![]() ![]()
Then in December 2015, Ancestry dropped a bombshell that they were discontinuing their Family Tree Maker program. We also announced MyRootsMagic, where registered users could easily post free websites of their family tree. RootsMagic 7 included a new feature called WebHints, which would display hints from FamilySearch, MyHeritage, and FindMyPast, and let you click on a little lightbulb to jump to those sites to see the hints. While we continued to work on the new Mac/Windows version, we decided to release a new version of RootsMagic based on the older code with some exciting features we had been working on. ![]() And yes, we continue to eat the cost of that monthly license to this day □ This not only allowed us to create a “RootsMagic for Mac” standalone installer, but also meant we could distribute free RootsMagic Essentials with the wrapper as well. We decided we needed to simplify this whole Mac “wrapper” thing, and worked out a license with Codeweavers where we could pay a flat amount every month and be able to distribute unlimited copies. ![]() ![]() #Rootsmagic 2019 install#The MacBridge program allowed you to install the Windows version on your Mac, but the process was somewhat unwieldy, and it was hard to explain to users how it was supposed to work. Since we had to pay Codeweavers for every copy of MacBridge we distributed, we sold it as a separate program so we could keep track of the numbers. We had them build a custom wrapper for RootsMagic, and in September 2014 we released MacBridge. #Rootsmagic 2019 software#So as a temporary fix, we contacted a company called Codeweavers that wrote software to let Windows programs run on a Mac. But having done this multiple times, I knew firsthand how long it could take, and the Mac users were getting more and more vocal. So in the summer of 2014 we began rebuilding RootsMagic so that we could compile natively to both Windows and Mac. The second option would ensure that both Windows and Mac users would always have the same functionality, yet redesigning the program again seemed daunting. We’ve seen too many programs where their Windows and Mac versions are quite a bit different (both interface and functionality), so we really didn’t like the first option. We knew there were a couple of options… write a separate Mac version (or have another company write a Mac version for us), or rewrite the program so that we could compile the same program to both Windows and Mac. But as we got more and more requests for a Mac version it became clear that we might get to do just that. #Rootsmagic 2019 android#We released our iOS app in Dec 2012, and didn’t know it would take another year of development before we could get the Android version out.īack when we released RootsMagic 4 we assumed we’d never have to rewrite the program again. In the end, we decided to leave them as read-only to keep our costs down, and to make them available for free. #Rootsmagic 2019 how to#And we were faced with the decision how to recover the costs of creating these new apps. If you’ve ever hired out programming, you know it can get very expensive. We knew that genealogy software is actually very complex, and this company was actually already familiar with RootsMagic and genealogy software in general. We got a bunch of bids from companies all over the world, but finally ended up selecting a local company here in Utah. Rather than hire new programmers just to write apps, we decided to outsource them. The only problem was that we had no programming skills on tablets, either iOS or Android. But we were hearing from our users that they wanted to be able to take their data on their new tablets they’d gotten for Christmas. Once RootsMagic 4 and RootsMagic Essentials were out the door, we tried to concentrate on upgrading the software and adding new functionality. If you’re just joining us, be sure to read Part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11. NOTE: This is Part 12 of our ongoing series documenting the history of our company. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |