Hi Tim, I, too, applaud this initiative. As a longtime family history researcher and user of Family Tree Maker, I have recently switched to a MacBook Pro. Initially I purchased Reunion (as FTM for Mac got such bad reviews) but have had trouble in converting my old gedcom files satisfactorily (maybe your Mac event might help me here). So in the meantime I have very successfully installed Windows XP on a virtual PC within my MacBook Pro, so that I can run my old Windows Family Tree Maker. This is to give me the breathing space to make the transition to Reunion. As I also use a large screen with a separate keyboard, I can run the two "windows" - FTM in Windows and everything else on my Mac - side by side. I can move completely seamlessly between them both, using a piece of software called VM Fusion. I would be happy to talk about my experience if you thought it might be of interest. I actually think it is wonderful, the best of both worlds! Rosemary Morgan London Roots Research www.londonrootsresearch.blogspot.com On 10/09/2011 10:11, "Tim Powys-Lybbe" <[email protected]> wrote: >On 10 Sep at 9:05, Mike Flaherty <[email protected]> wrote: > >> The move regarding Apple (not just Mac).... Reunion works on the range >> of Apple devices, Mac, iPad, iPhone; is to be applauded. Given the >> market share Apple has of the Under 30s perhaps SOG has fallen upon a >> direction that will eventually attract to Genealogy, in general, >> a new wave of interest. The real challenge for SOG (as always) is what >> marketing strategy to employ to get numbers through the i-door. >> Perhaps the way to go is pick just one program - Reunion say - >> specialise and collaborate with the manufacturer to create the most >> beneficial symbiotic relationship. Good luck. Mike > >Interesting, and thanks for the good wishes. > >I wonder at this stage whether it would be right to restrict ourselves >to one system? I remember being told some years ago that the Society >was recommending Generations (which I don't think was true) and a few >years later, Generations was sold to a new owner who promptly ceased all >development and gave the appearance of having bought it solely to >cannibalise its market share. So I would hesitate before suggesting >going down this route, never mind the fact that we need to be open to >all comers. > >Nevetherless the interesting thing is that all members so far seem to be >Reunion users, though I have had one volunteer for iFamily. I am still >looking for volunteers for other Mac (and ipad and iphone/ipod) systems >and will shortly widen the appeal by going to other lists. > >-- >Tim Powys-Lybbe [email protected] > for a miscellany of bygones: http://powys.org/ > >------------------------------- >To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to >[email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the >quotes in the subject and the body of the message

On 12 Sep at 22:25, Rosemary Morgan <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi Tim, > > I, too, applaud this initiative. As a longtime family history > researcher and user of Family Tree Maker, I have recently switched to > a MacBook Pro. Initially I purchased Reunion (as FTM for Mac got such > bad reviews) but have had trouble in converting my old gedcom files > satisfactorily (maybe your Mac event might help me here). The problem with GEDCOM is that it is not a defined standard for exchanging data between genealogy programs. Worse, my suspicion is that the various manufacturers deliberately don't make their programs do any exchange fully so that you cannot escape from their clutches. The Master Genealogist (TMG) had a separate program that took your source files and pulled those into TMG. I tried this once and, eventually, it worked fine. But I did not like TMG! (I eventually went for buying a Mac and Reunion which too would do a transfer from my Genealogist source files and had the benefit of no learning curve.) > So in the meantime I have very successfully installed Windows XP on a > virtual PC within my MacBook Pro, so that I can run my old Windows > Family Tree Maker. This is to give me the breathing space to make the > transition to Reunion. As I also use a large screen with a separate > keyboard, I can run the two "windows" - FTM in Windows and everything > else on my Mac - side by side. I can move completely seamlessly > between them both, using a piece of software called VM Fusion. I > would be happy to talk about my experience if you thought it might be > of interest. At least you are indeed doing genealogy on a Mac so this comes under the general title and many thanks for the offer. (Watch out for an e-mail on details.) <snip for brevity> -- Tim Powys-Lybbe [email protected] for a miscellany of bygones: http://powys.org/

On Tue, 13 Sep 2011 08:24:14 +0100, Tim Powys-Lybbe <[email protected]> wrote: > The problem with GEDCOM is that it is not a defined standard for > exchanging data between genealogy programs. I think that is a little unkind on the GEDCOM standard Tim. It does define a database structure but most software writers think their database structure is better and manage to include something that will not map cleanly. But maybe this sums it up better ... <URL:http://xkcd.com/927/> = Malcolm. -- Using Opera's revolutionary email client: http://www.opera.com/mail/