Family Tree Maker 2008 is breaking my heart – a little. I want to use it and I even volunteered to be a beta tester. The program should be great but I just cannot get into it. I cannot get excited about the new format for a few reasons, none of which have to do with bugs or errors with the program. I think the software engineers have ironed out most of the problems but I cannot get over the feel of it. I just do not feel comfortable with the program yet and do not know if I will ever feel good about it.
When I used to sit down with Family Tree Maker 16, I could burn through a stack of documents to enter within an hour or two. Family Tree Maker 2008 is so complicated, or maybe detailed is a better word, that it takes five times as long to get anything done. I find myself spending more time entering data than I actually spent at the archives looking for the stuff!
There are so many screens to enter data, sometimes the same information in more than one spot. I feel like I have to be diligent and enter everything but there is so much stuff! If you scan and document the source, the repository, the actual data and maybe a media item, you just spent an hour. That would take only a few minutes in FTM 16.
With FTM 16, things went faster because the layout was simple. I could use the tab and alt keys to jump all over the screen with little effort. It is as if FTM 2008 gives you too many options and I am overwhelmed.
Don’t get me wrong, I love FTM 2008. I think it is a great program, and it is probably the future of genealogy, but it is dense. I am a young guy – only 30 – and I consider myself to be pretty computer savvy. I know that older, less computer-literate individuals have got to be having a hard time with it.
I have honestly lost interest in genealogy over the past few months, largely because of FTM 2008. It is so bulky and slow, I dread sitting down and spending hours with it. I probably have not touched it in over a month. I hate to go back to FTM 16 because I have made changed to my file in FTM 2008 that will not go backward. I am almost stuck with 2008 now and that is somewhat depressing.
I think I am going to try and give it another shot in the next few days. One evening, after the wife and kids go to bed, I will pull out a few documents and maybe time myself on how long they take to enter. I am honesty in a funk right now and have almost no interest in even trying. I wish I could find a document that I have been looking for a long time, something to stimulate my interest again...Does anyone out there have a copy of Francis Lett’s will from Brunswick or Mecklenburg County, Virginia? As far as I know, it does not exist, but that might re-spark my interest enough to give FTM 2008 another try.
When I used to sit down with Family Tree Maker 16, I could burn through a stack of documents to enter within an hour or two. Family Tree Maker 2008 is so complicated, or maybe detailed is a better word, that it takes five times as long to get anything done. I find myself spending more time entering data than I actually spent at the archives looking for the stuff!
There are so many screens to enter data, sometimes the same information in more than one spot. I feel like I have to be diligent and enter everything but there is so much stuff! If you scan and document the source, the repository, the actual data and maybe a media item, you just spent an hour. That would take only a few minutes in FTM 16.
With FTM 16, things went faster because the layout was simple. I could use the tab and alt keys to jump all over the screen with little effort. It is as if FTM 2008 gives you too many options and I am overwhelmed.
Don’t get me wrong, I love FTM 2008. I think it is a great program, and it is probably the future of genealogy, but it is dense. I am a young guy – only 30 – and I consider myself to be pretty computer savvy. I know that older, less computer-literate individuals have got to be having a hard time with it.
I have honestly lost interest in genealogy over the past few months, largely because of FTM 2008. It is so bulky and slow, I dread sitting down and spending hours with it. I probably have not touched it in over a month. I hate to go back to FTM 16 because I have made changed to my file in FTM 2008 that will not go backward. I am almost stuck with 2008 now and that is somewhat depressing.
I think I am going to try and give it another shot in the next few days. One evening, after the wife and kids go to bed, I will pull out a few documents and maybe time myself on how long they take to enter. I am honesty in a funk right now and have almost no interest in even trying. I wish I could find a document that I have been looking for a long time, something to stimulate my interest again...Does anyone out there have a copy of Francis Lett’s will from Brunswick or Mecklenburg County, Virginia? As far as I know, it does not exist, but that might re-spark my interest enough to give FTM 2008 another try.
2 comments:
try and get a earlier version.
I up graded when 2008 came out and I plan hated it
I have FTM 2005 and it is very user friendly.
Greg
The problem is that once you convert your file to 2008 and start working with it, you cannot really downgrade the file. Everything I have entered for the past six months would be lost. FTM 16 is great and 2008 is not bad but it is just really bulky.
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