We now have a 40 gig hard drive. In other words ROOM.
At this point seem to be settling our sights on Legacy ver 5.0 and Family Tree Maker 10.0.
Any comments on either, ease of use with Gedcom, trading files with relatives etc. It appears to me that trading and merging are much easier with Legacy than FTM. If you don't upload to the FTM/Genealogy.com databases for their commercial use you can't really trade files.
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Give me a fast ship for I intend to sail in harm's way. - John Paul Jones
Veni, Vidi, Velcro - I Came, I Saw, I Stuck Around
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Posts: 4,792
Joined: 20-Jun-2003 Zodiac: Holly
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I use Ultimate Family Tree and find it more then I really need, but I am using more and more of it daily!
Just one word of advice no matter what you use::
BACK UP everything!!! I had a virus hit my machine 2 years ago and delete all my .LIB files ( no more dates or other important info ). It had taken me 3 years to compile, luckily I had a paper copy that I had printed just a week prior, but it takes time to renenter all the data. SO back up everything as soon as you enter it.
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I support the separation of church and hate!
IMAGINATION - the freest and largest nation in the world!
One can not profess to be of "GOD" and show intolerence and prejudice towards the beliefs of others.
Am fear nach gleidh na h–airm san t–sith, cha bhi iad aige ’n am a’ chogaidh. He that keeps not his arms in time of peace will have none in time of war.
"We're all in this together , in the parking lot between faith and fear" ... O.C.M.S.
“Beasts feed; man eats; only the man of intellect knows how to eat well.”
"Without food we are nothing, without history we are lost." - SHADOWS
Is iomadh duine laghach a mhill an Creideamh. Religion has spoiled many a good man.
Legacy has a free downloadable version. Doesn't have all the bells and whistles. Haven't researched it all the way, it , but looks like it can export GEDCOM files. I thought I read somewhere of some size limitations but can't find it again.
Family Treemaker apparently can't export GEDCAM files except up to their site. That doesn't seem right, if you can generate a file you should be able to export it to others. I get the impression that although it has more bells and whistles for fancy presentations included, that it is more locked into it's websites. (Although legacy can't do all the fancy graphics, it appears they have add-ons available that will if you need them)
I think I'm going to download Legacy in the next day or two and have my resident librarian take a good look at it. She's done most of the genealogy so far.
Legacy has a free downloadable version. Doesn't have all the bells and whistles. Haven't researched it all the way, it , but looks like it can export GEDCOM files. I thought I read somewhere of some size limitations but can't find it again.
Family Treemaker apparently can't export GEDCAM files except up to their site. That doesn't seem right, if you can generate a file you should be able to export it to others. I get the impression that although it has more bells and whistles for fancy presentations included, that it is more locked into it's websites. (Although legacy can't do all the fancy graphics, it appears they have add-ons available that will if you need them)
I think I'm going to download Legacy in the next day or two and have my resident librarian take a good look at it. She's done most of the genealogy so far.
Sea Dog, I use Family Tree and had no problem transfering my GEDCAM file to GenCircle. GenCircle has nothing to do with the Family Tree web page. Maybe some of the different genealogy pages aren't set up to accept GEDCAM files. On those pages, I'll just do a copy and paste. Doesn't matter to me, as long as I can get my information out there. I have never run across the situation where I need to load someone elses GEDCAM, just because my files are always so much larger than theirs. I usually have most of the info that they already have.
I have never used the Legacy program, so I can't compare them but from what I have read about Legacy, seems rather similiar. For the average Joe (or Jane), as long as it meets the GEDCAM standards, really shouldn't matter which one you use. I haven't heard of anyone on here claiming to be a professional Genealogist, which would make sense for them to have the most up to date program available.
Your biggest concern, no matter which program you use, is keeping your records in order. As long as it does that, you've won most of the battle.
I use family tree version 8, have a 24 cd reference pack that came with it that i haven't even peaked at.. its a wonderful program if you are used to doing research and data entry by hand, but it can be tricky navigating the interface.. not sure i would get it again if i had a choice, definitely goign to upgrade
My wife has begun data entry on Legacy Family Tree. Seems to be going fairly well. Had one little confusion point, but got it straightened out. since she hasn't come over in panic yet I think it must be easy to use. Mostly data entry at this point , hasn't tried anything else yet. I downloaded it with no problems.
This is the free download version.
Have spent more time scanning photos and sending CD's to relatives for identification confirmation and first photos. Started finding a few unknown second cousins or so.
Ran into one real (insert seagoing perjorative) when we sent e-mail thanking him for effort in posting WWII information that concerned relative among others. If I ever meet him I'm going to take a round turn about him and two-block him at the mizzen top yard.
One of the best genealogy programs for its report generating format is Reunion 8 for the Macintosh. It will interface with LDS and GEDCOM nicely. It allows for all sorts of multimedia input.
It is commercial software about $100, but worth it for serious genealogy.
I have moved all of my family info to Reunion and could not be happier.
There was a Windows version in the distant past, but it was spun off and went a different way.
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Näkemiin
Dave (SCA: Geoffrey Genour of Carney) Protector of Bits and Bytes, Third cousin once removed to Phil, Prince of Insufficient Light
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My first Family Tree program was Your Family Tree for the Amiga!! Then when I went PC, I tried several of them. One shareware version is Genius Family Tree. It can display 4 generations on the screen at one time, and can import Gedcom files. I tried and purchased Family Origins, but is no longer being supported. The team is now producing RootsMagic. This is my current program and it seems quite nice so far.
Chocolate filk
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