GENBOX-L Archives

Archiver > GENBOX > 2006-03 > 1142810618


From: "Peggy Baldwin" <>
Subject: Re: [GENBOX] TMG vs Genbox
Date: Sun, 19 Mar 2006 15:23:38 -0800
References: <20060319215335.76700.qmail@web50108.mail.yahoo.com> <001001c64ba4$b15b2ca0$0b00a8c0@rebh>


I guess it depends on how you think what's intuitive. I do not find either
software to be particularly intutive.
TMG has more materials - videos and print material to learn it. But I
switched anyway. I started with
Family Tree Maker (probably similar to PAF in the difficulty documenting
with it), then switched to Legacy,
then to TMG, and now finally (I hope) to GenBox.

I think that once you learn GenBox, it is easier to use than TMG. There are
some strange ways that you
have to accomplish some functions in TMG that never did feel natural to me
even after I figured out
how they worked.

TMG offers roles, so you can enter unrelated people, such as ministers,
witnesses to an event. GenBox
also offers that.

In TMG and GenBox you can tailor your sources to print out exactly the way
you want them to -- to match
the Mill's Evidence standard, for instance. In my opinion, once you
understand how GenBox works, it's much
easier (more intuitive) to do that than with TMG.

GenBox does an automatic fill in of fields, like Legacy did. If you don't
like what fills in, you just keep typing
until the actual entry matches what you are looking for. TMG didn't do that
and I missed it.

It's not true that in TMG you can't attach multiple sources. You can attach
multiple sources in both TMG
and GenBox.

In GenBox there is the ability to source every piece of information -- event
date only, or place only for instance.
As you know those individual pieces of information may come from different
sources. You can also lock
a source so that every time you enter a piece of data it will automatically
attach the source. Legacy did that.
TMG did not and I sorely missed it.

I am finding myself typing in sources before I even go to the library now
that I'm using GenBox. I attach it
to a research task and I can easily record what I found or didn't find in
it. I didn't find TMG sourcing
to be that easy to work with, that I did that. Think of the potential for
not duplicating your work, by
looking at the same sources over and over!

Also, in GenBox, you can make projects that you attach multiple research
tasks to. You can have multiple
searches attached to a particular research task. It's very real work in the
way that it works. I am about
ready to leave for a 3 day research trip and I've got my research tasks
organized by city and then under
that by repository.

So, as you can see I am very happy having switched about 2 months ago. I
will say that it has been, at time,
a tough 2 months, though. The documentation is extensive for GenBox, but
unfortunately at this time is
a somewhat typical function by function, menu item by menu item manual.
There is evidentally, as some
point in time, a more tutorial approach coming that will probably be
structured more the way people learn
the best.

In the mean time this listserv is invaluable. There are some power users on
ths list who are very patient
about explaining the ins and outs of GenBox. The learning curve was well
worth it and I ain't going
back.

Peggy






----- Original Message -----
From: "Evelyn Hendricks" <>
To: <>
Sent: Sunday, March 19, 2006 2:30 PM
Subject: Re: [GENBOX] TMG vs Genbox


> Hi Rich,
> I switched from TMG to Genbox about a year ago--maybe a little more.
> Although I am no expert it does seem to me that Genbox is much easier to
> use. It is much more intuitive and I like the way it does things much
> better than the way TMG does it. I have not used it near as much as I
> should have, considering I have had for such a long time. I was sick for
> about eight months during which time we moved across the state. I have
> just recently begun to really use it. I never did quite grasp TMG although
> I was on my third or fourth edition of it.
> Why don't you download the free version and give it try? Another advantage
> is that when a new version comes out yours will be updated at no extra
> charge. That is definitely an advantage, considering the cost of programs
> now.
> Evelyn Hendricks
>
> --- Original Message -----
> From: ColumbusGuy
> To:
> Sent: Sunday, March 19, 2006 4:53 PM
> Subject: [GENBOX] TMG vs Genbox
>
>
> Hi,
>
> I'm new to this mailing list. I've collected genealogy data on my
> surname for the past 3 years. I've used PAF up to this point, but have
> found it's features lacking for doing any serious documenting of my
> efforts, altho it is nice for freeware.
>
> My family has been pushing for me to publish something (a book or on
> CD/DVD) of my findings. My top 3 desires in a software tool are:
> 1) as mentioned, a good publishing feature, both on paper as well as on
> CD or DVD.
> 2) ability to minutely document the sources of my data findings
> (including being able to indicate multiple sources for a given piece of
> data),
> 3) ease of use, such as being able to drag data items (files) from where
> they are stored on my PC into the tool such that it will then create a
> link in the tool to that item on my PC. I like to avoid typing where
> possible, especially long directory path names.
> 4) I'm sure other items will arise as I start to enter data into the
> future chosen software tool, but these 3 items above are the ones that are
> currently on my mind.
>
> It appears from a brief search of the web that the top competitors of
> serious genealogical software are TMG 6 and Genbox 3.6. Aside from price
> differences, I would like to hear feedback from others regarding what key
> advantages/disadvantages Genbox has over TMG (Gold), as well as what key
> items TMG (Gold) has over Genbox. I've seen a comparison chat at the
> Genbox website, and I suspect it is biased on Genbox's side. I've seen
> comparison charts at www.mumford.ca/reportcard/, but for someone only
> familiar with the features of PAF, I find all the charts and data at
> mumford overwhelming. So, I thought hearing from the experts about the
> top key advantages and disadvantages would be most helpful.
>
> Before I close, let me toss out a few observations that I've seen, just
> to see if they make any sense.
> 1) Genbox 3.6 is a lot cheaper that TMG Gold 6.0. That leads me to
> believe that TMG Gold has more features and is a more comprehensive tool.
> Is that a fair assumption?
> 2) The chart at Genbox says that TMG does not provide the ability to
> specify multiple sources for a single data item. Is that true? Or does
> TMG just offer a different way of accomplishing the same thing?
>
> Thanks in advance for your thoughts and suggestions,
> Rich
>
>
> ---------------------------------
> Brings words and photos together (easily) with
> PhotoMail - it's free and works with Yahoo! Mail.
>
>
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>
> ==============================
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> at the same time. Share your tree with family and friends. Learn more:
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>
>
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