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Quicken's TurboTax has long won high marks for its ease-of-use. The 2004 tax year version features a preparation interview that's more useful (and less annoying, if you know what you're doing).

TurboTax is the product that pioneered the online tax interview. Instead of giving you a blank form to fill out, the product simply asks you questions about your finances and income.  It then takes your answers and fills out all the necessary forms for you.

You could do your taxes without ever seeing a tax form.

That sounds ideal, but past versions of the program have proven more frustrating than anything for people who are not scared of IRS forms. They have felt the interview process dragged and found it was much faster to fill in the necessary forms themselves (something you can still do by switching the program into "forms" mode.)

While there aren't many truly new features in the latest editions of TurboTax, the interview process has been streamlined. Even some faithful TurboTax users who immediately switched into "forms" mode in past years say they found the interview this year to be much more enjoyable and efficient.

Entering data

Since TurboTax is made by the same company that makes Quicken and QuickBooks, it follows that TurboTax is compatible with those financial management programs. But TurboTax is also compatible with Microsoft Money, even though that product is more closely aligned with TaxCut. In short, if you've been religious about entering your financial information to any leading product, you shouldn't have any compatibility problems with TurboTax.

A thorough interview

TurboTax's strength is that it seems to know tax law inside and out, and its interview has prepared for every eventuality. Suffered a catastrophic loss last year and need help recording the deductions? Not a problem. TurboTax knows what questions to ask, seamlessly guiding you through the proper forms. Its questions are generally clear, though for queries that include IRS jargon, TurboTax offers a translation box with its interpretation of tax law. While TurboTax's prime rival, TaxCut, also operates in an interview mode, it doesn't seem to be as thorough and isn't as much help for relatively usual tax issues.

That thoroughness can be annoying, however, if it's asking you a lot of questions that are not relevant to your particular situation. One of the improvements in this year's edition is what's essentially an interview outline. Before it starts interviewing you, it presents you with an outline of the types of questions it would like to ask. If you see that a particular section is not relevant, you can uncheck it and TurboTax will skip past those questions.

The editions

The most basic version TurboTax is called the "standard" edition, and it's designed for relatively simple, basic returns. It includes the thorough interview feature, though it won't provide as much help as you may need for handling investment income or mortgage deductions.

The Deluxe version adds a number of features helping you to maximize your deductions. Among other things, it will compare this year's return to last year's, looking for any deductions you might have missed. It also offers more help in handling mortgages and deducting charitable contributions. It also has IRS publications built directly into its help system, in case you want to read what the IRS has to say about a particular issue, rather than reading TurboTax's interpretation.

The Premier version has all the Deluxe features and adds sections for handling investment, business and rental property income. It also has a feature that suggests the best IRA plans and contributions for your particular tax situation; offers in-depth information and advice about selling stocks, bonds and mutual funds; and it helps sole-proprietors fill out the Schedule C as well as maximize business deductions.

State editions

The Deluxe and Premier versions both come with a coupon allowing you to download one state tax return package for free. The standard version does not.

Electronic filing

All TurboTax editions are capable of filing returns electronically. Each edition comes with a rebate coupon that allows you to file one 1040 return for free. It costs $14.95 to file additional returns.