Software comparison chart

[GaryT]

I will be giving a beginner's lecture next week and want to include some
information comparing some of the major software options available. I don't
want something provided by a particular company (such as the Legacy vs. PAF
chart at http://www.legacyfamilytree.com/LegacyVsPAF.asp ), which would
obviously highlight only the best in their program.

I was hoping somewhere on the 'Net there was an independent evaluation of
the main features, sort of a "Consumer's Reports" of Genealogy software.

My bottom line advice will be to try out a few programs and see what works
best for them, but a starting point for comparison would be helpful.

Gary Templeman

[Dennis Lee Bieber]

On Sun, 24 Jul 2005 11:24:10 -0700, "GaryT" <[email protected]>
declaimed the following in soc.genealogy.computing:

I was hoping somewhere on the 'Net there was an independent evaluation of
the main features, sort of a "Consumer's Reports" of Genealogy software.

http://www.mumford.ca/reportcard/

Though my impression is that it was more understandable five
years ago... The current layout is a lot of hard to interpret noise.

--

==============================================================
[email protected] | Wulfraed Dennis Lee Bieber KD6MOG
[email protected] | Bestiaria Support Staff
==============================================================
Home Page: <http://www.dm.net/~wulfraed/
Overflow Page: <http://wlfraed.home.netcom.com/

[Sherry]

Dennis Lee Bieber <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:

<snip>

http://www.mumford.ca/reportcard/

Though my impression is that it was more understandable five
years ago... The current layout is a lot of hard to interpret noise.

Not to mention *quite* outdated in some cases! The most recent version
of Legacy reviewed is v4, which was replaced by Legacy v5 in Nov
2003!!! There have been many reviews of v5.

Generations Grand Suite was discontinued some time ago although the
site says the program is now owned by Broderbund (umm.... which was
bought by Genealogy.com)

Although looking further, I do see the charts (which are really hard to
read!) refer to v5, so as long as people don't stop with the
reviews....

Sherry

[GaryT]

"Dennis Lee Bieber" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

On Sun, 24 Jul 2005 11:24:10 -0700, "GaryT" <[email protected]
declaimed the following in soc.genealogy.computing:


I was hoping somewhere on the 'Net there was an independent evaluation
of
the main features, sort of a "Consumer's Reports" of Genealogy software.

http://www.mumford.ca/reportcard/

Though my impression is that it was more understandable five
years ago... The current layout is a lot of hard to interpret noise.

Thanks for the link, that will help a lot. I did notice he made reference to
Firefox, and I found the fonts and screens easer to read with that browser,
although there are still a lot of zero's and one's.

Gary

[Dennis Lee Bieber]

On Sun, 24 Jul 2005 16:58:14 -0500, Sherry <[email protected]> declaimed
the following in soc.genealogy.computing:

Not to mention *quite* outdated in some cases! The most recent version
of Legacy reviewed is v4, which was replaced by Legacy v5 in Nov
2003!!! There have been many reviews of v5.

I think on one page he states that he no longer does reviews

professionally, with the corollary that he no longer gets free review
copies of the software...

--

==============================================================
[email protected] | Wulfraed Dennis Lee Bieber KD6MOG
[email protected] | Bestiaria Support Staff
==============================================================
Home Page: <http://www.dm.net/~wulfraed/
Overflow Page: <http://wlfraed.home.netcom.com/

[Sherry]

"GaryT" <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:

<snip>

Thanks for the link, that will help a lot. I did notice he made
reference to Firefox, and I found the fonts and screens easer to
read with that browser, although there are still a lot of zero's and
one's.

Gary

I don't think so. I suppose if you have 20/20 vision, it's easy to
read, but for those of us who have some impairment.... Looking at the
same page in FF and IE side by side. In FF, the letters in the program
name aren't getting cut off like in IE (viewing with smallest text
size) but with the way the heading column is formatted, it's confusing
to read anyway. I can appreciate he was trying to keep the columns
narrow so it could all be on one page, but there's got to be a better
way! Maybe a short code name or number with a legend at the bottom of
the page??? Other than the letters getting cut off, I don't see a
major difference the way the charts are viewed in the two browsers.

Instead of a "1" and "0" for whether or not a feature is available, I'd
rather just see a check mark or something if it's there. The charts are
*way* too busy and that would clean up the clutter. With the bright
colors in the backgrounds, it's hard (for me) to read the numbers - I
need more contrast than what's there.

Sherry

[Sherry]

Dennis Lee Bieber <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:

On Sun, 24 Jul 2005 16:58:14 -0500, Sherry <[email protected]
declaimed the following in soc.genealogy.computing:


Not to mention *quite* outdated in some cases! The most recent
version of Legacy reviewed is v4, which was replaced by Legacy v5
in Nov 2003!!! There have been many reviews of v5.

I think on one page he states that he no longer does reviews
professionally, with the corollary that he no longer gets free
review copies of the software...

But he could always review the *free* Standard Edition at least!!

Sherry

[Sherry]

Sherry <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:

<snip>

But he could always review the *free* Standard Edition at least!!

Sherry

(oops - posted too quickly.... <g>)

Or at least say that there are more recent versions of a program or
that the program has been discontinued (which I see he has indicated
that in some cases.

Sherry (again)

[Trevor Rix]

Sherry wrote:

Generations Grand Suite was discontinued some time ago although the
site says the program is now owned by Broderbund (umm.... which was
bought by Genealogy.com)

Generations is owned by Genealogy.com who released the latest
version 8.5a (Windows XP compatible) on the Broderbund label. We now
have this product back in stock (the official product packed in a
smart Generations DVD style case). The CD may be used as a stand
alone installation, or as an upgrade from any previous version of
Generations or Reunion for the PC.

There is more detailed information on our website/online shop
http://www.twrcomputing.co.uk

We provide our customers with free unlimited technical support and
advice by telephone or e-mail, normally 8am to 10pm 7 days a week.
Genealogy.com also officially support Generations v8.5a.

http://www.genealogy.com/help/gene_curr.html

Thank you,

Trevor Rix
TWR Computing
Suppliers of Software and Computers for Family Historians
Clapstile Farm, Alpheton, Sudbury, Suffolk CO10 9BN, United Kingdom
telephone 01284 828271 international +44 1284 828271
[email protected]
[email protected]
http://www.twrcomputing.co.uk

[Hugh Watkins]

""Trevor Rix"" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

Sherry wrote:

Generations Grand Suite was discontinued some time ago although the
site says the program is now owned by Broderbund (umm.... which was
bought by Genealogy.com)

Generations is owned by Genealogy.com who released the latest
version 8.5a (Windows XP compatible) on the Broderbund label. We now
have this product back in stock (the official product packed in a
smart Generations DVD style case). The CD may be used as a stand
alone installation, or as an upgrade from any previous version of
Generations or Reunion for the PC.

There is more detailed information on our website/online shop
http://www.twrcomputing.co.uk

We provide our customers with free unlimited technical support and
advice by telephone or e-mail, normally 8am to 10pm 7 days a week.
Genealogy.com also officially support Generations v8.5a.

http://www.genealogy.com/help/gene_curr.html

sounds like the spyware scare some years ago
which turned out to be some left ove inactive debugging code in FTM

Hugh W

[Dave Hinz]

On Tue, 26 Jul 2005 13:52:10 -0000, Hugh Watkins <[email protected]> wrote:

""Trevor Rix"" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

http://www.genealogy.com/help/gene_curr.html

sounds like the spyware scare some years ago
which turned out to be some left ove inactive debugging code in FTM

Nope, this was nothing like that. As I recall it was gator...hang on,
let me google for a second:

OK, right at http://www.genopro.com/about/ the guy writes:

"I decided to include advertising with GenoPro to generate income. At
that time, the word "adware" was a novel, and the word "spyware" was
completely unknown. GenoPro declined about 10 more sponsors because of
questionable business ethics (spyware) or buggy advertising product,
nevertheless GenoPro got labeled as "spyware". As a result, GenoPro is
now shareware, giving you the opportunity to try before you buy."

So, apparently, yes he did have spyware in previous versions, decided it
was a bad idea, and apparently has stopped doing that. Good to know.
At least the guy acknowledges his mistake.

Dave Hinz

[Jeaneth L. Christensen]

See the "Genealogy Software Review" which is a very good, up-to-date and
impartially comparision of genealogy software programs. You can see it here:
http://genealogy-software-review.toptenreviews.com/



"GaryT" <[email protected]> skrev i en meddelelse
news:[email protected]...

I will be giving a beginner's lecture next week and want to include some
information comparing some of the major software options available. I
don't
want something provided by a particular company (such as the Legacy vs.
PAF
chart at http://www.legacyfamilytree.com/LegacyVsPAF.asp ), which would
obviously highlight only the best in their program.

I was hoping somewhere on the 'Net there was an independent evaluation of
the main features, sort of a "Consumer's Reports" of Genealogy software.

My bottom line advice will be to try out a few programs and see what works
best for them, but a starting point for comparison would be helpful.

Gary Templeman