Anyone swap from Legacy to FTM?

[Steve B]

I'm looking to purchase either Legacy or FTM. I've read stories of persons
swapping from FTM to Legacy for various reasons. I've not read of anyone
swapping from Legacy to FTM.

I'm interested to hear if anyone has.

Steve

[Ian]

I used FTM from v3 up to v8 then swopped to Legacy, best thing I ever did.
No way would I go back to FTM and nor would I recommended anyone else does.

One big advantage of Legacy (and PAF for that matter) is that they're FREE!


"Steve B" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
| I'm looking to purchase either Legacy or FTM. I've read stories of
persons
| swapping from FTM to Legacy for various reasons. I've not read of anyone
| swapping from Legacy to FTM.
|
| I'm interested to hear if anyone has.
|
| Steve
|
|

[Anonymous]

On Wed, 25 Aug 2004, "Steve B" <[email protected]> wrote:

I'm looking to purchase either Legacy or FTM. I've read stories of persons
swapping from FTM to Legacy for various reasons. I've not read of anyone
swapping from Legacy to FTM.

I'm interested to hear if anyone has.

Only if you've taken leave of your senses Steve<grin>.


Fred

[Steve B]

"Ian" wrote:

One big advantage of Legacy (and PAF for that matter) is that they're
FREE!

Ian,

Thanks for the input. Out of curiosity, did you not find the "paid-for"
features of Legacy to be of additional value? For example, I think it might
be helpful to generate a PDF, which is a paid-for feature.

Steve

[Ian]

Yes the extras you get with the Deluxe version are pretty good but NOT
essential. See http://www.legacyfamilytree.com/WhatsNew5.asp for a list.

The Deluxe version is $20US (download) or $15US if you upgrade from a
previous version. Any modifications/additions carried out within a Version
are free.

There's also an excellent Discussion group that you can join with lots a
very helpful users. The Authors of the program also join in and often will
change or modify the program to users requests.

Give the free version a try, I think you'll be impressed

All the best, Ian

"Steve B" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
| "Ian" wrote:
| > One big advantage of Legacy (and PAF for that matter) is that they're
| FREE!
|
| Ian,
|
| Thanks for the input. Out of curiosity, did you not find the "paid-for"
| features of Legacy to be of additional value? For example, I think it
might
| be helpful to generate a PDF, which is a paid-for feature.
|
| Steve
|
|

[J. Hugh Sullivan]

On Thu, 26 Aug 2004 08:55:59 +0200 (CEST), Anonymous
<[email protected]> wrote:

On Wed, 25 Aug 2004, "Steve B" <[email protected]> wrote:
I'm looking to purchase either Legacy or FTM. I've read stories of persons
swapping from FTM to Legacy for various reasons. I've not read of anyone
swapping from Legacy to FTM.

I'm interested to hear if anyone has.

Only if you've taken leave of your senses Steve<grin>.


Fred


I first used MS WORD for genealogy - then I switched to FTM - then I

switched back to MS Word.

Fortunately someone took pity and told me about RM, TMG and Legacy.

Hugh

[Mike Christie]

Steve B wrote:

Thanks for the input. Out of curiosity, did you not find the "paid-for"
features of Legacy to be of additional value? For example, I think it might
be helpful to generate a PDF, which is a paid-for feature.

I have a paid copy, but I have downloaded several free copies (for friends
etc.). I may be hallucinating but it seems that the paid features vary. A
copy I downloaded in early July did not permit use of the source clipboard,
which is a must-have feature for me. I am currently using a copy which is not
paid-for and does permit me to use the source clipboard. Maybe it was a
stupid-user problem on my side for the earlier copy, but I would definitely
pay for that feature.

The other paid-for feature that I like is that you get updated with current
versions automatically.

Bottom line is that the free version is pretty darn good; use it and see if
you get frustrated with not having a feature. It's only twenty bucks to pay
for whatever it turns out you need.

Mike

[icefox]

I've been using FTM since it was a DOS program. After hearing all
these wonderful things about Legacy, and being very annoyed with FTM's
lack of substantial updates, I decided I had to try it out. I tried
it three times, versions 3, 4, and 5, and each time I ended up
switching back to FTM. The easy explanation would be to say that I
just couldn't get the same reports out of Legacy that I had got of FTM
and that I intensely disliked the way children are displayed on the
family view, but after three times I realized that there was something
else going on. Every time I'd go into Legacy I'd get this annoyed
feeling and I'd want to stop working on my genealogy and do something
else. I finally figured out that the interface of the program is just
too much like a cartoon for me. It always reminds of a program geared
towards grade school children. I'm sure the program is perfectly
functional for a lot of people but I just couldn't get past the
childish look and feel of it.

I also own Family Origins from way back when, but it was never my
first choice as a genealogy program. I'm currently running RootsMagic
(made by the same person behind FO I believe) through it's paces and I
do rather like it so far. I'm also trying The Master Genealogist for
the second time which also has a lot to recommend for it (a bit busy
looking maybe but something I think one would get used to). And
although completely different from one another, both of these programs
have interfaces that invite me to work on them instead of push me away
like Legacy does. (As a side note, RM is reasonably priced, something
TMG is not. This is just a hobby after all.)

However, I just got the new FTM 2005 and right now it looks as if I'll
probably stay with it again. Unfortunately, they've dumbed down their
icons just to the point of being close to annoying, but they're still
not as obtrusive as Legacy. But the big plus is that I have long
wanted to have all the children's birth and death info on the family
view so I didn't have to keep going back and forth between pages to
enter a families info. I haven't found another program that does that
so far. Not that I've tried everything by any means.

Anyway, after all that rambling, the answer to your question would be
a simple yes.




On Wed, 25 Aug 2004 22:56:51 GMT, "Steve B" <[email protected]>
wrote:

I'm looking to purchase either Legacy or FTM. I've read stories of persons
swapping from FTM to Legacy for various reasons. I've not read of anyone
swapping from Legacy to FTM.

I'm interested to hear if anyone has.

Steve

[Ian B]

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

<< I intensely disliked the way children are displayed on the {Legacy}
family view >>

<< But the big plus {with FTM2005} is that I have long wanted to have all
the children's birth and death info on the family view so I didn't have to
keep going back and forth between pages to enter a families info. >>

Isn't this a bit contradictory Icefox?

[Pam]

However, I just got the new FTM 2005 and right now it looks as if I'll
probably stay with it again. Unfortunately, they've dumbed down their
icons just to the point of being close to annoying, but they're still
not as obtrusive as Legacy. But the big plus is that I have long
wanted to have all the children's birth and death info on the family
view so I didn't have to keep going back and forth between pages to
enter a families info. I haven't found another program that does that
so far. Not that I've tried everything by any means.

Unless you want full dates, you can have the children's data on the screen
in TMG, too. My family view shows the main person, spouse, full info on
each parent, a project explorer window, children with spouses and birth and
death years, siblings window w/birth and death years and spouses and photo
of the principal person. Of course you'd have to make sure you save the
screen definition.

--
Pam
http://www.pamsgenealogy.net

[icefox]

On Sat, 28 Aug 2004 12:31:51 +0800, "Ian B"
<[email protected]> wrote:

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

I intensely disliked the way children are displayed on the {Legacy}
family view

But the big plus {with FTM2005} is that I have long wanted to have all
the children's birth and death info on the family view so I didn't have to
keep going back and forth between pages to enter a families info.

Isn't this a bit contradictory Icefox?

Not in the slightest. Legacy shows these awful date ranges instead of
full dates, and no locations and no gender info. Yuck.

[icefox]

On Sat, 28 Aug 2004 06:39:08 -0400, "Pam" <[email protected]> wrote:

However, I just got the new FTM 2005 and right now it looks as if I'll
probably stay with it again. Unfortunately, they've dumbed down their
icons just to the point of being close to annoying, but they're still
not as obtrusive as Legacy. But the big plus is that I have long
wanted to have all the children's birth and death info on the family
view so I didn't have to keep going back and forth between pages to
enter a families info. I haven't found another program that does that
so far. Not that I've tried everything by any means.

Unless you want full dates, you can have the children's data on the screen
in TMG, too. My family view shows the main person, spouse, full info on
each parent, a project explorer window, children with spouses and birth and
death years, siblings window w/birth and death years and spouses and photo
of the principal person. Of course you'd have to make sure you save the
screen definition.

That's the exact thing though, I DO want full date and location info
for both birth and death listed for the children. I want to be able
to enter/edit that info right on the one family page with their
parents without having to continuously keep switching between pages.
Something all the programs seem to require. FTM used to before the
2005 version.

I wish TMG had a free version because I could see where it's busy
format could be useful for those families I'm researching as possibly
related but haven't joined with my main database yet. I don't think
I'd want to work with that format all the time though.

[...]

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

On Sat, 28 Aug 2004 06:39:08 -0400, "Pam" <[email protected]> wrote:

....<snip

I wish TMG had a free version because I could see where it's busy
format could be useful for those families I'm researching as possibly
related but haven't joined with my main database yet. I don't think
I'd want to work with that format all the time though.

TMG allows you to set up any number of custom layouts that you can save. You
can switch between them from a drop down list in the toolbar. They do have a
30 day free trial you can download from their website.
http://www.whollygenes.com/tmg5.htm

....Kevin

[icefox]

On Sun, 29 Aug 2004 16:12:49 GMT, "..." <[email protected]> wrote:

"icefox" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
On Sat, 28 Aug 2004 06:39:08 -0400, "Pam" <[email protected]> wrote:

....<snip

I wish TMG had a free version because I could see where it's busy
format could be useful for those families I'm researching as possibly
related but haven't joined with my main database yet. I don't think
I'd want to work with that format all the time though.

TMG allows you to set up any number of custom layouts that you can save. You
can switch between them from a drop down list in the toolbar. They do have a
30 day free trial you can download from their website.
http://www.whollygenes.com/tmg5.htm

...Kevin

The 30 day trial is what I'm playing with now. Have had the time to
try only a few of the layout possibilities so far. But although there
are some things I like about the program, I still can't see making it
my main one and thus forking out the dollars they want. I think the
price is a bit steep for a hobby. I'm just thinking that maybe if
they had a free version I'd use it enough to see the benefit of buying
it at a later date, but I doubt I'll get to that point within 30 days.

Also, on a completely unrelated note from the initial topic of this
conversation, my other consideration may be one shared by a few others
on here. I have less computer literate family members working on this
with me. One look at something like TMG and I would never have gotten
my maternal side of the family entered for me like I did. And since
it was written entirely in a different language than English, I would
have been out of luck trying to do it on my own. FTM is so easy to
look at and non-threatening to those less familiar with computers
and/or those with vision issues. At least it was, I haven't shown
them the new version and I'm currently wondering how well that's going
to go over. I may have to leave version 11 on my computer as well.