The booming interest in genealogy created by the Internet has provided a lucrative market for programs that help the home user research and create their family tree. Developing such a program should not be too difficult because the good ones are little more than a simple relational database with some word processor, desktop publishing and Internet functionality thrown in.
Often, the best are the simplest so when you are confronted with a 31-CD monster, you have reason to be concerned, particularly when it comes with a 370-page manual.

Generations Family Tree has been around for ten years and it has an ardent following throughout the United States and Australia - for good reason. In its basic form it uses a combination of simple database structure, chart management and data mining to create a family tree. It takes less than half an hour to get the hang of putting together your family history by simply filling in the details in the appropriate places.

So what has gone so badly wrong with Generations Family Tree Grande Suite v8.0? Quite simply it is a horrible mishmash of programs that do not integrate well and, as a complete package, is very user-unfriendly. The package comprises the core Family Tree software, an Internet library application called iCollect, Sierras basic photo editing program SnapShot Express and Master Cook Heritage Edition, although it is hard to fathom why a recipe book has been included.

Together they take up less than ten per cent of the package. The rest comprises of several US databases as well as the Generation World Name Index and the passenger list for the Titanic.

Only Generation World Name Index is of much relevance to Australia; however, it will only tell you if a person exists and what town or city they were last registered in and if you want any further information you must pay for it. The Internet links provided as part of the core program are of greater benefit to users in this part of the world. There is also an excellent book by Cyndi Howells on how to research genealogy on the net, which takes up some other parts of the package.

Creating your family tree is the easy part. The core program is easy to work out, relatively simple to configure and clever enough to take same-sex marriages and multiple spouses into consideration. It checks the ages of each person on the tree and alerts the user if they attempt to make an illogical or doubtful entry, such as giving children to a female under the age of 12. Reports are automatically compiled on individuals and family branches and the entire tree can be saved in html and posted on the Internet.

Each person has their own card and photographs, sound files and video clips can be imported to their card. However, these imports do not automatically appear in some of the family tree charts that can be generated with a click of a button, and the charts do not handle graphics well anyway.

Unlike the cards, images cannot be imported directly into charts but must be copied and pasted from a graphics program. They are difficult to resize because the default setting adds borders or shadows, which must be removed first.

In a strange piece of illogical design, Sierra has left some basic functions out of most of its charts, while at the other end of the scale allowing the user to create 3D charts, which apart from looking pretty are totally worthless because they cannot be printed and do not provide access to data relating to individuals on the chart.

iCollect is an awful piece of over-engineering. It will download an entire Web site and store it in a library for you to view off-line at your leisure. In reality it is cumbersome and confusing and downloads a lot of material that is a waste of space. It also downloads each element of a Web site and allows the user to drag and drop some elements in applications like Word (but not Family Tree), with apparent disregard of copyright. To make matters worse, it is the default viewer for the design graphics Sierra provides for anyone who wants to spruce up their family tree, but you still have to cut and paste them.

Grande Suite promised an awful lot but delivered very little.