Family History / Genealogy Software

[yn9man]

Not sure if this topic has been discussed previously.

I am looking for personal opinions, critiques and information about the various currently available family tree software packages.  My intentions are to download the information onto my / a website. I intend to eventually add pictures. Since  I am computer challenged ease of use needs to be one of my main considerations.   

What are the most important characteristics I need to be concerned about? Are all software programs created equal? What makes one software package better than another? Is cost an important factor?  What is the number one factor I need to consider?

Thanks for your responses.

yn9man

[KathMc]

yn9man,

I can't give you any technical mumbo jumbo because I am not very computer literate either, but I have Family Tree Maker and must say, I have been very happy with it. It has proven, for me, very easy to use and meets my needs. I can add pictures and documents easily and maneuver around with no problem. It allows you to print out any number of reports. I got mine at a price club (S**'s  ). It was inexpensive and included a year's subscription to Ancestry, so it has definitely paid for itself. A nice feature is when you are online and running the program, there is a button to push next to names that then brings up references to this person on Ancestry and you can download the source information at the push of a button. I find that very nice.

I am sure many others have many different opinions. This is just my very uneducated one.

Kath

[RJ_Paton]

This thread
http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,158637.0.html
lists many of the previous discussions regarding Genealogy Software.
there are almost as many opinions as there are Rootschatters each stoutly defending their own choice. At the end of the day it comes down to personal preferences and you may wish to try obtaining demos of the different programs and work on them to give a fell of the program.

[downside]

What is the number one factor I need to consider?

Obsolescence.

When you buy a piece of software, it will not last forever.  FTM seem to bring out a new version every year and their upgrades are not usually free.  Each genealogy program works in its own native format.  Each may have slightly different datafields that are unique to their product.

You can exchange all the major datafields by exporting it as a GEDCOM file but certain data fields unique to FTM may not be exported in the process.  You may be able to send your native name.ftw file to someone but they have to have your current version of FTM in order to open it.  If you have FTM version 6.0 and someone sends you a name.ftw created using FTM-2005 then you will not be able to open it.

So buying genealogy software means that you are locked into a costly upgrade and compatibility situation.  Of course you could type everything into a simple text program like WordPad.  A simple text document is the only thing that is likely to remain static in the years to come.

downside

[RJ_Paton]

Each genealogy program works in its own native format.

Not totally accurate (just 99%  )  - Family Historian for one uses standard gedcom as its native format.

Standard text will remain fairly unaltered in times to come (in theory anyway) but spreadsheets are another method of recording the information which are reasonably future proof (most programs of this type contain an element of backwards compatibility for businesses.

The bottom line is that when looking at a genealogy program today you need to look at one which can both read and export gedcom files and this will give a reasonable degree of safety as regards future proofing

[eddunc]

http://www.legacyfamilytree.com/
Try the above site yn9man the standard version is free to download

Look here for results achieved http://duncan-family-tree.rootschat.net/

Eddie

[Berlin-Bob]

A lot of FH software firms offer free, limited demo versions, which you can download from their websites.

A good trick is to take a small(ish) GEDCOM file and to import it into as many free demo versions as you can find.

This gives you a chance to compare results, and when you find one you like, you can decide whether to pay for the "real" /de Luxe/Premium etc version, which usually has lots more bells and whistles.

The disadvantage of this method, is that it's usually the charts and reports that you want to see, that are only in the payed-for version.

Bob

[Nadine Moore]

I also use Family Tree maker and, whilst it is a good programme, it has one drawback in my opinion. You cannot download info from it into your own website, they want you to set up a site with them.
That said, you can save the reports (I usually use PDF format) and then combile them into your website.

As has been said previously, it is ultimately down to what you want the programme to do that matters. BB made a good suggestion re trying many programmes.

Also, check the disks that come with some of the Family History magazines. Your Family Tree mag, issue 47 had a full version of Legacy v6SE on it. PM me if you are interested, I have the disk and could mail it to you.

dinie

[East London]

hello Bob ta for tht