Site News - May 2006

News has been slow, I’m keeping the software information updated, but over the next few days I’ll be changing servers and looking at a slight format change to add more relevant information (not just genealogy software but software that would help in genealogy research).

As a result, it will be quiet for the next several days.

Macs, Virtualization, and Genealogy Software

RandomGenealogy.com has written up a fairly extensive overview of the new Intel-based MacBooks/MacBook Pros, and how they could be of use to those genealogists wanting to switch to Macs, but still hold onto some of their Windows software until they have any and all migration issues sorted out.

You have to understand, this is head and shoulders above previous “Windows on a Mac” software - in this case, Windows has direct access to the Intel hardware and can run very fast. He discusses both options - completly booting Windows by itself with Boot Camp (there probably is no Windows genealogy software that would ever need to have Windows booted by itself), and using a new (and it looks like the only) piece of virtualisation software available - Parallels Desktop. It’s running Windows in a window under Mac OS X (although you can switch to full-screen, you are still running under Mac OS X). It’s not just for Windows either - it’ll handle DOS and other applications written to run on Intel (and AMD) hardware.

It’s interesting, and reasonably priced - if you know of anybody thinking about switching to a Mac, this might be the article to email them.

The article - RandomGenealogy.com

Apple MacBooks

As you may or may not know, Apple has rolled out their iBook replacement, the Apple MacBook, which is based on an Intel CPU. This replaces the iBook series (both the 12-inch and 14-inch), as well as the 12-inch PowerBook. It starts at $1099 US, and surprisingly, it is an Intel Core Duo - that is is, it’s a dual-core CPU - the equivalent of having two CPUs inside of your machine.

They are going with only one display for the MacBook, a “glossy” 13.3-inch widescreen display. It’s also back to being available in more than one color - black or white.

It’s a very powerful machine - even the $1099 model has a 1.83GHz Dual Core CPU. Outside of Apple’s XServers and their PowerMacs (towers), their Intel transition is almost complete, ahead of schedule. These other two series will probably be switched to Intel this fall.

ohmiGene 0.97.4

ohmiGene 0.97.4 was released today. ohmiGene is a genealogy application for Mac OS X. ohmiGene is geared towards working with importing and exporting standard GEDCOM files. It can be downloaded here.

This is a major version change from the previous ohmiGene we had list - I am not sure exactly what has changed. Do note that it is available for Mac OS X, Windows, and Linux.

MacFamilyTree 4.2.11

MacFamilyTree 4.2.11 is available, with several significant updates to the chart/display interface. MacFamilyTree is a Mac OS X genealogy application, and is a Universal Binary application - it will run well on both Intel and PowerPC computers, however Mac OS X 10.3.9 is required.

New:
* All events in the Heritage Chart, Descendant Chart and Family Chart can now be shown or hidden on an individual basis
* Backups are now saved in the Documents Folder in the folder “MacFamilyTree Backup”
* Keyboard shortcut, Command-I, opens the information window for a person
* The drawer is no more limited in the width

Fixes:
* The input field, “Temple”, in Relationship is now updated correctly
* The date warnings in Events is now more reliable
* Other minor problems solved

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