Software
Review of: |
 Welcome
to my review of Family Tree Maker, Deluxe edition version 7.5. This was
the latest version of this software package available at the time of this
review. As you read this, version 8.0 is now out with 3 different priced
options depending on how many CD’s (24, 35 or 42) are included in the set.
When it arrived less than a month ago, the box I received read “version
7”, but there was a sticker on the box assuring me that it actually was
version 7.5. What I noted right away with this package was its weight.
It surely is a heavyweight in the genealogy class. Sorry, but I just
couldn’t resist. Seriously, though, this program is one of the top
genealogy software programs out there. Hopefully, after reading this article,
you will understand why I say that. Brøderbund, subsidiary of The
Learning Company, which was recently purchased by Mattel
Interactive, publishes this program and according to information on
the box, they have sold over 2 million copies. My reason for pointing this
out is to indicate how popular a program this is and to further point out
how popular genealogy research has become. Personally, I want to learn
more about my family history, especially since the death of my mother in
1998 and the loss of my father 7 years earlier. What I don’t need is a
complicated program that demands all my time and has an incredibly steep
learning curve.
The Family Tree Maker program requires the Windows 95 or 98 operating system with at least a Pentium 90 mhz processor and 16 MB of RAM (Pentium 166 mhz processor and 32 MB of RAM are recommended). It is a significantly sized program, requiring 95 MB of hard drive space and at least 50 MB of free hard drive space after installation. At minimum, a 2X CD-ROM drive is needed and a graphics card capable of handling 640x480 resolution with 256 colors. If you want to connect online, I highly recommend that you do, you will need a modem as well. Scanners, video capture boards and sound cards may also enhance performance if you use these features. If you don’t already know this, having more RAM, a faster processor, and higher end graphics and sound cards will almost always help any Microsoft Windows program run more smoothly and efficiently. You should have no problem installing this program; it was a no-brainer when I installed it. After installation is complete, running the program is simply started with a click on the icon that installs itself on your desktop. The opening screen starts with Family Finder Startup Wizard and once you have named your family file, opens with the Family Page view, which gives you blanks to fill in all the information you know about yourself and your family. Basic information includes names, birthplace and birth date, date and place of death and burial and similar information about your parents, grandparents, spouse and children. Dialog boxes are utilized for entering genealogical information into your family file. There are many other kinds of information you can choose to enter, such things as marriage dates, divorces, additional spouses, Social Security numbers, medical historical information, and special documents, photographs, even video and audio clips. There are also easy tabs to indicate each person and you can select the tab, which activates that person as the central focus for that screen. Thus, it is quite easy to navigate through the various Family Page screens you have created. In addition, there are icons, buttons and toolbars that make it simple to change the current view or to go to a different part of the program. Toolbar buttons take you to other program areas such as accessing one of the 20 CD’s that are included. They also let you see reports on your “tree” and change views of this tree from Ancestors, Descendants, hourglass, all in one, or outline, using either the fan or standard format. The program requires some typing but uses the menu bar with drop-down menus and a toolbar to make itself user-friendly. Even novices can pick up the basics rather quickly it seemed to me. Anyone who has used Windows type applications would see the similarity between those programs and Family Tree Maker. I believe that the “user-friendliness” of this software is a genuine strength. It can also handle just about as much complex family information as you want, including special relationships (adoptions, multiple marriages). Included with this edition are 20 CD’s and you might say, a wealth of information. That may sound overwhelming, but it really isn’t since most of the CD’s contain only data and genealogical information, not programs. One of the strengths I found in using this program was the provision of so many resources to search. There are CD’s of ship manifestos, Social Security death records, marriages, land records, and military records. There are five volumes of the World Family Tree included and there is a free 4-month subscription CD to the Internet site which gives you access to another 41 million names and 200,000 images of actual Federal census rolls. Don’t be fooled, there are still a myriad of other sources out there and they only provide you with “parts” of their set, and of course, they will sell you the others. There are links to Family Tree Maker Online, the Internet home page that provide you with an ability to search over 470 million names. If you find the names you are looking for, you have discovered a new information resource. There is also a great resource for novices, the How-To Genealogy Guide that offers advice on beginning and conducting genealogy research. Online features make this program desirable, such as the online Family Search or Site Search you may conduct, feature “how-to” articles, links to helpful web sites, books and research services. The Family Archives and the Genealogy Help section provide much information. There is a community center complete with message boards, stories, home pages of other users and so on. Finally, the World Family Tree Project is a collaborative effort of many genealogists who allow others to access their research. This World Family Tree is now up to 117 million names in over 160,000 family trees. What is also significant is that you can add your research to this project and perhaps find out there are other branches to your family tree previously unknown to you. In terms of using this program itself, there is a 500 plus page manual that comes in the box. This is a very thorough manual and explains program terminology, features and options in detail. There are also online help features as well as a text or online tutorial that will aid you in mastering the use of this program. You may want to include historical information such as medical history or conditions, cause of death, scanned-in documents (marriage licenses, death certificates, land deeds) and even old family photographs. There is a special feature, which allows you to do some of this, called the Scrapbook. Here is how it works. Once objects (scanned documents, videos, audio recordings) and pictures have been entered into the Scrapbook, you can play them individually or you can play them all at once in a slide show. You determine how long each image is displayed. This feature is very exciting in my opinion. For most (non-professional) genealogists and genealogy hobbyists like myself, this program fills the bill. I would recommend this program for many reasons, not the least of which is the ease of use. Not only is it easy to user, it is also robust, holding as much information as I would think most anyone might need. However, if you plan to do more professional or scholarly types of genealogical research, there are probably other software programs that are better. Special features (Online services, the manual, guides and help features and the Scrapbook) also deserve mention when discussing program strengths. Why would I recommend this program, I asked myself as I wrote this review? I concluded that I liked the features and user-friendliness, and that it meets all the basic requirements for a good genealogy program, but it also goes beyond by giving you lots of bells and whistles that enhance it’s style and substance. Family Tree Maker Deluxe version 8.0 (new version) is available online from Mattel Interactive with a 24 CD set at $59.95, 35 CD set priced at $79.95 and a 42 CD set available for $109.95. Also online, CompUSA offered the same prices with the exception that the 42 CD set was priced at $99.99.
Larry Grosskopf is a Clinical Psychologist at the San Antonio State Hospital, with a strong interest in computers. He and his wife Marta are raising two children, Zoë, age 7 and Jackson, age 5. |