As is well known, the programme Family Tree Maker was changed significantly five years ago, and many found it poor and have held on to their old programme (FTM16/2006) ever since. As I will probably have to upgrade one day, I've been keeping an eye on FTM and one of its competitors. I have now tried FTM2012 and compared it to the latest edition of Family Historian (v5). I think these are now both pretty good programmes. Many of the problems with the new (post-2006) FTM have been ironed out. I judge that its development has been influenced a little too much by the ambition of linking it to Ancestry and syncing with online trees (although this will be in its favour for those who like that facility). To avoid that influence, I would tend to choose FH - all else being equal. However, I am finding it difficult to choose between them - each for a different reason. The single problem I have with opting for FH5 is that it would do a less good job of picking up my existing files and data. To transfer from FTM16/2006 to FH requires the use of GEDCOM export/import. As is well-documented, FTM's GEDCOM is imperfect for this purpose and some data will be mishandled by FH. It is quite marginal (most important data is fine) but it will be irritating and relatively onerous to correct. The single problem I have with opting for FTM2012 is its poor ability to produce and print an ancestor pedigree or descendant chart (with BMD labels) on a single page of A4 with as many generations as possible showing. The old FTM does this brilliantly. Family Historian does it just as well. But it is surprising to report that FTM2012 falls a long way short. Its horizontal Pedigree Ancestor chart has a limited capability, although the vertical one is an acceptable alternative. In the case of its Descendant tree, it falls between impossible or unusable! So I am not sure which programme to pick (even though I've paid for FTM2012, as there's no trial version). Maybe I'll stick with good old FTM2006 for a while longer....? David M

Thanks for this welcome assessment...I will give it some thought. I too have purchased FTM2012 but have stopped using it because I found some of my details were not appearing in 2012. It was my guess at that time it had something to do with the endevour to merge FTM into the Ancestry.co.uk online tree and I was not at all happy. You appear to confirm my suspicion! Albert Wm Gosnall From: David Martin <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Monday, 16 April 2012, 8:25 Subject: [SOG-UK] Upgrade from FTM2006? As is well known, the programme Family Tree Maker was changed significantly five years ago, and many found it poor and have held on to their old programme (FTM16/2006) ever since.  As I will probably have to upgrade one day, I've been keeping an eye on FTM and one of its competitors. I have now tried FTM2012 and compared it to the latest edition of Family Historian (v5). I think these are now both pretty good programmes.  Many of the problems with the new (post-2006) FTM have been ironed out.  I judge that its development has been influenced a little too much by the ambition of linking it to Ancestry and syncing with online trees (although this will be in its favour for those who like that facility).  To avoid that influence, I would tend to choose FH - all else being equal.  However, I am finding it difficult to choose between them - each for a different reason. The single problem I have with opting for FH5 is that it would do a less good job of picking up my existing files and data.  To transfer from FTM16/2006 to FH requires the use of GEDCOM export/import.  As is well-documented, FTM's GEDCOM is imperfect for this purpose and some data will be mishandled by FH.  It is quite marginal (most important data is fine) but it will be irritating and relatively onerous to correct. The single problem I have with opting for FTM2012 is its poor ability to produce and print an ancestor pedigree or descendant chart (with BMD labels) on a single page of A4 with as many generations as possible showing.  The old FTM does this brilliantly.  Family Historian does it just as well.  But it is surprising to report that FTM2012 falls a long way short.  Its horizontal Pedigree Ancestor chart has a limited capability, although the vertical one is an acceptable alternative.  In the case of its Descendant tree, it falls between impossible or unusable! So I am not sure which programme to pick (even though I've paid for FTM2012, as there's no trial version).  Maybe I'll stick with good old FTM2006 for a while longer....? David M ------------------------------- 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

This is very useful - I for one would really appreciate reading more views about genealogy software - it seems to me to be very rarely discussed here, despite the wide-ranging experience members must have. David W -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of David Martin Sent: 16 April 2012 08:26 To: [email protected] Subject: [SOG-UK] Upgrade from FTM2006? As is well known, the programme Family Tree Maker was changed significantly five years ago...

I am just loading Legacy de luxe having found out that the old Cumberland family Tree is no longer backed and the old programs will not load onto Windows 7. Has any one else experience of this program (Legacy) because, as usual, the book that goes with it contains too much jargon that mere mortals quake to understand it! Chris Stupples.

I have been using Legacy for a number of years having used other programs. The strength of Legacy is the sourcing although others have caught up. In common with most programs you will probably have to clean up the GEDCOM import. It is now at version 7.5 which has a link to Family Search. There is no need to upload you family. Although American by origin, there is a British version. Print outs include vertical family trees amongst others via an included add on program. You can download the Standard version for free and have a try. Upgrading gives a number of options. Program updates are free until there is a major revision which happens around once a year. I have had no stability problems on W7, XP. I did contribute to a day at SoG which covered a number of programs but this seems to have been discontinued. Legacy was well received on that occasion. Tony Albert -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of [email protected] Sent: 16 April 2012 13:56 To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [SOG-UK] Upgrade from FTM2006? I am just loading Legacy de luxe having found out that the old Cumberland family Tree is no longer backed and the old programs will not load onto Windows 7. Has any one else experience of this program (Legacy) because, as usual, the book that goes with it contains too much jargon that mere mortals quake to understand it! Chris Stupples. ------------------------------- 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

I have been using Legacy for some years now and am very happy with it. If you don't mind an American accent there are also some free training videos on the Legacy website. Jill Williams -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] Sent: Monday, April 16, 2012 1:56 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [SOG-UK] Upgrade from FTM2006? I am just loading Legacy de luxe having found out that the old Cumberland family Tree is no longer backed and the old programs will not load onto Windows 7. Has any one else experience of this program (Legacy) because, as usual, the book that goes with it contains too much jargon that mere mortals quake to understand it! Chris Stupples. ------------------------------- 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