Software: Reunion and Generations
by John Cardiff
This page last updated: 22 Apr 2003
  
There is some pretty nice software out there for Windows. There is also some pretty nice software out there for Apple's Macintosh. But only Microsoft and Adobe seem able to successfully re-write their software for the other machine. Most others have crashed and burned, trying.

That includes Leister Productions, the developers of Reunion for Mac. Several years back they jumped aboard a train others were already deserting when they tried to create Reunion for Windows. 

It looked and felt like a Mac program -- which is great if you're writing for Macs, but not so hot if you are writing for Windows. At the end of the day, Leister stuck to its Mac roots, and sold Reunion for Windows to Sierra.

To it's credit, Sierra tried to fix and sell the program. They changed the name to Generations, and it was available in several versions -- many of which included CD-ROM's of data, in the Family Tree Maker tradition.

Generations was a blend of interesting features (like using your choice of word program -- Word or WordPerfect -- as your text editor) and other features that simply didn't work quite as they should. In the end, Sierra too pulled the plug on it.

These days so many me-too products are flooding the PC genealogy market that each has to provide a compelling reason to switch. In this environment, bugs can kill a product that still works reasonably well.

Sierra was subsequently purchased by the folks behind the A&E TV network, which had previously bought Family Tree Maker and Family Origins' marketing rights. Sierra was subsequently spun off as Genealogy.com, which is content to let Generations rot as it pushes meal ticket: Family Tree Maker.

Leister Productions' Reunion for Macintosh 8 is still a very  popular Mac genealogy program.