Legacy Family Tree 7.0

It's official: Millennia Corporation has now released Legacy Family Tree version 7.0, the latest version of a popular genealogy program for Microsoft Windows. Here is the announcement from Millennia:

New version 7 Continues 10-Years of Innovation and Quality; Now Offers Wall Charts, Automated Mapping, SourceWriter and a Host of New Features

Millennia Corporation, a leader in family history software, today announced the release of Legacy Family Tree 7.0. The new release contains dozens of significant new features and enhancements, including the first-ever SourceWriter, automated family mapping, and brilliant wall charts.

In one software package, Legacy Family Tree 7.0 provides tools to help users record their family's history, organize their pictures, perform their research, and share their findings.

"Legacy Family Tree 7.0 is truly the next generation of family history software," said David Berdan, president of Millennia Corporation. "Its new SourceWriter, interactive satellite maps, and especially the incredible wall charting capabilities keep Legacy as the favorite for beginners and professionals alike."

The following new and updated features add to Legacy's list of robust capabilities:

• Mapping - Use Microsoft Virtual Earth to automatically pinpoint and plot important locations in ancestors' lives from within Legacy. See 3-D, satellite and bird's eye images of where your ancestors lived. Now it is easy to track your ancestor's migration.
• Wall Charts - Experience the enjoyment of showing off your family tree by producing stunning full-color wall charts - ancestor, descendant, fan, hourglass, bow tie, and even DNA charts. Use them for your next family reunion or for a deserving wall in your home.
• SourceWriter - Cite your sources easily and correctly with the new SourceWriter. SourceWriter makes it simple for you to select the correct input screen so that you enter all the pieces needed to correctly cite any source of information in the thousands of formats that exist for them.  The information you enter is correctly and precisely formatted to match the genealogy industry standards for source citations when printing footnotes, endnotes, and bibliographies.  Multiple citations for an event can be combined into one paragraph, thus avoiding a long string of superscripted numbers within the report body.
• Interview Reports - Choose from over 1,200 carefully pre-written interview questions and memory triggers to help you capture your family's memories before it is too late.
• Guided Setup Wizard - Getting started with Legacy is even easier now. The new guided setup wizard takes you by the hand and guides you through the setup process in an easy-to-understand way.
• New Relationship Calculator - See how any two people are connected, not only through direct blood relationships but also by marriage.  A person might be the "great-grandfather of the wife of your 2nd great-grandnephew.  You can also specify how many of these non-blood relationships you want to see.
• More Powerful Searching - Searching your Legacy data is easier than ever before. You can now search for individuals that are missing parts of names, birth or death information, marriage information and much more.  You can also search for missing source citations as you document your family files.
• Now Attach Any Document to Individuals and Marriages - Along with attaching pictures, sounds, and video to individuals, events, locations, and sources, you can now also attach any other kind of document (PDFs, Word files, etc.).
• Enhanced Backups - Legacy can now backup your family file and multimedia files at the same time, making it easier to transfer everything to another computer.
• Edit Records from the "Used By" Lists - All of the master lists in Legacy have an option to view the individuals who use the items in the list.  You can now edit those individuals right from the list instead of having to exit the list and edit them separately.
• Standardization Tips - New alerts will appear if something questionable has been entered in the Individual's Information screen. This helps users keep their data standardized.
• Privacy - enhanced privacy options ensure that only the information you want to share will be visible to others
• Best Fit Child Columns - The new Best Fit option in the Family View expands or contracts the child list columns to fit the number of children for the current couple.  No more trying to guess the optimum number of child columns.  Legacy does it for you.

Watch the What's New Video at http://www.legacyfamilytree.net/videos/new7/What'sNewInLegacy7.html

Pricing and Availability
Legacy 7.0 is now available at www.LegacyFamilyTree.com, for just US $29.95 for the download-only version or US $39.95 version which includes the 336-page printed user's guide, installation CD, and beginner's training video. The free, Standard edition can also be downloaded from www.LegacyFamilyTree.com. Or call 1-800-753-3453. Legacy 7.0 is also set to be released in select retail stores this summer.

About Millennia Corporation
Millennia Corporation is located in Surprise, Arizona. The company strives to provide top-quality genealogy software so people can record and track their family history. It is also the publisher of Legacy News, an online newsletter bringing genealogists tips and tricks about genealogy (http://www.legacynews.typepad.com). For additional information on Millennia or the products they offer visit http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com.

Comments

[John Gile]

Unfortunately, they do NOT provide a free upgrade link to download Version 7, even though people who bought Ver. 6 were promised it.

I am amazed that they seem "unable"to provide it upon request, makes me distrust them, after owning it for some years.

I think they will take payments to upgrade, when it should not be necessary.

[Monique Lengel]

John, read their newsletter. They are sending out the updates already.

Brace yourself though. After all the hype, the update is disappointing.

[Steve]

John - they did send an upgrade email to people who bought 6 with the free upgrade (not everyone who bought 6 got a free upgrade, you had to buy it during the promotion which has been ongoing for the last several months).

Unfortunately, I have to admit I'm a bit disappointed with the release. I was expecting something pretty revolutionary with all the wait we've gone through. This seems more like a moderate upgrade rather than a full new release, only the charting component is really a major new feature. That said, Legacy is still the best genealogy program I've ever used as it's more "professional" than the other products I've tried.

I was really hoping for a revamped UI that is more modern than the bulky UI that was already in 6.0. Full-text search is still missing which would also be a more modern feature.

The charting does look good, haven't used it yet, but that's really the only thing I'm excited about :(

I'm glad there are some new additions, I just had higher expectations.

[Robert]

John,
I too purchased legacy 6 download a month ago. I thought I would be getting the new version when it came out. Well, I downloaded the new version the other night. I tried to unlock the deluxe version but it seems my customer number is invalid. I was confused and so wrote to Legacy and the first answer I got I would have to wait and see if I get the Deluxe version or not. Unsatisified I wrote again and the reply I got was that anyone who purchased Legacy 6 download version should recieve a new customer number in their email this week end. I am still not satisified as I now have only the standard edition of 7. And am in a wait and see position. This was from their support staff. After repeated attemps to contact sales I got no answer. I am also disapointed with the way Legacy is handling this upgrade. I told them maybe I should ask for my money back (only had Legacy 6 for a month) there's a 60 day guarentee. Take that money and apply it to the new version and could have it in a day instead of waiting. I refuse to buy it a second time as I already paid.

[Janis Gilmore]

I have been playing with Legacy 7 for a couple of days, and actually quite like it. The SourceWriter is great, allows me to easily write sources that comply with ESM's _EE_. It is fast, the mapping feature, while not perfect, has some very practical applications for me, and I like the new search features. I used TMG for many years, and was on the point of returning to it when this version came out. I still prefer the individual screen of TMG, but I very much prefer the cleaner graphical interface of Legacy.

I am somewhat confused by the complaining about how Legacy "is handling the upgrade." It downloaded smoothly, installed smoothly, and is not very expensive.

Janis (not affiliated with the company in any way)

[Roberta]

The new Version 7 is fantastic, with some major improvements, not just cosmetic fluff. It remains the most user friendly yet flexible program I have tried and the folks who worked so hard to create it deserve a big Thank You!

The new Source Writer makes creating sources easier than ever, Charting is phenominal, and being able to update individuals, from search lists makes fixing errors easier than ever.

The Mapping will take some getting used to. I used Google Earth before and it did not accurately map locations 100% of the time and Virtual Earth is no worse as far as I can tell. I haven't worked with that feature enough to become comfortable with it.

I used another program before trying Version 6, it was not flexible at all and the updates contained small bells and whistles that were nice but nothing like this upgrade to Legacy. I don't understand how anyone can claim this is less than promised. More Meat, Less Desert!!

I received my Free Upgrade having purchased Version 6 during the "Transition Period" as promised. The roll out came in stages as explained by Millenia. It downloaded and installed without a problem.

On the User Group, there has been much whinning and crying about who is "Entitled" who needs to have it more and other such nonsense. I flashed back to pre-school! Now they are subjecting the world at large to this silliness.

It appears that since Millenia is a small company with fantastic personal service some folks seem to think that everything they personally wish for should be immediately provided. While we are their customers (or not) the program is created to benefit the majority of Genealogists, and not necessarily the demands of a few.

People complain that the young folks of our country expect things handed to them on a silver platter, Apparently they learned it from the worst of us.

Roberta

[Evyonne Andrews Eddins]

Another enhancement within Legecy 7.0 is the link to provide final DNA analysis proving the father of my Thomas Jefferson Jackson of Hardeman Co., TN. DNA crumbled my brick wall! Legacy now comes forward to allow actual results to be obtained from FamilyTreeDNA.

I now have within my Legacy database:
"Daniel Paul's grandson, Wines Dallas Jackson, Jr. (great grandson of Thomas Jefferson Jackson provided the DNA sample to prove relationship our our Jackson lineage to that of Thomas Jefferson Jackson to be the son of John Jackson who had moved from Hardeman Co., TN to Scott County, MO in the mid 1850s. The results proved relationsip with 99% accuracy with W. D., Jr.'s sample to that of Howard Jackson, great grandson of John and Sarah Jackson."

This entry is the result of Legacy (my new softward program) having an agreement with FamilyTreeDNA to determine relationship by entering the specific marker values of Wines Dallas Jackson, Jr., then comparing his results with those within the FTDNA database to the person within the direct Jackson lineage of W. D. Jackson, Jr. (I did not enter any information on Howard Jackson nor John and Sarah Jackson within the Legacy's DNA link to provide the above information. I entered only the marker values of W. D. FamilyTreeDNA and Legacy then took over and automatically entered the information within Legacy's note page on Daniel Paul as shown above) - NEAT STUFF!

I am now ready to enter information with the map enhancement. It will be a slow process because of such a massive bunch of ancestors/descendants. Really anxious to get started since I am already familiar with the Google Map requirements. I may have a lot of work ahead of me to totall upgrade my database to include all enhancements, but will eventually get there. I. also, am totally sold on their upgrade!

[Peggy]

I love the new Source Writer. There is no other program that makes developing good citation formats this easy. I continue to be frustrated by the fact that Legacy does not allow us to source each fact, but instead sources are attached to events. That means that even though you got the date from one source and the place from another source you have to indicate in a note what information came from each source. I will not be using Legacy as my main genealogy program, but sticking with GenBox, because of this. What I want is Legacy with properly applied citation or GenBox with Source Writer. I want it all!

[Jake]

I have tried just about all the genealogy programs on the market at one time or another. Legacy by far meets my needs in a genealogy program. Now that Legacy7 has released it’s even a greater program. I had no problems with the download and I thought the price (21.95 for the deluxe version) was very reasonable. I am pleased with the new Source Writer; the Mapping is great, I like the new Charting it’s really quite nice and the new searching version is also great.

Jake

[Paul]

Shortly after upgrading to Legacy 7, I found a bug (which I promtly reported to Millenia Corp.):
To re-produce the bug:
1. Go to Options >> Customize >> Locations
2. Click in the 'Document Files:' field, select a location, click OK
3. Click 'Save'
4. Again, go to Options >> Customize >> Locations
Observe that the location you selected is gone. It wasn't saved to begin with.
OOPS!

I haven't had the occasion to use the new SourceWriter to create new sources or cite existing master sources yet, but it looks promising.
I asked the support staff about how to convert existing sources to the new SourceWriter format, and they replied that they are working on a conversion tool for that purpose. I am eagerly awaiting the release of that tool.
-Paul

[Brian]

You can pay $50 for ESM's _Evidence Explained_ book, try to identify which formats to use for your sources, and then work at composing your citations accordingly, etc.

Or, for less money, you can buy Legacy 7. As you respond to the straight-forward multiple choice questions from SourceWriter, it composes the sources/citations for you - *based* on the _EE_ book guidelines! (They can then be tweaked, if you wish). This is a monetary bargain as well as a time saver, even if that's all Legacy 7 is used for. I sold my copy of _EE_ after seeing a demo of SourceWriter, and now look forward to using it to help me get past one of my stumbling blocks - formatting sources.

[Hank Easton]

Breaking news! MyHeritage.com just stopped supporting Firefox.
You must use IE now!
ARRRGGG!!!!

[Roger]

I use RootsMagic 3, which I find very good although it too could do with some updating and improvements. However, I downloaded Legacy 7 (standard) to see what I was missing in terms of its source writer. My initial impressions are that it is no better than the source writer present in RootsMagic. I don't find the Legacy 7 source writer very straightforward to use and it seems very much geared to US records whereas most of mine are UK.

I, for one, will continue to use RootsMagic.

[John]

Roger - except for that Legacy 7's SourceWriter is based on the hundreds of models in Evidence Explained, and RM3 is based on the old Evidence, with only dozens of models.

[Linda]

I purchased the Deluxe 6.0 version and was told I would have free 7.0 deluxe version upgrade at no charge. I downloaded 7.0 only to find out I do not have the deluxe options any more, I have emailed Legacy twice and the response of download and use the password legacy7. This appears to be a "canned" email response. I am not impressed with this kind of service.

[Penny in Texas]

Legacy 7 has been a huge success for Millenia. Ken McGinnis reports first-48-hour sales have been 10 times the number of any previous release. The folks at Millenia, having made their roll-out plans based on history, have been literally inundated. They have added people and computers and have been working 24/7 to try to meet these demands in a timely fashion.

My own opinion of the program is that Version 7 Deluxe has been more than worth the wait! They've added twenty-something new features into the Deluxe version bringing the total to over 90 that aren't found in the standard (free download) version. I'm still exploring to try out all the new bells and whistles, but two of my favorites already are:

The new search capabilities are a delight - finally I can quickly and easily see who in my database is missing exactly what information.

I was surprised to find that I love the new Source Writer. I had anticipated it with some trepidation, being a middle of the road type between lumping and splitting sources. It works beautifully for me and conforms well to ESM's latest ideas on sourcing whie allowing me to lump to my preferred degree. It's to be noted that Ms. Mills evidently changed her mind on some sourcing formats between the writing of Evidence! and Evidence Explained. Legacy 7's Source Writer templates do work off the latter rather than the former.

Love it! Too many goodies to mention them all.

[Linda]

Penny in Texas,

You may love the program however I find your comments to be a bit odd

"Legacy 7 has been a huge success for Millenia. Ken McGinnis reports first-48-hour sales have been 10 times the number of any previous release. The folks at Millenia, having made their roll-out plans based on history, have been literally inundated. They have added people and computers and have been working 24/7 to try to meet these demands in a timely fashion."

the average user would not know these details and I find nothing on the internet that references this details ... in the mean time what was promised to 6.0 deluxe users has not been honored.

[JL Beeken]

Any 'average' reader would know the details if they read Legacy News. It's spelled out right there. In reference to various writers above, I don't believe Legacy has dishonored any agreements, it's not their style, they're simply overwhelmed. So, for anyone still waiting, it's coming, it IS coming.

[Penny in Texas]

Linda, There's nothing odd about it. They sure kept their promise to this Legacy 6 Deluxe user, so your blanket statement including all Deluxe users not having promises honored is in error. Secondly, if you read Legacy News or the Legacy User Group as the "average user" probably does, you'd already have read what McGinnis said. I don't work for 'em and have no reason to dream that stuff up, for pete's sake.

[Rob Burdsal]

I'm very interested in dropping my old PAF 5.2 program and moving to something else. However, the program I ultimately decide upon must be able to duplicate the capabilities of PAF and duplicate the capabilities of PAF Insight (which is tremendous in it's match/merge function and for LDS folks it's great for helping us know if temple work has or has not been completed for our personal ancestors). Additionally I would want the program to seamlessly jump back and forth into and out of New. FamilySearch without my having to leave the program in order to open New. FamilySearch. I am particularly concerned about this New. FamilySearch issue since it is so new I'm not sure if Legacy or any other program can yet work with it. Does anyone know if Legacy 7 can do these things (jump into New. FamilySearch from within Legacy; merge and match easily like PAF Insight does)?

[Patty]

I have used Family Tree Maker, PAF 5.2, Legacy and Rootsmagic. I find Rootsmagic gives me all I need, has a source writer, it's version of PAF insight, searches just as good or better with less time involved. I have, hands down, sung the praises of Rootsmagic. The multimedia program is great, filling out information is fast and easy, I just can't say enough about it. I imagine you can contact Rootmagic, ask if you purchase it and don't like it if there is a full refund. I don't think you will be disappointed.

[Ted]

November 27, 2007, I ordered the upgrade to v.7 while using 6. May 18, 2008 I received the Deluxe Edition CD and a soft cover manual of 300+ pages... I think it is great...Ted

[Robert B.]

Rob - LDS Compatability

I have been with Legacy since version 4.0 and each version gets better at supporting LDS ordinances. The requests you have existed in version 6.0 (except interfacing with New Family Search). In fact, after checking names in Insight and Legacy I gave a slight edge to the Legacy search / match system.

I highly recommend Legacy although there are many other software programs that also have strong adherents. Try the Legacy free version and you should get enough answers to decide if you want the full version.

[Karen B.]

I too purchased V.6 some time ago with the promise of a free V.7 with a hardcopy manual. It arrived early this month, along with a disk, my new User ID and Key. I encountered and reported a small bug shortly after installing the program and the fix was back to me in a matter of hours! Their service is outstanding in my opinion (always has been) and the program is a delight! As a former user of another popular program for a number of years, I converted to Legacy about 5 years ago. Each time I thought it couldn't get any better, it does. Thank you Millenia! As for the rest of you, give up the Me First Attitude and stop whining. Patience! Pay attention to what their newsletters say. If you can't wait and can't trust and feel betrayed, go get some other program. Your loss!

[Calder]

Seriously overpriced. To make the basic Legacy into a worthwhile product will cost you US$255. This is the Gillette marketing model...

[Dick Eastman]

---> To make the basic Legacy into a worthwhile product will cost you US$255.

I am curious how you calculated that number. Legacy Family Tree Deluxe Edition costs $29.95 and there are no extra required add-ons. That price includes all the software and also includes an electronic users manual. However, some people will wish to purchase the printed users manual that is word-for-word the same as the printed version. It costs an extra $9.95 if ordered at the same time as the software or $14.95 if ordered later.

The company also offers two training CDs for $32.95 each. They are completely optional, however, and add nothing to the program itself. Again, you obtain ALL the available software for $29.95.

Even if the user orders everything, the maximum possible price is about $110. I am not aware of any extras that would drive the price to more than $250.

- Dick Eastman

[James Munafo]

With the new family search from the LDS church, I want to integrate my information from Legacy into new family search and from new family search back into Legacy.

Does anyone doing this or know how it can be done? The objective is obvious, I want to eliminate as much of the duplicate entry of date as possible.

Any suggestions would be helpful.

I do own the latest Legacy.

James Munafo