Over the past few years, RootsMagic has esablished itself as one of the key family history programs. John Hanson tries out the latest version and its developments.

The program is easy to install and you can install it alongside version 3 so you can run both at the same time. The file management has been improved in this version and there is even the option under the tools menu to pre-set all of the major directories that you are likely to want to use. If the program doesn't automatically check for the latest version of your family history files then you need to make sure that you do. This can be done from the Help menu and certainly with my copy there was a new upgrade.

If you are upgrading from version 3 then you will need to create a new file and import your old files into the new one. To import your data from a different program, or your existing RootsMagic 3 database, use the 'create new fie' option. This has an option to import from another program. The old style multiple file database has gone and been replaced with a new single file which makes the process of copying files manually a lot less problematic. It will directly read the databases of a number of existing programs (Legacy, Family Origins 4 onwards, Family Tree Maker 2006 or earlier, Personal Ancestral File) or you will need to use a GEDCOM file.

The opening screen has changed with some new features added. The old views are still there so you can see the Pedigree View of the highlighted person as well as the descendants or their immediate family. To these have been added a Person View, which lists everyone in the database, with a customisable list of events.

The icons on the menu bar have been changed to brighter new ones and a new sidebar has been added down the left-hand side. This bar has a number of uses: the default view is the Index, but you can also switch to Family (lists the spouses, children, parents and siblings of the selected person), Bookmark (lets you add people you want to get to in a hurry - very useful with large files), History (maintains a list of those visited but only for the session you are in) and Groups (which lets you create named groups.

RootsMagic To-Go

One interesting new feature is the ability to install RootsMagic onto a USB device, using Rootsmagic To-Go, and then run it from other PCs, if you're on the move (for instance, working from an archive or library). You do need to remember to refresh the database on there though, and of course copy it back when you get home again.

WebSearch

Also added is a new WebSearch feature, which works on the person highlighted. You need to select the site to search (the result of this for my great-grandfather is shown below). This highlights one of the problems with this type of search. He is only shown in the births; none of his census entries appear. That is because he was never Francis William Apperly on any of them. You do need to treat this sort of facility with care and not just rely on what it tells you.

Mapping

It has a new mapping facility which I was very impressed with. Using Microsoft Virtual Earth it even coped with all my place names that have international county codes rather than county names. You can also get your existing place names validated using the GeoCode link on the 'Place List' editor. This will add longitude and latitude values to all the places and highlight the ones that don't appear to exist in its database. They could just be mis-spelling but also may be old names that no longer exist.

Enhancements have been made in a number of other areas including multimedia handling (mind the GEDCOM import seemed to lose all of my existing ones), support of birth, marriage and death records using quarter dates and also support for Quaker dates, improved report handling to name but a few. This is a good feature upgrade to an already good product. Some of the new features are worth the extra on their own but all seems to work well and there are many enhancements to existing features.

Review by John Hanson