145 replies to this topic

[Ludlow Bay]

When I saw the email newsletter notification, I got excited, then when saw it was an update my hopes sank, then after a few minutes I got the feeling things were very close and Bruce seems to have confirmed that.

Just a matter of time now (or was that always the case)

What did you read into Bruce's response that makes you think he's "confirmed" anything?

[Vyger]

What did you read into Bruce's response that makes you think he's "confirmed" anything?

Dunno, call it a hunch or something, he cares about us really and I feel we are in for a nice surprise.

I am touring the states at the moment collecting loads of information and media files concerning ancestors of mine who emigrated to Wayne County PA so as long as Bruce has done the business before I arrive home again I will be a very happy bunny

[John James]

Uh oh....from that look on his 'smiley'....Bruce definitely has something up his sleeve regarding the next version.

Guess we will just have to wait for the Magician's tricks to happen. <G>

I hope the Magician comes out at Halloween, this thread started before Easter

[willemgrooters]

A new version, just for the sake of "new version" is, IMHO, a bad idea. It's a mistake to equalize "new" with "better" by default. If you expect more features and gadgets, taken from a wish list, reason enough for a new release, I think you're wrong. If you expect major changes in the database (requiring conversions), user interface...It might be. But most wishes are often just additional and in themselves, do not mandate for a new version.
Being a developer end system manager myself - mainly mission-critical systems and applications - I'm educated on the job to be very cautious in releasing or using new versions. I often prefer the evolutionary approach, releasing new functionality just a few at a time and stay away from changing the parts that just work. Unless, of course, there is a bug to be fxed. Only a major overhaul of the application would mandate a new major release.
In that case, the previous version should be supported, for some time at least, because there will be users that will not use the new version until it's proven to be as reliable and stable as the previous one - or adds so many nice features that they've been missing.

[John James]

A new version, just for the sake of "new version" is, IMHO, a bad idea. It's a mistake to equalize "new" with "better" by default. If you expect more features and gadgets, taken from a wish list, reason enough for a new release, I think you're wrong. If you expect major changes in the database (requiring conversions), user interface...It might be. But most wishes are often just additional and in themselves, do not mandate for a new version.
Being a developer end system manager myself - mainly mission-critical systems and applications - I'm educated on the job to be very cautious in releasing or using new versions. I often prefer the evolutionary approach, releasing new functionality just a few at a time and stay away from changing the parts that just work. Unless, of course, there is a bug to be fxed. Only a major overhaul of the application would mandate a new major release.
In that case, the previous version should be supported, for some time at least, because there will be users that will not use the new version until it's proven to be as reliable and stable as the previous one - or adds so many nice features that they've been missing.

If wishing on the wish list is pointless then the wish list is pointless (whoever thought of that idea?) Wishes are ideas for evolution as you put it and in the modern world "commercial" software needs to evolve to stay competitive so I don't understand your post at all.

I am just wondering are you working with RM V3 or an old DOS version of Brothers Keeper?.

[uofmgoldygopher]

If wishing on the wish list is pointless then the wish list is pointless (whoever thought of that idea?) Wishes are ideas for evolution as you put it and in the modern world "commercial" software needs to evolve to stay competitive so I don't understand your post at all.

I am just wondering are you working with RM V3 or an old DOS version of Brothers Keeper?.

I agree. I am waiting for version 4 to come out before I get Rootsmagic (using FO v10 right now). And if you look at the number of views this topic has (4400 as if this writing, easily one of the more popular topics in the forum), it appears that many others are looking for v.4 to come out soon too.

[John James]

I agree. I am waiting for version 4 to come out before I get Rootsmagic (using FO v10 right now). And if you look at the number of views this topic has (4400 as if this writing, easily one of the more popular topics in the forum), it appears that many others are looking for v.4 to come out soon too.

Rootsmagic is an excellent program but I can understand why nobody would want to buy V3 now. If you like FO10 I am sure RM will not disappoint you.

Regarding V4, my hopes, and I am sure the hopes of other users, are high and the release can't be that far away now. Bruce has not disappointed users in the past so RM can only get better.

[MickR]

Take your time with ver. 4, Bruce - there's NO rush! Your program is merely supplemental to what this game is all about - i.e. finding ancestors.

And no sooner will you have released ver. 4 - and, without the doubt, the calls will go out for ver. 5!!!

[tekingits]

I do not know the whole reason, But part of the reason V4 is so late in coming out. the LDS church announced a couple of years ago that they would be changing some of the way in which names would be submitted to the temple. I sent rootsmagic an email shortly after the announcement asking if they would be ready. They said they were working closely with the church on that issue. The church has had several delays in getting there system up and running. It was supposed to be ready a year or so ago. The new system is supposed to be testing in some areas in the next couple of months. Should be ready. Rootsmagic is faced with releasing a major release without the temple submission system and then updating or simply give updates and have the new system in the next major upgrade, not knowing when the church would be ready.

[MickR]

I do not know the whole reason, But part of the reason V4 is so late in coming out. the LDS church announced a couple of years ago that they would be changing some of the way in which names would be submitted to the temple. I sent rootsmagic an email shortly after the announcement asking if they would be ready. They said they were working closely with the church on that issue. The church has had several delays in getting there system up and running. It was supposed to be ready a year or so ago. The new system is supposed to be testing in some areas in the next couple of months. Should be ready. Rootsmagic is faced with releasing a major release without the temple submission system and then updating or simply give updates and have the new system in the next major upgrade, not knowing when the church would be ready.

Hope your info isn't solid on that point, as holding back on a release on account of the mormans (or any other church or entity, for that matter) certainly wouldn't be in the best interests of the majority of RM users (I'm making a bold assumption that the vast majority wouldn't even look at yet utilise the morman/lds functionality of the RM3 program).
If it delayed a new PAF release, that'd be fair enough.

[John James]

Hope your info isn't solid on that point, as holding back on a release on account of the mormans (or any other church or entity, for that matter) certainly wouldn't be in the best interests of the majority of RM users (I'm making a bold assumption that the vast majority wouldn't even look at yet utilise the morman/lds functionality of the RM3 program).
If it delayed a new PAF release, that'd be fair enough.

The Rootsmagician said back in April :-

"We are actively working on RM4. In the meantime, we have released quite a few free interim upgrades to RM3. I personally think users will be more than happy with RM4, but we won't be releasing it until it is solid"

This sounded to me like RM4 was ready and being tested prior to release. Obviously the above statement was made more than 6 months ago so I am now of the opinion that the release of RM4 is being delayed by some integration issue with another program or possibly awaiting a new version of some other piece of software for some sort of joint release.

Who knows? I rarely do...............

[Allen Prunty]

Folks...

Please be patient... if you want to know what happens when software is released for the sake of a new version take a look at family tree maker 2008.

Ancestry really honked off a lot of people with this one. It is lacking TONS of features... the new FTM is just a shell of the old.

It is pretty... but NOT funcional. It is easy to use... but lacking in reports and other important items.

I would rather wait for a COMPLETE rootsmagic V.4.

I am sure Bruce would like to make some money and charge us for a new release, I also believe he is ethical and won't give us something half complete or full of bugs and holes.

Please be patient...

Allen

[John James]

I would rather wait for a COMPLETE rootsmagic V.4.

I am sure Bruce would like to make some money and charge us for a new release, I also believe he is ethical and won't give us something half complete or full of bugs and holes.

I have full faith in Bruce, not to let us down in this respect. Having waited so long for RM to have the next version release I can get a little impatient wanting to take my work to another level.

However RM is a very sound program as it is so maybe a lower priority to release a new version when the competition is not really stiff competition in my view.

Reading and wanting, I notice Family Atlas is now a year old or more and I don't know what is happening in the Gensmarts arena. I am not a current user of these two programs but once RM4 comes out I will be.

So I am hoping that maybe FA and Gensamrts have new versions not too far away and I will get a chance to buy myself a nice Christmas Genealogy bundle in the near future. If I don't get it for Christmas then I am prepared to wait to have the latest and most useful versions.

[rwcrooks]

I have found that the only reliable indicator of when a new version of a program is going to be released is the date when I buy the current version. Since I just bought RM3 last month, I'm sure that RM4 will hit the streets soon.

[fizzbomb]

Hope your info isn't solid on that point, as holding back on a release on account of the mormans (or any other church or entity, for that matter) certainly wouldn't be in the best interests of the majority of RM users (I'm making a bold assumption that the vast majority wouldn't even look at yet utilise the morman/lds functionality of the RM3 program).
If it delayed a new PAF release, that'd be fair enough.

But let's remember the RM feature list includes:
"Full LDS support, including full TempleReady support, automatic ordinance updating, selection of qualified ordinances, and the ability to view and edit all ordinance information from a single screen."

I believe it is an important feature to Bruce.

[Vyger]

I'm not sure why everyone seems to think we aren't working on a major upgrade just because it has been 18 months (not 2 years) since RM3 was released.

http://blog.eogn.com...magic_3_to.html

We are actively working on RM4. In the meantime, we have released quite a few free interim upgrades to RM3. I personally think users will be more than happy with RM4, but we won't be releasing it until it is solid.

Bruce, this was back in April.

At least give the party faithful some indication or glimmer of what is on the horizon and when.

It's now well over 2 years since RM3 was released.

[genealogydan]

We should be patient and let them get all the bugs out of the version 4.

[Ken Funk]

We should be patient and let them get all the bugs out of the version 4.

You have to work really hard to get 28 months worth of bugs in a program that isn't written by or for a governmental agency or a contractor thereof. Even I can not manage that and sometimes I wonder how some of the software I write ever runs correctly.

[John James]

You have to work really hard to get 28 months worth of bugs in a program that isn't written by or for a governmental agency or a contractor thereof. Even I can not manage that and sometimes I wonder how some of the software I write ever runs correctly.

I don't know about your programs Ken but time is really knocking on here. RM is still a great program but there are several wishes that have been on this board for years even going back to RM1.

With this long a wait for RM4, I would not like to see any of those long overdue wishes still outstanding when RM4 finally does get released.

It's been mentioned before that there may be some other issue outside of RM, maybe program intergration, something new on the horizon, which makes it sensible to hold up the release, we will have to wait and see.

The longer this goes on the higher my hopes get and I can't help feeling users are going to be more than a little disappointed if there are only some minor changes.

I suppose Bruce did use the terms "major upgrade" and voiced his opinion "I personally think users will be more than happy" so we will just have to wait and see remembering he has done a good job up to now.

Online genealogy research, mapping and several other areas have changed massively in the last few years and we need a program to match that and enhance all the current possibilities.

I would have liked to have bought myself RM4 for Christmas but I suppose I will just have to wait like everyone else. Let's hope we are not disappointed when it does come out.

[Ted Bremer]

A Google search on "RootsMagic 4" reveals that Bruce is giving a class at the My Ancestors Found Family History Expo 2008 on Feb 8, 2008 entitled:

"Using New FamilySearch with RootsMagic 4"

VERRRRRRRRRRRRRYYYYY INTERESTINGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ted