This week’s announcement from Wholly Genes Software, producer of The Master Genealogist, says that version 5.0 will feature the following:

New features

Beginner and Advanced Data Entry Modes

Welcome window simplifies startup options.

Export Wizard simplifies GEDCOM and other export options.

"Tips and Hints" expose you to new a feature each time that the program is started.

"Cue cards" explain the purpose and options of each major screen when you access it.

Import directly from Generations (without GEDCOM)

Import directly from Legacy 3 or 4 (without GEDCOM)

Citation Reference field

Each event participant can have a specific name variation associated with the event.

Use Microsoft Word's spelling and grammar checker as an alternative to the built-in spell checker.

Customizable name field labels and easily apply Name "styles"

Customizable place field labels and easily apply Place "styles"

Customizable Add Person window, including flags.

Expanded Picklist shows full names of parents and spouse.

Expanded Picklist has Column Mode and Event List Mode to show more data.

The unique Project Explorer shows people in a Windows Explorer-like interface.

Master Event List can be searched and sorted

User-defined Focus Groups allow operations (e.g., Web searches) on selected groups of people.

Save/load Picklist filter conditions to file.

Produce flexible hourglass charts.*

Rescale charts to fit a user-defined size

Repaginate so that boxes skip page breaks

Add and delete lines from individual boxes

Simple and artistic frames jazz up your box charts.

Design your own frames!

Apply frames based on Accent conditions.

Export charts to Enhanced Metafile (emf)

Web searching:

Point and click to search for your relatives on Ancestry.com, Rootsweb, and other sites.

Conduct one search for all name variations on multiple sites at the same time.

Includes web links to searchable geographic databases

Includes other useful web links for researchers

New Multimedia Items:

Image Window displays the primary image of a person on the main screen.

Exhibit Log shows scrollable thumbnails

Produce multimedia slideshows with transition effects and other advanced features

Export slideshows send them to relatives with the included Slideshow Viewer

Drag and drop multimedia files from the Windows Explorer

Direct scanner support.

New Project Management Tools:

View multiple data sets at the same time.

View/search your data with that of other researchers in one alphabetical list without merging them together

Open multiple projects at the same time and navigate them side-by-side

Import and "lock" data sets from other sources

Easily "Refresh" locked data sets upon receiving an update from relatives.

Disable data sets

Drag and drop to copy or move people between data sets.

Customizable Working Environment:

Control the size/position of every display window to completely customize the display.

Easily switch between user-defined screen layouts

Multiple independent toolbars

Moveable and dockable toolbars

Automatic support for Windows color schemes

Customizable on-screen fonts

Custom Toolbar includes new options

Change the row height on the Person View (i.e., show events with wordwrap).

Additional Convenience Features:

Item Tips show pop-up extended text by simply pointing the mouse to long memos on the Person View.

NEW: Send your completed charts online to be printed at a budget price on a large-format color printer.

Online upgrade option checks for a more recent version. If one is found it is downloaded and applied automatically.

In addition, the following features were available in earlier versions but have been significantly improved in version 5.0:

Import Wizard with Simple and Advanced Modes

Expanded context-sensitive Help

Direct import options are updated to reflect the latest versions of supported programs.

Data Entry Tools:

Expanded Abbreviation fields

Link a single research task to a person AND an event AND a source AND a repository

Better Searching Tools

Simple Picklist for fast access even with very large projects

Unlimited user-defined bookmarks

Supercharged Accents:

Use an unlimited number of Accent conditions to display people in different colors on the screen.

Define Accents based on elaborate conditions (e.g, Born in Virginia, > 10 children, etc.), not just flags.

Accent definition displayed on the Status Bar

One item to note is that a few of the fancier reports have not yet been certified by the beta testers. As a result, the program is being released this week with the report output limited to charts (ancestor, descendant, hourglass, and fan charts). However, the remaining reports will become available once they are certified and will then be easily downloaded online at no additional charge. This should happen within a few weeks. The rest of the program is complete now.

The TMG 5.0 download is about 20 megabytes. That will not be a problem for anyone using a cable modem or DSL Internet connection. However, dial-up users who are limited to 56 kilobaud connections may wish to wait for a CD-ROM version to become available within a few weeks. The release on 21 May is only for the downloadable version. The CD-ROM version and a printed manual will not be available for a few more weeks.

The purchase price of version 5.0 will be $79, a 20 perent reduction from the price of the earlier Gold Edition. Registered users of TMG version 4.x may upgrade to 5.0 for $30.00. In addition, registered users of Family Tree SuperTools may upgrade to TMG version 5.0 for $59.

You can read Wholly Genes’ full press release here.

I suspect the download site will now be very busy. I hope to obtain a copy of The Master Genealogist version 5.0 and write about it in this newsletter in the near future.

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