Family Historian User Group

Is Family Historian likely to work on Windows Virtual Desktop?

See https://blog.eogn.com/2019/10/10/it-is- ... ou-know-it

Probably, but it doesn't seem to be available to consumers yet unless you have a very unusual licence on your home PC.

As Helen says "probably", but WVD seems to be marketed at business enterprises at the moment and the pricing formula is rather complex. However, it seems clear it will become available to the general public eventually in much the same way as Office 365 Online is rented. It is bit like returning to the days of mainframes with dumb terminals.

One big advantage is that Windows only products such as FH will run on any platform: Windows, Apple Mac, iPad, Android, Chromebook, etc.

One big drawback is you will need a fast Internet connection, so it probably won't work at all on your laptop in a graveyard.

Amazon sell a similar service already but when I investigated it, it looked more complex...

I thunk if I was to go the route of a cloud-based computer, it would be to do the data-mining associated with DNA --downloads/analysis can take days -- and keep the routine stuff locally.

Whilst on a technical level Family Historian may work under WVD, I wonder if we could fall foul of our license if Calico Pie decided to keep strictly to the terms,

It says -

You may not rent, lease, license, distribute or otherwise transfer the Software or your Licence to use it without the express written consent of Calico Pie Limited. You may not let anyone else have or copy any registration keys assigned to you for the Software. You may not distribute, publish, share, or in any way make public any registration keys assigned to you or anyone else for the Software.

It seems that access to software on a particular virtual machine is restricted to the specific uploader, so it can be argued that the software will not be made public - though a pedant might consider that anything not held only on a private, personal computer is therefore public

Perhaps in time a simple solution would be for software providers to themselves put their programs online, and update their licences - as presumably Microsoft have done with their latest versions of Word etc. I haven't gone down that route, as I still use elderly personal versions which suit my requirements perfectly well.

As an aside, it seems that the licence also means that should anybody wish to dispose of the software and licence to somebody else they would need formal agreement from Calico Pie - though I suspect that this would be only a formality.

The article I linked to suggests that many years hence Microsoft may withdraw the current Windows 10 that we install on our physical computers, and only offer a pay for version in the cloud. They will have to wait until almost everyone has a stable high speed internet connection at home which could be a decade or more away. I must say that my BT FTTP service is absolutely wonderful -- more speed than I ever need and continuous rock solid stability for almost four years now.

That being the case, I am sure that Calico Pie will have plenty of time to adjust to the new scenario.

The article says that Windows Virtual Desktop is available right now, so I am wondering who will be first to take the plunge to see if Family Historian in its current format works on WVD?

A high speed Internet connection at home is not much help for someone travelling around with a laptop, tablet, etc.
I suspect that is why WVD is currently being marketed to businesses whose premises have high speed Internet.
WVD will only be feasible for personal portable devices when high speed Internet is available almost everywhere.
My experience when away from home is the Internet speed is poor, even in hotels, apartments, holiday cottages, etc.

That is why I suggested a decade or more away. Make it a couple of decades or more away for mobile and universal coverage. But the eventual speed of rollout of FTTP and 5G may surprise us.

I agree that the current WVD offerings appear to be aimed at businesses, not the general public yet. I am still thinking that some brave sole may try Family Historian on WVD sooner or later.

Thinking laterally, isn't everything described already available to a great extent; and to anyone who wants it except they call it:

- Android (plus Google Apps + Local/Cloud Storage)
- iOS (plus Apple Store, plus Local/iCloud)
- Microsoft Go (plus Windows Store, plus Local/OneDrive storage)
- etc.

All have Genealogy Apps in their respective Stores and would no doubt accept more for an 'appropriate fee', if commercial.

Then there is:

- Ancestry
- FamilySearch (the only 'free' option in this category)
- FindMyPast
- MyHeritage

All of which can work via either a browser interface and/or specific Desktop/Android/iOS App.

Then there are those that work entirely through a browser interface:

- WikiTree (which seems to attract at least as much online criticism as praise)
- Others (which are now mostly owned by by one of the larger 'corporations')

No-one needs much in the way of a desktop/laptop environment if they really don't want/need one; they can even use a 'Smart TV'.

Mervyn

Mervyn,

I use a lot more than those tools -- If I went that route, I would have to give up on Scrivener, Scapple, Ancestral Sources, Family Historian + plugins, all my DNA analysis tools, all my website development tools, Help file development tools, my scanner... and those are just the things I use for genealogy-related activities.

The suggestions you're making are a long way off satisfying my needs (and that's before I take into account all the other things I do on my PC).

Helen,

I'm not making any suggestions, simply demonstrating that for the average computer user/family history researcher it is quite possible to carry out the mass of their work without anything more than a 'terminal' with internet access and, of course, the wherewithal to pay for the appropriate subscriptions. There are also other alternatives to many of the packages you mention, but perhaps not to your personal liking.

Basically, as I said, it's an alternative approach that is already available for someone who doesn't want/need a full computing environment but, yes, they might have to move from some of their existing software tools. They don't have to wait for the future, because it's already here in some form.

Mervyn

I understand that Mervyn, but I suspect there is so such thing as an 'average' family history researcher.