Thanks Jerry. Streamlined bulk data entry isn't necessarily a killer issue for me, but it's very important. I think as Tom said, and you implied, one of the most important issues is data exchange. If we had a reliable, clean method for sending data between the programs, it would be feasible to use both TMG and RM (or something else) for what each does best. I'm hoping that between John Cardinal's work on beefing up GEDCOM export from TMG and the work being done by the RM and LFT developers on direct import, we'll get a good solution. As you said, TMG will no longer work on new computers at some time in the future. Even with my approach of keeping an old Win7 or Win8 machine, at some point it will be too hard to maintain. But if it lasts 10 years, it'll likely outlast me. Just as a side comment on the lifetime discussion, I'm more concerned about Visual FoxPro's imminent end of life (Jan 13 2015). After that time, we can't expect MS to make patches that address hacking exploits targeting VFP. It's probably a much too cautious approach, but I'm making backup plans to disconnect my TMG machine from the internet before that date. Glenn

> Just as a side comment on the lifetime discussion, I'm more concerned > about > Visual FoxPro's imminent end of life (Jan 13 2015). That's one I hadn't thought of - probably a bigger concern than the operating system. That might might reduce my "5 or 10 years" down to "3 or 4 years". :) Of course, Microsoft's fiasco with Windows 8 is also not encouraging, but it appears to me that they have learned their lesson. Jerry

For me the question is not whether TMG will continue to run. I expect it to be viable for quite a long time to come. The more important issue for me is to assure that tech support will be available for whichever of my kids picks up the project when the time comes. Right now I'm leaning towards RootsMagic (the most recent direct conversion has worked very well for me). Several writers in the forums and lists have suggested that there's no guarantee that RootsMagic (like me!) will survive for very long. That's true, of course, but it's pretty clear that TMG definitely will not. So I feel that I do have to make a change while I am still (more or less) bright-eyed and bushy tailed. RM and Legacy seem the most likely candidates. I hope to be able to test Legacy's direct-conversion soon. Robert -----Original Message----- From: tmg-refugees-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:tmg-refugees-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of Jerry Bryan via Sent: Wednesday, September 24, 2014 10:53 AM To: TMG-Refugees@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [TMG-REFUGEES] Family entry mode > Just as a side comment on the lifetime discussion, I'm more concerned > about > Visual FoxPro's imminent end of life (Jan 13 2015). That's one I hadn't thought of - probably a bigger concern than the operating system. That might might reduce my "5 or 10 years" down to "3 or 4 years". :) Of course, Microsoft's fiasco with Windows 8 is also not encouraging, but it appears to me that they have learned their lesson. Jerry *** To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to TMG-REFUGEES-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the message subject and body. ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to TMG-REFUGEES-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

I think the status of Visual FoxPro is irrelevant = MS ceased development in 2007 (although they have released 2 service packs since). But you do not run VFP on your PC - you run an executable program created by VFP - so there is nothing special to hack in any meaningful way. No more so then any other program you are running anyway. Don Ferguson -----Original Message----- From: tmg-refugees-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:tmg-refugees-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of Jerry Bryan via Sent: Thursday, 25 September 2014 3:53 AM To: TMG-Refugees@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [TMG-REFUGEES] Family entry mode > Just as a side comment on the lifetime discussion, I'm more concerned > about Visual FoxPro's imminent end of life (Jan 13 2015). That's one I hadn't thought of - probably a bigger concern than the operating system. That might might reduce my "5 or 10 years" down to "3 or 4 years". :) Of course, Microsoft's fiasco with Windows 8 is also not encouraging, but it appears to me that they have learned their lesson. Jerry *** To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to TMG-REFUGEES-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the message subject and body. ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to TMG-REFUGEES-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

I think we all appreciate the issues involved in the future of TMG, and they've been discussed at length on the TMG list and elsewhere. Let's get back to the purpose of this list, which is to understand and discuss how to extract ourselves from TMG. -- Barbara Zanzig TMG-REFUGEES list admin *http://lists.rootsweb.ancestry.com/index/other/Miscellaneous/TMG-REFUGEES.html <http://lists.rootsweb.ancestry.com/index/other/Miscellaneous/TMG-REFUGEES.html>* admin email: *TMG-REFUGEES-admin@rootsweb.com <TMG-REFUGEES-admin@rootsweb.com>*