Let us for the moment talk about RootsMagic. Go to the RootsMagic website and click on the link for the screen shots and look at the three main views. You can double click on any person in any of these views, or hit the enter key while the person is highlighted, to bring up the "Edit Person" window, or left click on any person to get a dropdown menu with 7 choices: Edit Person, Edit Family, View Family, Add, Unlink, Delete and Merge. Most of these also have sub-menus to choose from. Nearly everything that you can do with a click of the mouse can also be done from the keyboard with some shortcut key or key combination. I think that the family view itself is enough of an improvement over what I have seen of FTM to give someone the incentive to at least try RootsMagic. (I don't know what FTM 10 looks like, does it still only show 4 children at a time?) Look at the other screen shots and read the features list. I cannot tell you about the differences between this and FTM 10, as I don't have any knowledge of it's interface. Family Origins 10, is much the same, but there does not have the Descendants main screen. I like Family Origins 10, but, in a week or two, it will be "yesterday's software." I would suggest that you think in terms of RootsMagic 1.0 rather than Family Origins 10.0. I am not trying to proselytize anyone, but you asked. I think that the best thing about Family Tree Maker is it's marketing. Alfred D. Eller Family-Origins-Users-admin@RootsWeb.com FOW fact diagnostic tool, using Excel Spreadsheet http://freepages.computers.rootsweb.com/~adelr/FOFacts.htm --------------------------------------------------------------- ----- Original Message ----- From: "The Clark's" <fsea@look.ca> To: <FAMILY-ORIGINS-USERS-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, January 19, 2003 12:29 PM Subject: Re: [FO] FO VERSION 10 > I am quite knew to this LIST but not knew to genealogy. At present I > have close to 2000 names and 430 marriages with numerous photos and > notes in my Family Tree Maker version 10 data base. > > Since I joined this LIST I have heard positive comments related to FOW10 > as well as the Rootsmagic software. > > I have exported my FTM data to the FO V3, (for a trail run) which I have > had previously to adopting the FTM 10. Thus I am not totally strange to > the FO software. > > Is there anyone out there that has experience with the FTM as well as > the FOW10 that can give any advice on the benefits of FOW over FTM? Any > comments will be appreciated. > > Fred > >