Macintosh OS X Genealogy software

[Diablo]

Hi all, new to this site today but I saw this thread and thought I might be able to give some input.  I have doing the genealogy thing for about 15 years or so.  previously I have used all the flavours of Family Tree Maker so quite a few different versions.  I don't know about you but I think the program has gone downhill.  Recently I bought a Macbook and was running my FTM in a Parallels virtual machine but decided to go with Reunion 9 which is a wonderful program albeit I think a tad expensive.  I also have an Iphone so I synced the data from the Mac to there with the new Reunion program at £9.99.  I've yet to use the Iphone version but a quick look around I'm very impressed.

Martyn

[hamiltonhunt]

The best I have found is "iFamily for Leopard (or Tiger)". It generates quick/easy pedigree charts with a lot of control but I'm not happy with the reporting department. They promise to address that in next version. The reports it generates are too detailed and laborious.

Support has been incredible in the past but the developer passed away so it is in transition. I have no doubt it will be great again. Like all programs, it is hard for them to keep up with new operating systems etc.

[famhunter]

I have used Macs ever since they first came out.  Which makes me very old. 

I have a totally different approach which I have evolved over time due to the incredibly expensive software that is supplied for Macs.  I suppose that the software suppliers assume that if you can afford a Mac, you can afford to pay more for the software. 

I use the combination of PhpGedview and MAMP.  MAMP loads Apache and PHP onto the Mac and lets me run a private offline  webserver.  I then use PhpGedview on my machine, as a website but totally offline and unconnected to my broadband.

I find it provides far more facilities that any of the expensive family history products, and is totally free.  You can then move it to a website when you want to.   Incidentally, I use exactly the same approach on a PC I have as well, it enables me to not have to worry about having different programs on different systems.

Happy to provide detailed instructions and help if anyone is brave enough to try this way.

Famhunter

[igeoff]

I re-started working on my family tree about a month ago and bought a Macbook Pro at the same time. Here in Australia Reunion is about twice the US price as converted and that made it rather expensive. I downloaded and tried for 15 days the full, but time limited version of GeditcomII.

I have found it very satisfactory so far: it readily imported a big and somewhat complex Gedcom file and allows storage of photos, scans etc by reference link. The output reports are fairly standard trees, pedigrees, ahntafels etc.

I have not yet tried to use it to set up a web site, as this us not one of my interests, nor do I have any idea whether ithingies are supported.

It looks fine for someone who now feels a little unambitious compared to the rest of you. It is for example, rather more versatile and easier to use than PAF and PAF Companion on the PC, which I used about 10 years ago and re-used a few months ago.

[phill100]

"unambitious"? But you said you have only worked for a month or so - just wait, you'll get hooked.

But on a more serious note - have you looked at buying Reunion from a supplier in the UK? With the Australian dollar climbing and the UK pound still a bit low, it might be cheaper than buying in US dollars.

Phill

[greyingrey]

As the last post here was in 2009, I was wondering how people feel now. I was interested in the Family Tree Maker, but I can't use it as my Mac OSX is one model "too early"

I want something simple to use & I don't need lots of sophisticated features (although, of course, one tends to change one's mind on that as one "progresses")

Thanks

[Jocie]

I use Reunion and found the basic features to be very user friendly. i have gradually added started using extra features as I became more confident with the basics. Like all programmes it has it's limitations but I have never had any problems with it.
I was given Mac Family Tree for my birthday but found it to be very unreliable. It has a lot of 'bugs' and crashes regularly. There is a forum where the problems are discussed but sadly not resolved and the issue with crashing seems to be a major problem at the moment. Hopefully this will be sorted with an upgrade.
This is just my experience and there may well be others who are happy with it.
however for the moment I'm sticking with what I know.....Reunion

[hamiltonhunt]

I've spent about a month fighting with FTM, including numerous calls to tech support, implementing laborious processes, then come up against the same issues. Have worked on Macs for 23+ years and find this very discouraging, especially since I was an early FTM user when it was a Broderbund product over 15 years ago and have been anxiously awaiting its arrival.

I just don't trust the integrity of the file so think it best to pack it in until there appears to be a more stable version.

J

[MarieC]

Like Jocie, I'm a happy Reunion user.  Haven't tried FTM or any other genealogy program so nothing to compare it with, but there seem to be no bugs in Reunion.

MarieC