Genealogy Software Tutorials for Mac & PC
Application: RootsMagic 8
Current Version: 8.1.2.0
Supported OS: macOS Sierra (10.12) through macOS Monterey (12.0); Windows 7 SP1 through Windows 11
Mobile Apps: RootsMagic App for iOS or Android
Price: $39.95 new license/$29.95 upgrade (RootsMagic Essentials free)
Publisher: RootsMagic, Inc.
Website: http://rootsmagic.com
GenSoftReviews: 4.0 stars out of 5 (2021 only)
Family Tree Maker* (FTM) 2019 was released on 29 Sep 2019, as a 30th anniversary edition. I’ve been using FTM for over 20 of those years, ever since Brøderbund Software released version 4.0 on CD-ROM for the first time. The software has seen many changes and improvements since its inception. The pre-order sale email from the current developer, Software MacKiev, touted 10 main reasons to upgrade to version 2019. I’ll cover each of those reasons in turn, as well as a few other points, based primarily on using the version for macOS (Mojave), but I took a gander at the Windows version, as well.
[Read more…] about Family Tree Maker 2019 Released – A Review (Updated 26 Oct 2019)This is the landing page for The Family Tree Software Alternatives series, which reviews 14 major Mac and Windows applications for recording family trees. The focus is on compliance with the GEDCOM standard, both for importing and exporting files, but other aspects, including usability and major features, are addressed as well. Some of the information is now out of date, since some of the applications have released newer versions, but most of the points still hold true.
Genealogy apps should always follow the GEDCOM standard, right? You’d be justified in thinking that if you’ve read many of my articles, and generally speaking, apps should follow the standard, especially 5.5.1, since GEDCOM 5.5 is obsolete. However, what should apps do when there are mistakes in the standard? Should they import, export, and/or validate GEDCOM files strictly according to the standard, or according to how the standard should have been? This is a letter versus spirit of the law question, and the answer depends on the mistake in question and the purpose of the app. [Read more…] about The Event Structure in GEDCOM Files
