user or multi-user accounting software. Intuit spent two years developing the new multi-user QuickBooks Pro to ensure that the software is as easy to set up and use as regular QuickBooks.

The Easiest QuickBooks Ever
With version 6.0, QuickBooks continues its legacy as the easiest software for customers who do not want to deal with the hassle of trying to understand accounting jargon or debit/credit accounting. New ease-of-use features in QuickBooks 6.0 make the software much easier for both new and existing users to learn and use every day, including:

• "How do I" Buttons provide users with instant help anywhere in the program.
• New Show Me Videos walk users step-by-step through many QuickBooks tasks.
• New Password Security System makes safeguarding QuickBooks data even easier.
• New User Set-up Wizard makes setting up multiple employees quick and easy.
• Individual User and Company Preferences lets multiple users easily customize their own QuickBooks desktop.
• Quicken®-Like Register Sorting make register management simple and fast.
• New Payroll Wizards and other payroll improvements make paying employees easier than ever.

• One-click access to the Internet from within QuickBooks 6.0 using the new embedded Internet browser (Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0, installation optional).
• Free Online Software Updates.
• One-click access to free QuickBooks Product Support on the Web, day or night.
• One-click access to the QuickBooks Professional Advisors Directory Service.
• One-click access to the Quicken Business CashFinder Web service to help small business owners quickly find the cash they need.
• New QuickBooks Online Payroll Service. (Available later this year.)²
• New QuickBooks Online Direct Deposit Service. (Available later this year.)³
• One-click access to a variety of small business resources on Quicken.com.

• Easy Multi-User Set-up and Management: Intuit designed multi-user QuickBooks Pro to work just like regular QuickBooks so there is nothing new for users to learn. The New User Set-up Wizard makes setting up multiple QuickBooks Pro users easy. As always, QuickBooks and QuickBooks Pro use plain English in place of accounting or networking jargon so all users can quickly get up-and-running with the software.
• Complete Time and Billing Features including exclusive features like mobile time tracking, permanent estimates and true job costing.
• New User-based Audit Trail which makes it easy to track changes made by multiple users.

QuickBooks Pro 6.0: The estimated street price for QuickBooks Pro 6.0 is $219.95. Each user in a multi-user environment will need his or her own copy of QuickBooks Pro in order to share data. Customers upgrading from a previous version of QuickBooks or QuickBooks Pro can receive a $70 rebate when they buy QuickBooks Pro 6.0. Customers upgrading from Quicken can receive a $30 rebate. All customers who purchase one copy of QuickBooks Pro 6.0 are then eligible to receive a $70 rebate on each additional copy of QuickBooks Pro 6.0 that they buy.

5-User Value Pack: Intuit is also offering a QuickBooks Pro 5-User Value Pack. The estimated street price is $599.95. Customers upgrading from a previous version of QuickBooks or QuickBooks Pro can receive a $100 rebate when they purchase the QuickBooks Pro 5-user Value Pack. Customers upgrading from Quicken can receive a $30 rebate.

Customers can order QuickBooks products directly from Intuit by calling 1-800-4-INTUIT (1-800-446-8848) or by visiting the Quicken Store at www.intuit.com.

System Requirements and Compatibility
QuickBooks 6.0: QuickBooks 6.0 for Windows requires an IBM compatible 486 (or higher) PC, 16MB of RAM minimum (32 MB recommended), a hard drive with 45 MB free (optional Internet Explorer Browser requires 40MB additional space), Windows '95 or higher, and a 256 color VGA or higher resolution monitor. Online features require Internet access.

QuickBooks Pro 6.0: QuickBooks Pro 6.0 for Windows requires an IBM compatible 486 (or higher) PC, 16MB of RAM minimum (32 MB recommended), a hard drive with 55 MB free (optional Internet Explorer Browser requires 40MB additional space), Windows 95 or higher, and a 256 color VGA or higher resolution monitor. QuickBooks Timer Program (Pro only) is 2.1MB when installed with QuickBooks Pro, 8.9MB as stand-alone product. Online features require Internet access.

Note: Multi-user features are only available in QuickBooks Pro 6.0. Each user in a multi-user environment will need his or her own copy of QuickBooks Pro 6.0 to share data. Up to 5 users can have simultaneous access to the same QuickBooks Pro data file. QuickBooks Pro 6.0 is optimized for Windows '95, Windows '98, and Windows NT peer-to-peer networks; Windows NT server or Novell NetWare network.