I have been aGenoPro user from almost the beginning and I have enjoyed countless hours researchingand using it to set up my family tree and introducing others to it. My effortshave been rewarded with my ultimate aim, the publishing of a book on my familygenealogy, which would have been impossible to produce without GenoPro.

I have now reachedthe point where I must make a decision. My two sons are reaching the age wherethey may have children and are starting to show more of an interest in our tree.I would like to pass onto them the results of my labours but also on a platformwhich has a future with the potential for ongoing development and regularreleases. I ask myself the question “is it time to move on?”.

It has been sometime since the last release and I have no idea when we can expect the next oneor what will be included in that. A number of customers in the past have soughtanswers to the same questions and asked for a development plan (I myself askedfor one back in 2009!) with little or no response from the developers. The “Suggestion,Wish List and Feature Requests” thread is full of ideas from customers requestingchanges, corrections, improvements, etc., which are rarely even commented on.There are reasonable requests here going back years with not even an indicationof whether they will ever be actioned or not.

It has also been noticeablethat some of the regular, established members of the forum no longer contribute.I also feel that the input from the developers into the forum has also dropped,with the major contributions coming from Ron and Appleshaw. Is there a generalfeeling that GenoPro is dying and have others already moved on?

I and the otherpurchasers of GenoPro have done so in good faith with the expectation of regularupgrades and I feel are entitled to know if GenoPro has a future or if theyshould consider moving to another platform. I myself have invested countlesshours into its use and have no desire to move to another product. However, if thereis to be minimal or no development, and releases are to be at the present rate,there may be no option.

Therefore, I wouldlike to request the developers to invest a bit of time in either issuing adevelopment plan for the next few years or at the very least, a seriousstatement of intentions, specifically an honest appraisal how they see thefuture of GenoPro.

Contraryto Bogistad's fears, I'm heartened that so few have responded to thisthread.  I hope as few as possible seeit.  In fact, for the good of GENOPRO,the fewer the number of users who visit these forums the better.

I loveGENOPRO.  I have used it every single daywithout fail for 11 years.  It certainly must neverbe allowed to fade away. Nothing else comes close to its presentationalflexibility and possibilities, and I could not live without it.

Butthere appears to be a disjunct in perceptions: It appears to be unrecognized that there are 2 very different groups ofdevotees:  Firstly, those like yourselveswho are computer-programming savvy and understand & enjoy tinkering inthe guts of the machine. You want change and improvements and bells  Then there is myself, and hopefully 99% ofusers, who simply want a program that works 'straight out of the box', andcontinues to do the same thing without fail.

Themajority of us simply want a 'bookshelf' for our genealogical (or scientific)research. The latter is our joy and choice of time.  It is only a dreaded signal of failure when wehave to visit this Help Forum (not thetutorials, of course, where one learns the capabilities of the program, but the 'what'schanged, can be changed, or gone wrong' visits). 

Afterexploring the forums and queries over the past few days, I've realized thatthat contrary to my belief that all the changes made to GENOPRO over the years weredriven by a marketing plan ('let's add lots of social detail and sellgroup-contracts to Psychology Academia......' etc), there may no longer  be a strategic ormarketing focus to the activity.  Itappears to be driven by current user-generated ideas/queries/problems, andwhatever might catch the indispensable Ron's attention in the limited time he has. The car is nowbeing driven entirely by the 1% of tinkerers, and aimed purely at currentexperienced users.

ForGENOPRO to survive, I would beg that the focus return to attracting new users(or at least using the prism of their perspective, even if there isn't thewill, plan or funds to actually market the product) as Bogistad suggests in his opening post.  At least provide a product that we currentusers who love it can recommend to a new generation.  But to do this requires something verydifficult:  For programming-savvyusers & technicians to understand that the average consumer does not understand (nor wants tounderstand) their language.

To thisend, I would suggest that the moment when GENOPRO may have gone off the railswas when the latest version 2.5.4.1. was released with unusable Reportcapabilities.   All of a sudden, onecould no longer simply download, open, explore, enjoy.  One's first experience of the product(because after all, the Reports  -  the communication of one's work with theoutside world - are key) is frustration and bewilderment.  The 'Help' work-arounds are opaque (why doReport Formats have to be called 'Skins' anyway outside of the workshop?), andeven if they weren't, simply having to take remedial action at all sends amessage of failure.

I wouldbeg that any time or resources go exclusively into immediately releasing aversion with the appropriate 'Skins' already include (Yes, I was  able to follow Ron's instructions, but onlybecause, as a devoted user, I persevered. I wondered why it was so difficult tosimply add a complete Skins folder already containing these piecemeal updatesto the basic program download, as in previous versions? A download query could suggest where to store it. Thus opines theneophyte!).  This may not be the be-all& end-all, but I raise it as an example of how to prioritize any futuresupport.  Basics & Stability.  No more improvements. No more new 'Skins'. Wecan certainly live with what we have.

Ofcourse, the challenges remain thereafter: 1.Raising funds from current users (Ihereby pledge $1000 purely as payment for the pleasure GENOPRO has given meover the years), 2.Marketing to new users/markets (there are so many new Genealogicalwebsites & forums where one could invite 'taste-makers' to have fun with GENOPRO),and 3)Re-writing the underlying structure just enough to continue working withfuture Window's releases. None are easy.

Butfirst things, first.

Inclosing, I want to make sure I've primarily communicated:  There are more of us who adore this programthan you might think.  We don't visit theforums, if we can help it.  And weshouldn't have to.