Saturday, June 21, 2008

Design Wars

Ok, I'm a little late in reporting this but the Ancestry Insider had this great article "Generations Network files suit against Millenia. I had been working on a redesign of my blog layout the night the article came out. I wanted to put affiliate links to products I recommend on my blog; so I now have a three column layout. Because of this I didn't know about the AI article until later.

Well as it happens I found an image of Legacy 7 on Amazon and thought someone had mixed up and put the FamilyTree Maker new graphic there instead. The image was small and I didn't take the time to consider what I had seen. It wasn't until I read Ancestry Insider's article that I realized yes, Legacy has a new image and it looks really close to FTMs. To see Family Tree Maker and Legacy 7's new box designs please visit the Ancestry Insider's article.

My opinion of it, it stinks. I loved Legacy's old design and was very unique. Well sorta as you will learn in Ancestry Insiders article. The old designs upside down pedigree chart was very appealing to me.

The curious thing about the new design image of Legacy 7 is that their website still uses this old design. (image 1) If it really is an old design. I have found Legacy Family Tree boxed in other design images.

I have often wondered if Legacy was re-boxing and selling their older versions at discounted prices. Or else someone is copying the Legacy Family Tree name.

Speaking about boxes. When I received my pre-ordered Legacy 7 the manual and the software never came in a commercial box. They were just thrown into the mailer. I was really disappointed with that. So I don't know what box style I should of even had.


Last night I inquired about this on the Legacy Mailing List and I was un-subscribed. I could of just had unfortunate timing there. They had recently banned a discussion taking place regarding Ancestry.

Anyways, I am resubscribed to the Legacy Mailing List but I wasn't going to make any further inquires on the matter there.

Oh, and what do I think about the lawsuit. I think BTH2 the designer for both Family Tree Maker and Legacy's new design has some major explaining to do. I'm sure glad I don't work for their company.

See ya tomorrow, for tomorrow is always another genealogy day!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Millennia has licensed earlier versions of Legacy Family Tree to IMSI, who came up with their own packaging design for selling it through their retail distribution channels. Look closely at the older images you posted and you can see the IMSI logo on two of them. You can't tell from the new Legacy 7 box image on Amazon.com if it's also from IMSI. But whoever it is, they have a legal agreement with Millennia to repackage and distribute the software.

Incline Software does the same thing with Ancestral Quest. In that case, Individual Software renames it, in addition to doing the repackaging. I've seen it available as "Family Trees, Quick and Easy" (no manual) and "Heritage Family Tree Deluxe" (with a manual). The latest version is called "Family Tree Heritage".

One reason these distributors are used is to get the product in front of people who would otherwise not be aware of its existence. But if you purchase through those channels instead of direct from Millennia or Incline, you must go to them to register for support and updates. If you want the latest updates and bug fixes, I recommend buying directly from the source, not through these re-distributors. Deseret Book and the BYU Bookstore do carry the "genuine" article, and you register directly. There may be others, including online "affiliate" sources.

Renee Zamora said...

Thank you for this background information, very informative. I am glad I have always stayed with Millenia when purchasing Legacy Family Tree. I always thought these other versions were older copies.

Unknown said...

BTW, love the new design!!!!

I also bought directly from Millenia and never received a box....everything from the manual to the newly revamped video was in the mailer, which I found unusual.

Anonymous said...

Very interesting post.

I, too, just got my Legacy 7 Deluxe, ordered from the website, and was a bit surpised the book, disc, and videos didn't come in the box, but, and not really dispappointed, afterall its just a box, hee, hee. ;-D

Anyway I am watching the cool videos, and am about to install the program.

I am looking forward to exploring,and learning to use, what this program has to offer, as I never did use my ancient Family Treemaker much.