Re: Looking for a Generations Replacement
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In reply to:
Looking for a Generations Replacement
Cynthia C. Finnie 8/19/04
Just to keep going in this vein . . . I'm not a professional genealogist. I used to be a reviews editor at a computer magazine, though. I've been an amateur genealogist for more than 10 years, and while I'm not a professional, I do have very definite ideas about what I want from my software.
For a time in the early 90's requiring sources was an easy way of making a decision, since not that many Windows programs handled sources.
I like Generations a lot - and I wish they would update it, but it seems to me that that isn't going to happen. Part of the reason I've held on for so long is that converting to a new program is a lot of work. I've just reached a point in my life that I'm willing to devote the time to it.
In general I've found that other programs don't read Generations files. So I have to export a Gedcom, then Import it into the new software. Then spend some time cleaning up the file. Whether it's Generations, or how I've customized it or the new program, I don't know, but the import never seems to go clean. With over 2000 individuals in my file - it's going to take a while to make sure everything's clean. And even then, I'll probably keep Generations around for a couple of years to make sure I haven't lost anything.
Right now I'm trying on Genbox and Legacy 5. There are things I really like about Genbox a lot. I like that you can have multiple views open and working at the same time (like person, place, source). I love that it includes Chronology in the person view (so the birth of a child shows up in the parent's window - it's "proof" of residence after all). What I don't like is that I couldn't find a way to easily delete multiple people at once. (I accidently left all my living cousins in a Gedcom I created.) I needed to delete about 50 people and the only way I could find to do it was to find them in the index list, navigate to them one at a time and manually delete them. It's possible that this functionality will be available once I register it, but $59 is a bit steep for a trial.
Legacy 5 on the other hand did allow for group deletions. It lets me do every thing I need or want to do - it just does it by popping up another window that makes you click ok before you can do anything else. It's a irritating, but it works. I find the icons somewhat childish, but I can pick and choose which ones display on the toolbar.
I haven't tried the reporting/charting features of either program. If they aren't what I want, I'll just continue to use FamilyTreeMaker for that. I just want a program that will handle my data correctly and "feels" like a true Windows program, though I'd compromise on the latter.
I still need to try The Master Genealogist and Ancestral Quest, though I'm not eager to do so. It takes time to get comfortable with new software. And really what I want is an updated Generations - which isn't going to happen. Or at least I don't think it's going to happen.
Cyndy