It is important to note that this Gold Edition of The Master Genealogist is a reissue of a 1999 package. In computer terms, this makes the program rather elderly. Though this version has some Web-friendly features added into its mix, it is prone to glitches, particularly during installation. Its interface is on the clunky side and may frustrate users who are still learning the ins and outs of Windows. A lengthy examination of the manual is a must for learning to use anything but the simplest TMG features. On the other hand, this program will run on a very modest computer system, and its reports are well worth examining. Well laid out and easy to read, they are the centerpiece of a hard-working tool designed to change your family lore from a pile of clippings and photographs to a coherent--and intriguing--story. --Alyx Dellamonica
I can certainly see the potential for TMG to be vastly superior to any other product in the genre, but at the end of the day, I will always favour a succinct and unencumbered design.
Configuration: version 5.11; Windows XP; P4 2.6GHz; 1GB RAM.
I bought this program because they offered so much information. They have a detailed website and downloadable demo. Family Tree Maker has done neither of these things to gain my business. TMG's download makes the program look straightforward, but TMG is nothing like that demo. The demo is based on an outdated and completely different version, and to be still handing this out seems like a dishonest business practice to me. Let me try to take you inside TMG 5.04.
Imagine that you are entering a new piece of information for your ancestor and would like to enter a new resource. You'd like to click on the "new resource" button, and then see a Resource Manager appear. One could imagine this Resource Manager having a scrolling pane along the left to choose the type of resource (census, photo, book, newspaper) while the main part would have the appropriate data entry boxes (title, author, date, repository, etc.). Perhaps at the top there could be a pane showing a preview of how this source would appear in a bibliography. If one wanted to add extras, each data entry box could have a "comments" or "annotation" button next to it, or the data entry boxes could even have up and down arrows that could change the order in which that item would appear in the bibliographical entry.
Nothing is this easy in TMG. There is no "new source" button. Clicking on the "add" citations doesn't take you to the sources. Instead, TMG takes you first to a separate popup for comments - really a peripheral item. Then you click on the "search" button and the popup of existing sources appears. Then you click on the "add" button and a separate popup for source types appears. Then you scroll and click on "select" and a separate popup with the data windows appears. Then you click on the tab labeled "attachments" and click on the "Add" button. Then a separate popup window appears labeled "repository link screen". This screen has no real function except to make you click on "search" to bring up the separate popup for repositories. How deep in separate popup windows are you now in? Lost count? This typifies the experience with TMG; for each fact and indeed every sentence of your genealogy, you will not have any sort of central manager, but will have to click pearl-necklace style through window after window for item after item, function after function.
However, even if awkward, the resource management fulfills its promise - it's meticulous. The reporting capabilities of TMG, on the other hand, are a downright cheat. The wizard seen in the demo is not actually on TMG. The varieties of descendancy charts seen on the demo are not available on TMG. A "Register" report - probably the most popular style of written genealogy - is not available on TMG. Essentially, there are only two genealogical reports: a ancestry (Anhentafel) report, and a descendancy report. And other reports? Just try printing the sources. You probably think that you could open that popup window containing the list of sources and there would be a button labeled "Print" or "Generate Report". No such luck. So you try the word "report" on the toolbar at the top, and indeed "bibliography" appears on the dropdown menu. You can select the file folder in which you want to generate this report on the popup window. Then you click "Save" and go look for your file. Nothing there. No report has been generated. Somehow, though, you have this hunch that in a program this big there must be a way to print out all your sources... but where? How? The options menu says that certain options are only available with word processing, but where do you set one up?
Some say that this "has a steep learning curve" - which insinuates that it's your fault you can't use this clumsy thing. But consider: There is an Internet bulletin board dedicated to people trying to figure this out... My experience leads me to suspect that this awkwardly designed product remains viable only because it has no genuine competition.
Some people buy a car because they like to tinker with it; I have a car because I have places to go. Some people like TMG, I guess because they like to fiddle with a program. I, however, have genealogy to do.
