Legacy vs. Family Tree Maker
Here is a list of some of the differences between Legacy and Family Tree Maker. Granted, this list is coming from a biased point of view but we feel that Legacy has a lot of great features that Family Tree Maker left out. Features that make using the program faster and easier.
Click here to find out why more Family Tree Maker users are switching to Legacy!
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Family File Views
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--- Legacy ---
You can display up to seven views of a Family File and have up to two different files opened at the same time.
--- Family Tree Maker ---
Only one Family Page can be displayed.
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Multiple Parents
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--- Legacy ---
You can tell if a person has more than one set of parents by the highlighted Parents button on the screen.
--- Family Tree Maker ---
The only way to tell if a person has more than one set of parents is to pull down the People menu and select the Other Parents. button.
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Viewing Children
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--- Legacy ---
Allows up to 60 children for each family. 10 or 15 children are shown on the Family View at once.
--- Family Tree Maker ---
Allows up to 99 children but only shows four children at a time.
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Rearranging Children
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--- Legacy ---
Display the Child List window and then just highlight the child to move and press the UP and DOWN arrows to reposition.
--- Family Tree Maker ---
For each child to move, click on the child. Select the Move Child From option from the People Menu. Click in the list where you want the child to go. Select the Move Child To option from the People Menu.
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Sounds
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--- Legacy ---
You can link sound files to individual pictures. This lets you create a narrated slide show. You can also record sound files from within Legacy.
--- Family Tree Maker ---
You can link sound files to an individual but not to specific pictures.
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Relationships
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--- Legacy ---
The relationship between a specified Source person and all other related individuals in the Family File is shown on the Family View.
--- Family Tree Maker ---
No relationship feature.
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Source Citations
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--- Legacy ---
Legacy has a Source Clipboard (tm) that can hold up to five different source citations at once. These can be assigned to individual events with the click of a button. You can also save up to ten groups of citations for future use, switching between them from a right-click popup menu. Any sources on the Source Clipboard can be assigned from any information input window.
--- Family Tree Maker ---
No such feature.
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Assigning Sources While Importing
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--- Legacy ---
You can assign a source citation to all records imported from either a GEDCOM or PAF file. This way you can tell where the records came from.
--- Family Tree Maker ---
No source information can be attached during an import. After you import records, you will have no indication as to where they came from.
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Navigation History
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--- Legacy ---
Legacy tracks the last 160 individuals you have viewed. You can either use the History List to jump back to a previously view person, or use the Forward and Backward History arrows to rotate through them.
--- Family Tree Maker ---
No history feature is available
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Bookmarks
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--- Legacy ---
You can set up to 160 bookmarks on different individuals you want to keep track of. You can jump back to any bookmark at any time.
--- Family Tree Maker ---
No bookmark support.
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Tags
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--- Legacy ---
Each individual and each marriage can have three different tags applied to it. These tags can be used to keep track of anything you want. For example, you can could use level one tags to create a group of people for which you want to print a report. or perhaps level two tags to mark a few people you want to export and send to Aunt Mabel. or level three tags to keep track of individuals or marriages you want to further research on. The possibilities are endless!
--- Family Tree Maker ---
Sorry, no tagging.
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Navigation
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--- Legacy ---
Both a Family View and Pedigree View are available for navigating back and forth between ancestors and descendants. The Family View displays three generations including a main couple, their parents and their children. The Pedigree View shows four or five generations, a spouse/child list and a siblings list. Both views offer complete editing capabilities.
--- Family Tree Maker ---
Only a two-generation Family view is offered and only four children at a time are displayed. (Legacy shows fifteen children at a time.) Looking at the screen, you have no idea who the Husband's and Wife's parents are unless the cursor is in the Husband’s or Wife’s information.
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LDS Support
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Submitting Names to the Temple
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--- Legacy ---
Legacy has full integration with FamilySearch which allows you to prepare and print ordinance cards to take to the Temple.
--- Family Tree Maker ---
You can export a GEDCOM file to be read by Temple- Ready but that is as far as they go. No marking of records is done at all.
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LDS Ordinance Reports
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--- Legacy ---
You can print these Ordinance reports:
- All records, with or without ordinance dates
- Records with missing ordinance dates
- Records with no missing ordinance dates
- Records with one or more ordinance dates
Each individual is printed with their surrounding family members shown so you can better see who someone really is.
--- Family Tree Maker ---
Only two reports are offered:
- Incomplete Individual Ordinances
- Incomplete Marriage Sealings
Must print two reports in order to see both individual and marriage ordinances.
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Name Index
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--- Legacy ---
The Name List includes a block of eight detail fields that display information about the current person. You can set these detail fields to show any information (including Soundex Codes for surnames). You can search for records in the Name List by either RIN number or surname. You can jump into the list to any letter by pressing the Letter buttons. Records can be tagged on three levels and bookmarked. Customized reports can be printed.
--- Family Tree Maker ---
Only the birth and death dates are shown on the index. No other information can be displayed and no reports can be printed.
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Searching
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--- Legacy ---
Legacy offers many search options. There is a simple fill-in-the-blanks form, a detailed search form that accepts multiple search criteria using AND and OR, and multiple special-case searches. You can search for:
- All the family members of a specific individual.
- All the ancestors or descendants of a person.
- The oldest direct-line ancestors of a person.
- The youngest descendants of a person.
- End-of-line ancestors and descendants of a person.
- Linked individuals with no children.
- Linked individuals with no parents.
- Unlinked individuals.
- Individuals with bad dates
Searches can be used to create sub-lists of individuals that can be used for tagging and other purposes.
Multiple search lists can be combined together.
--- Family Tree Maker ---
You can only search for people by filling in one field. No lists can be created.
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Merging
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--- Legacy ---
Legacy has the most intelligent merging feature on the market and shows you the most information about individual pairs so you can make informed decisions when combining duplicates. You can set the comparison parameters used to determine who is presented as a possible duplicates. You can even stop a merge session and resume later, right where you left off. When merging, you can decide which information to keep in the resulting record. The rest can either be copied into the notes field, or made into an event, or put into the alternate names list. You don't have to give up any valuable information with combining records.
--- Family Tree Maker ---
If there are any differences in the spelling of names or relationships, records will not even be presented for merging. When merging two people, you have the choice of which information to keep. the rest is discarded!
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Blank Forms
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--- Legacy ---
Legacy prints blank forms for Family Group Sheets, Individual Reports, Census forms for all available US census years from 1800 to 1920 and the 1801 and 1811 Canadian censuses. You can also print customized Questionnaires to send out to request information, and blank Research Logs to assist you in your research efforts.
--- Family Tree Maker ---
FTM will print a blank Family Group Sheet that is four pages long! Some other reports can be printed blank but all they do is blank out the existing names. No standard Pedigree chart is available and no blank Census, questionnaire or research logs are available.