I am new to this group. I looked for a "FAQ" but couldn't find one. I have been (and still am) a happy user of "Generations Family Tree". However, with all the Sierra and other "support" issues, I am beginning to look for recommendations of which software to move to. I am certain that this is always a "personal opinion" issues, but I did want to get as much input as possible. If this is answered elsewhere, please just point me to good comparisons. If anyone wants to answer here, I am a relatively sophisticated Windows user - currently on XP but will probably be going to Vista sooner than later. I keep my machine and software current. So far, I only use normal "printers" and haven't yet found the need to do a "wall chart" print out of any of my charts - but might want to have the ability to save such a chart to a file to take to a printer in the future. The one thing that Generations does not support and I would be a little interested in, is the ability to enter Unicode data for names in non-Latin alphabets. (Cyrillic and Hebrew aren't doo bad - but one of my relatives married into a Chinese family. I have the Unicode values for their names and I would like to be able to enter these directly - and not just put the information in as comments with a transliterated name). Finally, I would definitely want to be able to import the GEDCOM from my existing Generations information. *** Thanks in advance and, again, I am sorry if this information is all easily available and I just didn't find it. -- Bill Klein wmklein <at> ix.netcom.com

William M. Klein wrote: > I am new to this group. I looked for a "FAQ" but couldn't find one. I have > been (and still am) a happy user of "Generations Family Tree". However, with > all the Sierra and other "support" issues, I am beginning to look for > recommendations of which software to move to. I am certain that this is always > a "personal opinion" issues, but I did want to get as much input as possible. > If this is answered elsewhere, please just point me to good comparisons. > There are a couple of report-cards out there, but most are slightly out-dated, and AFAIK none address the VISTA issues. Try Cyndislist.com for the URLs, which I no longer have handy. > If anyone wants to answer here, I am a relatively sophisticated Windows user - > currently on XP but will probably be going to Vista sooner than later. I keep > my machine and software current. So far, I only use normal "printers" and > haven't yet found the need to do a "wall chart" print out of any of my charts - > but might want to have the ability to save such a chart to a file to take to a > printer in the future. > PAF4 and 5 use Unicode. Both are free to d/l or you can buy the CD for $5 from the LDS Distribution Centers. www.familysearch.org and select PRODUCTS tab and follow the breadcrumbs to Free Downloads. Legacy is a decent program, but I never cared about Unicode so I don't know if it does it. There is a free d/l of the basic version of this available as well. www.legacyfamilytree.com > The one thing that Generations does not support and I would be a little > interested in, is the ability to enter Unicode data for names in non-Latin > alphabets. (Cyrillic and Hebrew aren't doo bad - but one of my relatives > married into a Chinese family. I have the Unicode values for their names and I > would like to be able to enter these directly - and not just put the information > in as comments with a transliterated name). > http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~cpafug/whynot.htm > Finally, I would definitely want to be able to import the GEDCOM from my > existing Generations information. NO program will flawlessly and seamlessly do that. Probably not even Generations itself. Try exporting a GED from your data, and creating a new db into which you import that GED. The result is the best you're going to get with any program. Optimum is to keep both programs fully-functional until you eye-ball the new content; use copy'n'paste if something's missing. HTH Cheryl