Software
Review of: |
 Family
Trees Quick and Easy is a product of Individual Software, Inc. This product
comes boxed with two CDs and an excellent User’s guide. System requirements
are a PC compatible machine running Windows 95/98/NT/ME or 2000, a minimum
of 6 MB of free hard drive space, a minimum of 16 MB of RAM, a CD ROM drive,
and a monitor resolution of at least 360x640. A 256 color VGA is recommended
as well as a mouse, but neither is required. This software can be worked
totally with the keyboard and, in fact, the keystrokes are listed on the
interface.
In addition to the genealogy software, the two CDs contain the Centennia Map, the Francis Frith Collection and the Social Security death Index containing over 61 million names of individuals born in the 19th and 20th centuries. The map is a Centennia Maps Working Model Edition which has historical maps of European expansion from 1792-1819.This time frame is only what accompanies Family Trees Quick & Easy. (after this to be referred to as Family Trees Q&E) Centennia comes in a full version that covers ten centuries from 1000 AD to the 1990’s. The map can be played like a movie and as the year progresses, the changes that occurred in Europe at that time are shown on the map. There is also a button to obtain a written narration. This map software can be a gold mine for those who are trying to trace their European ancestry and cannot locate a place or even country on a current map. In Germany alone over a fifty-year period, land that did not move was located in different countries and/or political areas. The Francis Frith collection is a small number (only 1460) of historical images of Great Britian from 1860-1969. There are images of towns, villages and cities in England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. The complete collection of over 3500 images is on the Web. I found a picture of the town where my grandfather was born, but sadly the picture was taken in the early 1950’s. There are so many pictures though that can be used to illustrate your family story. The user is urged to register their copy of the Francis Frith collection in order to receive 1) new product and upgrade information, 2) technical support, and 3) a good feeling in your heart. I am not sure that registering software has created a good feeling in my heart, but I will take their word for it. The user’s guide that accompanies Family Trees Q&E is approximately 190 pages organized by chapters and sections with each chapter's pages numbered independently from the other chapters. For example chapter 2, page 16 is page 2-16 and may have more than one section described on this page. The user’s guide also has Appendixes A-E with Appendix C devoted totally to using the keyboard. A whole chapter is devoted to building scrapbooks from multimedia objects. It is possible to save photos, video clips and scanned items into this program and then use the visuals to create a scrapbook, a slide show or even to illustrate a book on your family history. Family Trees Q&E also enables the user to create a Web page using the built-in Web wizard. The menu bar in Family Tree Q&E is fairly standard but there are a few options of interest. The file menu has all of the usual options plus the ability to backup, print reports, and use the database converter. This program does not have an edit menu but rather a data menu that contains all of the possible edit, add and delete options. The view menu is short with only four options: family view, pedigree view, toolbar, and status bar. Tools of the genealogy trade are listed under the tools menu including descendancy list, merge, preferences and database check and repair. Ancestry.com, Kindred Konnections, Family search and Everton.com are among a few of the links to the Internet that are listed under the Internet menu. The interface is a bright yellow with a layout that is easy to use and easy to follow. The view that is used the most is the individual view. This is the view where all of the information about your family roots is input. The pedigree view shows five generations of the family tree in a format that is more commonly used in history and in historical biographies. You can add and edit data while in the pedigree view, but I found it preferable to use the family view. It is very easy to start putting information into this software by just using the names of the family members because you can highlight the person and go back to each individual and then go to Data and edit to bring up the information boxes to be completed. This software lets you enter the year only for a date. This is very beneficial when you are just starting out with compiling your family history because it is possible to know the year of birth or death of an individual long before you are able to collect the documentation that is your source material and gives accurate information. Family Trees Quick and Easy is a good solid genealogy program at a very reasonable cost. It is compatible with Family Ties Deluxe and with Ancestral Quest. At a time when the user is frequently referred to a Web site for technical support, Family Trees Q&E still has a toll free number at 1-800-331-3313. Customer Service and Sales is at 1-800-822-3522. The hours available are 8:00 AM-5:30 PM Pacific Standard time Monday through Friday. I checked at Office Max, Best Buy, and CompUSA but was not able to find Family Trees Quick and Easy at any of these stores. It is available on the Internet for $19.95. Or you may order the software from Individual Software, Inc Rose Lynn Saenger wishes that she had kept better records in earlier years. |