Which Software?

there seems to be an abundance of Software programs out there for Building
and recording your family tree. I have read reviews and still I can't
decide which may be best for my purposes.

I am NOT looking for recommendations but an idea of your thoughts, through

Peter Goodey...

soc.genealogy.computing would be better for your needs.

experience, as to which my be the most effective for a very amateur
genealogist.

Charani...

What is useful and effective for me, needn't necessarily be the best
for you. The only real way to find out what suits you best is to try
various different programs to see what suits you best. Legacy and PAF
are free. I believe there are free trial versions of other programs
as well.

FWIW I use Legacy (free version) which is very easy and
straightforward to use. I found it very intuitive. My 10 year old
dau offered to help input some data and was able to do it without any
instruction from me, so that'll give you some idea of easy of use. So

Allen...

Somehow that doesn't surprise me. I've been dealing with computers for
51 years, so I don't have much trouble, but my age 13 granddaughter and
age 9 grandson know much more about using computers than does my
daughter (their mother). I was surprised to learn that my granddaughter,
in 7th grade, is taking keyboarding as a required course; she didn't
really need it, having been using computers for half of her life.

far Legacy has done everything I've asked of it so far. It also has a
help file which really is helpful.

Steve Hayes...

Legacy.

But the discussion might be pmore appropriate in soc.genealogy.computing

Paul Wilkins (Derby)

singhals...

My experience -- I've tried a number of "locally popular" programs but I
It was designed specifically so your great-aunt Tillie would use it
... that means it's fairly obvious where things go, and there's a huge
user-base around, and a mail-list to help.

Legacy Family Tree is pretty similar, has a mail-list. Like PAF it is a
lineage-based program.

The first thing you check for is, does it import/export GEDCOM. Which
version of GED is fairly irrelevant, but you don't want to type data in
more than once or twice. (g)

D/l PAF and Legacy and play with each to see which one you like.

Or d/l the fully-functional test version of The Master Genealogist

Joe Makowiec...

[snip]

world's *BEST* data analysis tool. Those two facts allow you to compile
cross-reference lists of how many weddings Jeau Blieux attended or whose
deeds he witnessed, which some folk find contain pointers for identity.

Brother's Keeper is shareware (try it, if you like it, you pay for it)
and is well-thought of by most folks.

ALL those are US-centric though and may or may not fit your needs.

Joe Makowiec...

The Master Genealogist (TMG) has a UK edition; see:

It includes things like UK-oriented source templates and UK English as
the standard language.

trevor...

............ and also a UK dealer specialising in supplying and
supporting family history software, including the excellent TMG UK
Edition ................

Trevor Rix
TWR Computing
Suppliers of Software and Computers for Family Historians
Clapstile Farm, Alpheton, Sudbury, Suffolk CO10 9BN, United Kingdom
telephone 01284 828271 international +44 1284 828271
sales@twrcomputing.co.uk support@twrcomputing.co.uk

Someone else will have to discuss the English-, Irish-, or Scots-
centric programs because I know nothing about those.

Chad Hanna...

I suggest that it is worthwhile using one of the free programs e.g.
Personal Ancestral File to begin with - to get some feel of what is
important to you.

Things you need to look at:
Ease of use (Family Tree Maker is reputedly good for this, but others
e.g. RootsMagic are also supposed to be good).

Generating of web pages (FTM is very restrictive, others are more
flexible)

Handling of sources (Legacy appears good here, but the old GEDCOM
standard isn't so transfer of sources between programs is often
problematical). How you want to handle sources (and you should) is
important. Do you just want to cite your source, or do you want to
include the text of your source. If you want to include the text of your
source (perhaps so you can have a read-only copy on your PDA) then you
need to be able to share that source between several events/individuals.

Handling of images, etc. - as I recall FTM includes them in the database
which then grows quite large - I've seen 47Mbytes, other programs link
to them which means that can get separated - e.g. when sharing with
others.

Integration with 3rd party programs - programs built on a common
database allows other programs to add value more easily - Legacy and The
Master Genealogist perhaps.

Some programs like Legacy (or the GenSmarts add-on) have a research
guide that will point you in the direction of useful web
sites/resources. I would guess that FTM has a similar, but less
independent facility.

Support - you may be better buying from a specialist supplier rather
than online or from a high street shop. (The Bracknell Fair on Sunday
29th Jan is a good opportunity) You should then have someone to phone.
Similarly, if you're a member of a group or FHS, it may be a good idea
to go with the flow so you can share any problems and tips with others
who use the same program. Of course, the Internet provides other forums
for interaction.

All seem to suffer from the lack of a satisfactory common data model. I
would like to record the documents and events mentioned therein, group
mentions of people into what I assert are individuals and build the
links (families) between those individuals. While Family Historian gets
good reports, it is based on GEDCOM - I feel that basing a program on an
outdated data transfer standard is not the way forward.

This is one of the things I really need to look at in more detail as I
look for a replacement for Generations, but I already know Family Tree
Maker isn't it!

Paul...

Many thanks for your advice everyone. I shall indeed look into the one
that suits me best.