Version 6.0.0.0

I've just released v5.1.0.0 of FTAnalyzer which has the new features of being able to double click on Births, Marriages and Deaths on the colour BMD report and auto search FamilySearch, Ancestry or FindMyPast. As well as a few other features and bug fixes.

This will be the last release for Windows XP. I'd previously announced in November 2013 that I'd have to stop supporting Windows XP and predicted that I could keep it going for another year. Now almost 20 months later that crunch time has come. Windows XP is now 14 years old hasn't had any security fixes for over a year and no new features for 9 years. It has had it's day. By using the old software I've kept support for XP going but now there's new things I'd like to be able to do such as publishing the application on the Windows Store, that I just can't do with the old software. So its time to bite the bullet.

I'll therefore start building a new v6.0.0.0 this will be targeted at Windows 7 or above. It will still work on Vista but since the level of Vista use is so low I'm not going to limit myself to supporting Vista for any time beyond the point that Microsoft stop supporting .Net on Vista. I'm also expecting with the launch of Windows 10 next week that the take up of Windows 10 will be massive so that there will be a big audience for the new features.

The first new feature I'm planning on will be an upgrade to the mapping features. This will allow me to integrate the NLS (National Library of Scotland) old maps interface. What this will allow is for anywhere in the Great Britain (yes they have England & Wales maps too) you will be able to view old maps of the areas where your ancestors lived. So for all of the mapping features in FTAnalyzer such as the geocoding that works out from your GEDCOM file where your ancestors lived and shows you that on a map you will be able to choose to show that on an old map.

At present NLS have released maps from 1920 onwards. They do however have much older maps, the most useful of which are the 1840s-1860s OS series and the 1890s OS series. I'm not yet sure if they have been made available on their tileserver service but I understand they may be available in future.

For me this is very exciting I love seeing the old maps and being able to pinpoint the farm or street my ancestors lived in. Having this feature within FTAnalyzer means I can view these locations using a map that was made around the time they lived there thus eliminating the problem of modern maps where there has been clearances and redevelopment to make many areas unrecognisable.

Another development that is on the horizon but is a longer term one is that the new .Net 5.0 due out in 2016 will permit cross platform development so in theory it should be possible to develop the application to run on Macs as well as PCs. This will take quite some time to be a reality as after its released the Mac community teams need to update the integration software for the Mac look and feel stuff. In theory however in 2016 or 2017 it may be possible to run FTAnalyzer natively on a Mac. Again none of this would be feasible without migrating to the newer .Net platform.

So I hope you XP users understand why I'm taking this leap just now. I did try keeping the program going for you as long as possible. Note that v5.1.0.0 will still be available on the website and if you are an XP user you can still run FTAnalyzer v5.1.0.0 after v6.0.0.0 goes live you just won't get any any version that is newer that v5.1.0.0 and there will be no more updates or bug fixes for the program on your XP machine.

 

I suspect that v5.1 on XP will want to auto upgrade when v6.0 comes out and it will fail. However the v5.1 will still be available as a .exe download for use by XP users. I just won't ever be able to update it even if it's broken. So there is a very very small window between now and when my machine is updated to Windows 10 to spot anything that needs fixed before v5.1 is frozen for XP users forever.

 

It's foreseeable future if you look two plus years ahead. I doubt very much it will be sooner than that as I am entirely reliant on the mac community wanting to port .Net applications. So I cannot release a Mac version if the Mac programming enthusiasts haven't ported the .Net core to the Mac look and feel. Also bear in mind I don't have and won't have a Mac machine to test it on. So at best it's compile for Mac and hope. Sorry but it will never be a native Mac program because I won't buy a Mac.