Please print and read the text below very carefully before downloading the program!
NOTE: This is beta software and may not work as designed!

Click here to download GenDesigner Beta 1, 3.01.05l (2.39 MB) released February 4, 2004.  Several minor bugs were fixed in the new version (especially the problem with moving labels in the Hebrew version); however, you may want to test the pre-release of Beta 2 (English interface only).  Please note that only Beta 1 generates the free 180-day license that can be used by both versions.  Please click the link to the Beta 2 page and read the instructions.

• GenDesigner 3 will not install on Windows 3.1 and Windows 95. While almost all of the functions will work on Windows 98 and Windows ME, users should think about upgrading to Windows 2000 and preferably to Windows XP.  Microsoft is going to phase-out support for Windows 98 soon, just like support for Windows 95 was terminated last year.

• GenDesigner 3.x supports 16 languages; however, if your Windows installation doesn’t support Central European, Cyrillic, Hebrew, and Turkish scripts, only Western European menus will be installed.

• Upon installation, you will be automatically granted a 180-day license to use our software. If you would like to uninstall GenDesigner 3, please use only the Control Panel/Add or Remove Programs applet. DO NOT manipulate the registry and DO NOT delete the Program Files\GenDesigner folder, because you will be unable to install future versions of GenDesigner 3.  Until all features will be implemented, we will be issuing free refreshers of the program about every 3 months.  Each "refresher" will extend your free license by additional 3 months.

• The licensing subsystem requires write permission to the "Program Files\GenDesigner" folder. If you use GenDesigner on Windows NT, 2000, or XP and this folder is on a NTFS partition, the GenDesigner Installer will set these permissions for all users. However, if your computer is a member of a domain, these settings may be overwritten by your domain policy. If the license shows that it is "expired or invalid", please ask your domain administrator to grant write permissions for you to the folder mentioned above.

• There are no custom “views” available in this version, there is no reporting, and you will not be able to generate HTML pages. These functions, familiar to users of GenDesigner 2, will be implemented in the future beta releases of GenDesigner (a preview of Beta 2 is available).  Nevertheless, you may export your GenDesigner 3 database to the GEDCOM (*.ged) format and import it into many GEDCOM-compatible genealogy programs to display and report the data in your favorite format.  Please remember not to select the MS UNICODE version of GEDCOM upon exporting, as most popular genealogy programs were written a long time ago (in the Windows 3.1 pre-historic era!) and do not understand this format.

• A preview of Public Beta 2 is is currently available.  It added an expanded database taking the full advantage of the GEDCOM 5.5 standard and includes many advanced features not found in other genealogy programs.  Reporting (including HTML - generation of web pages), and customizable views will be implemented fully in the Beta 3 version.

• At present, there are 16 implemented language interfaces in GenDesigner: Czech, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Hebrew, Italian, Norwegian (Bokmål), Polish, Portuguese (Brazil), Russian, Spanish (Latin America), Swedish, Turkish, and Ukrainian (Arabic is coming soon).  If you are interested in helping us with development of more language versions, please contact us and we will send you detailed instructions on how to join the team of our translators.

• GenDesigner Setup uses the Windows Installer (MSI), a Microsoft application installation and management service.  It is included with Windows ME, 2000, and XP, but not with Windows NT, 95, and 98.  To verify if you have Windows Installer on your computer, go to Start/Search (or Find)/Files or Folders and enter to search for msiexec.exe.  If you do not have this service installed on your computer, you should download and install the newest Windows NT, 2000, and XP version of MSI from here and for Windows 95, 98, and ME from here.

There is no Help available for this version; however, the user interface should be simple and intuitive, especially for users of GenDesigner 2. Some important hints are listed below:

• To move the tree on the screen, you may use the scrollbars as well as select the “Pan” tool from the toolbar and move the tree using the mouse.

• You may use the mouse wheel to zoom the tree in addition to the zoom slider and buttons on the toolbar.

• Arranging the tree automatically, especially when it contains a lot of individuals, is not always practical. You may use the grid option (see Tools/Options) and arrange the tree by hand.

• The ”Names window” has an "Advanced sort" option. It is available by right-clicking the toolbar of this window.

• The date and time will be displayed according to regional settings in "Tools/Options/Language for calendar, sorting, and other operations" and the format chosen in your computer’s settings in Control Panel/Date and Time as well as in Regional Settings.  If you are using Windows 98 or Windows ME and the year is displayed as two digits, please check your "short date" settings in Control Panel Date & Time.

• For databases, pictures, etc., GenDesigner 3 uses preferably the My Documents\GenDesigner folder. Thus, you should save the database (tree), pictures, and other documents into this folder.

• GenDesigner 3 incorporates the concept of “family”, structured entry dialog for the date, and the concept of “shared” notes. While this might seem complicated for users of GenDesigner 2, there are very many advantages of these new features, e.g., enabling real-time quality control.

Click here to download GenDesigner Beta 1, 3.01.05l (2.39 MB)