Best Genealogy Software Programme??

[Paul McRory]

Hi,

Can I ask the assembled mass of experts here as to what is generally
considered to be the best (ie: most comprehensive, useful, fully-featured,
etc, etc)
genealogy software application?

....and before 50 people rush to their keyboards to say that "Oh, I use
Programme X and it's great!", I'm really after the one or two that are
generally thought highly of by the professionals, or at least those that do
'seriously-serious' genealogy. ..oh, and reasons why would be good to. No
sense in passing up the chance for a decent review, eh?

The reason I ask is that I've been using a small freebie application til
now; but with all the 'stuff' I seem to have collected I need a way to
store/file/arrange/present it to do it justice. Thanks all.

Paul

[John Feagin]

Paul,

If you are experienced with genealogy programs, the two best are Legacy and
The Master Genealogist. Legacy is free, however you can pay for the program
and get all the bells and whistles. TMG is excellent, however I found it a
bit muddled to use. If you are a beginner, I recommend Family Treemaker or
the Ancestry.com free family genealogy software.

I'm sure others will differ, however you asked for opinions and these are
mine.

John
"Paul McRory" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

Hi,

Can I ask the assembled mass of experts here as to what is generally
considered to be the best (ie: most comprehensive, useful, fully-featured,
etc, etc)
genealogy software application?

...and before 50 people rush to their keyboards to say that "Oh, I use
Programme X and it's great!", I'm really after the one or two that are
generally thought highly of by the professionals, or at least those that
do
'seriously-serious' genealogy. ..oh, and reasons why would be good to.
No
sense in passing up the chance for a decent review, eh?

The reason I ask is that I've been using a small freebie application til
now; but with all the 'stuff' I seem to have collected I need a way to
store/file/arrange/present it to do it justice. Thanks all.

Paul

[Neil Bell]

On Wed, 1 Dec 2004 23:41:06 -0000, "Paul McRory"
<[email protected]> wrote:

Hi,

Can I ask the assembled mass of experts here as to what is generally
considered to be the best (ie: most comprehensive, useful, fully-featured,
etc, etc)
genealogy software application?

Well, I feel that legacy and TMG are the best two. (I have both)

Both are full function and competent programs. TMG is complex, slower
and has a steep learning curve. Legacy is MUCH easier to learn, very
user-friendly, fast (no long waits like with TMG), and very rich in
features. I teach genealogy and always recommend Legacy as the first
choice.

Download the free version and try it out. upgrading to get the full
set of features is easy to do on-line and not very costly. It really
is a pleasure to use!

Neil


Neil Bell

"Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully
as when they do it from religious conviction."
-- Blaise Pascal

For e-mail replies remove the "notreally."

[Donna]

I find Legacy to the best for my needs. I tried the free download standard
version to see I liked the overall product, and then I upgraded to the
deluxe version for all the additional features I needed for maximum
advantages.

Donna


"Neil Bell" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

On Wed, 1 Dec 2004 23:41:06 -0000, "Paul McRory"
[email protected]> wrote:

Hi,

Can I ask the assembled mass of experts here as to what is generally
considered to be the best (ie: most comprehensive, useful, fully-featured,
etc, etc)
genealogy software application?

Well, I feel that legacy and TMG are the best two. (I have both)

Both are full function and competent programs. TMG is complex, slower
and has a steep learning curve. Legacy is MUCH easier to learn, very
user-friendly, fast (no long waits like with TMG), and very rich in
features. I teach genealogy and always recommend Legacy as the first
choice.

Download the free version and try it out. upgrading to get the full
set of features is easy to do on-line and not very costly. It really
is a pleasure to use!

Neil


Neil Bell

"Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully
as when they do it from religious conviction."
-- Blaise Pascal

For e-mail replies remove the "notreally."

[Dave Hinz]

On Wed, 1 Dec 2004 23:41:06 -0000, Paul McRory <[email protected]> wrote:

Hi,

Can I ask the assembled mass of experts here as to what is generally
considered to be the best (ie: most comprehensive, useful, fully-featured,
etc, etc)
genealogy software application?

Reunion, for the Mac. TMG for the PC. Gramps, for Linux/Unix/BSD/MacOSX.

The free options for Windows, PAF and Legacy, are excellent as well. The
popular one you'll find on the shelf at Best Buy, well, is common, but so
is the flu.

The reason I ask is that I've been using a small freebie application til
now; but with all the 'stuff' I seem to have collected I need a way to
store/file/arrange/present it to do it justice. Thanks all.

If you could tell us what kind of computer you're using, and what sort of
arranging/presentation/whatever you're after, we could probably provide
less vague answers. There are guru-level people here who run each of
them, and this group is surprisingly free of "my program is better than
your program" bashing, for the most part. It all depends on what your
main goals are.

Dave Hinz

[Dennis Lee Bieber]

On 2 Dec 2004 15:21:29 GMT, Dave Hinz <[email protected]> declaimed
the following in soc.genealogy.computing:

The free options for Windows, PAF and Legacy, are excellent as well. The
popular one you'll find on the shelf at Best Buy, well, is common, but so
is the flu.

At least the flu keeps you home where you can attempt to work on

the genealogy data <G>

{yes, I do have a negative bias WRT the "popular one" -- after seeing
the mess of data I obtained from my brother via GEDCOM}

--

==============================================================
[email protected] | Wulfraed Dennis Lee Bieber KD6MOG
[email protected] | Bestiaria Support Staff
==============================================================
Home Page: <http://www.dm.net/~wulfraed/
Overflow Page: <http://wlfraed.home.netcom.com/

[J. Hugh Sullivan]

On Wed, 1 Dec 2004 23:41:06 -0000, "Paul McRory"
<[email protected]> wrote:

Hi,

Can I ask the assembled mass of experts here as to what is generally
considered to be the best (ie: most comprehensive, useful, fully-featured,
etc, etc)
genealogy software application?

The best genealogy program is the one YOU like best after having tried
all of them.

Having said that I suggest you pay particular attention to TMG, Legacy
and RootsMagic before you choose. Each is a great program, each has
enthusiastic followers and each has outstanding support people.

If you don't want us to select your underwear or car why would you
want us to dictate your genealogy program?

Hugh

[Doug McDonald]

Paul McRory wrote:

Hi,

Can I ask the assembled mass of experts here as to what is generally
considered to be the best (ie: most comprehensive, useful, fully-featured,
etc, etc)
genealogy software application?

...and before 50 people rush to their keyboards to say that "Oh, I use
Programme X and it's great!", I'm really after the one or two that are
generally thought highly of by the professionals, or at least those that do
'seriously-serious' genealogy. ..oh, and reasons why would be good to.

The names have been given ... Legacy and TMG.

What do I use? Well, I have not truly tried TMG, I admit. I started with
Legacy and like it. But I also use ... FTM. Yes, I know, it sucks,
really, it does .... especially for data entry and reports. But those
ancestor and especially descendant trees are very useful.

FTM sucks big time. It's handling of names is abysmal. I had to write
a modestly complicated C program to massage the GEDCOM produced
by Legacy so the names and titles (I have lots of people with
no last name ... over 1000) come out right in the little boxes in FTM.
And there really is no hope of entering a complicated name in FTM
and having it come out right in a GEDCOM.

Doug McDonald

[Bob Melson]

On Thu, 02 Dec 2004 15:21:29 +0000, Dave Hinz wrote:

On Wed, 1 Dec 2004 23:41:06 -0000, Paul McRory <[email protected]> wrote:
Hi,

Can I ask the assembled mass of experts here as to what is generally
considered to be the best (ie: most comprehensive, useful, fully-featured,
etc, etc)
genealogy software application?

Reunion, for the Mac. TMG for the PC. Gramps, for Linux/Unix/BSD/MacOSX.

snip

Dave Hinz

I'd add GeneWeb to Dave's list for Linux/Unix/etc., above. Has pretty
comprehensive data entry screens and a reasonable range of display
options. Data display can be tweaked by editing what amounts to an INI
file, plus it will operate as a genealogy-only web-server if you wish.

Bob Melson


--
Robert G. Melson | Nothing is more terrible than
Rio Grande MicroSolutions | ignorance in action.
El Paso, Texas | Goethe
melsonr(at)earthlink(dot)net

[Paul McRory]

Er, thanks for that, Hugh...I think.

Not sure what you were getting at; talking about my underwear, an' all.
Bein' a bit too random for me there, fella. I wasn't asking you to make my
decisions for me; just to recommend the better ones that are worth a look.

Thanks anyway.

Paul

Can I ask the assembled mass of experts here as to what is generally
considered to be the best (ie: most comprehensive, useful, fully-featured,
etc, etc)
genealogy software application?

The best genealogy program is the one YOU like best after having tried
all of them.

Having said that I suggest you pay particular attention to TMG, Legacy
and RootsMagic before you choose. Each is a great program, each has
enthusiastic followers and each has outstanding support people.

If you don't want us to select your underwear or car why would you
want us to dictate your genealogy program?

Hugh

[f/f george]

On Thu, 02 Dec 2004 12:50:35 -0600, Doug McDonald
<mcdonald@SnPoAM_scs.uiuc.edu> wrote:

Paul McRory wrote:
Hi,

Can I ask the assembled mass of experts here as to what is generally
considered to be the best (ie: most comprehensive, useful, fully-featured,
etc, etc)
genealogy software application?

...and before 50 people rush to their keyboards to say that "Oh, I use
Programme X and it's great!", I'm really after the one or two that are
generally thought highly of by the professionals, or at least those that do
'seriously-serious' genealogy. ..oh, and reasons why would be good to.

The names have been given ... Legacy and TMG.

What do I use? Well, I have not truly tried TMG, I admit. I started with
Legacy and like it. But I also use ... FTM. Yes, I know, it sucks,
really, it does .... especially for data entry and reports. But those
ancestor and especially descendant trees are very useful.

FTM sucks big time. It's handling of names is abysmal. I had to write
a modestly complicated C program to massage the GEDCOM produced
by Legacy so the names and titles (I have lots of people with
no last name ... over 1000) come out right in the little boxes in FTM.
And there really is no hope of entering a complicated name in FTM
and having it come out right in a GEDCOM.

Doug McDonald
Might want to think about marketing that small program Doug!

[Edward A. Feustel]

"Doug McDonald" <mcdonald@SnPoAM_scs.uiuc.edu> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

Paul McRory wrote:
Hi,

Can I ask the assembled mass of experts here as to what is generally
considered to be the best (ie: most comprehensive, useful,
fully-featured, etc, etc)
genealogy software application?

...and before 50 people rush to their keyboards to say that "Oh, I use
Programme X and it's great!", I'm really after the one or two that are
generally thought highly of by the professionals, or at least those that
do 'seriously-serious' genealogy. ..oh, and reasons why would be good
to.

The names have been given ... Legacy and TMG.

What do I use? Well, I have not truly tried TMG, I admit. I started with
Legacy and like it. But I also use ... FTM. Yes, I know, it sucks,
really, it does .... especially for data entry and reports. But those
ancestor and especially descendant trees are very useful.

FTM sucks big time. It's handling of names is abysmal. I had to write
a modestly complicated C program to massage the GEDCOM produced
by Legacy so the names and titles (I have lots of people with
no last name ... over 1000) come out right in the little boxes in FTM.
And there really is no hope of entering a complicated name in FTM
and having it come out right in a GEDCOM.

Doug McDonald

You might well consider a relatively new program. I like its interface and

the
fact that the developer is very responsive: Genbox.

Each program has its good points and bad points. Why not collect those
appropriate
for your platform and learn which one permits export to all the others (at
the level of detail that you wish to use). Input your data to that one and
export to the others.

Regards,
Ed

[Paul Blair]

Edward A. Feustel wrote:

"Doug McDonald" <mcdonald@SnPoAM_scs.uiuc.edu> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

Paul McRory wrote:

Hi,

Can I ask the assembled mass of experts here as to what is generally
considered to be the best (ie: most comprehensive, useful,
fully-featured, etc, etc)
genealogy software application?

...and before 50 people rush to their keyboards to say that "Oh, I use
Programme X and it's great!", I'm really after the one or two that are
generally thought highly of by the professionals, or at least those that
do 'seriously-serious' genealogy. ..oh, and reasons why would be good
to.

The names have been given ... Legacy and TMG.

What do I use? Well, I have not truly tried TMG, I admit. I started with
Legacy and like it. But I also use ... FTM. Yes, I know, it sucks,
really, it does .... especially for data entry and reports. But those
ancestor and especially descendant trees are very useful.

FTM sucks big time. It's handling of names is abysmal. I had to write
a modestly complicated C program to massage the GEDCOM produced
by Legacy so the names and titles (I have lots of people with
no last name ... over 1000) come out right in the little boxes in FTM.
And there really is no hope of entering a complicated name in FTM
and having it come out right in a GEDCOM.

Doug McDonald


You might well consider a relatively new program. I like its interface and
the
fact that the developer is very responsive: Genbox.

Each program has its good points and bad points. Why not collect those
appropriate
for your platform and learn which one permits export to all the others (at
the level of detail that you wish to use). Input your data to that one and
export to the others.

Regards,
Ed


There is one other program that a purist might like. Go to

http://www.family-historian.co.uk/ to see Family Historian, which has
few pretty screens, but the layout would delight anyone into databases.

There is a trial version available. It allows any size database to be
tried, but is crippled to 100 people to try out the various reporting
things. This is pretty useless, as you can't really get any idea of how
well/badly things work.

I have no connection to the company...

Paul Blair
Canberra

[J. Hugh Sullivan]

On Thu, 2 Dec 2004 21:04:35 -0000, "Paul McRory"
<[email protected]> wrote:

Er, thanks for that, Hugh...I think.

Not sure what you were getting at; talking about my underwear, an' all.
Bein' a bit too random for me there, fella. I wasn't asking you to make my
decisions for me; just to recommend the better ones that are worth a look.

Thanks anyway.

Paul

Just trying to add a little humor - I guess it lost something in the
translation.

My point was to at least try the three programs I suggested. No one
can decided which program you might like the best but we can recommend
a number of them for you to try.

Hugh

[Susan D. Young]

Hello Paul and all,

I am a professional in this field and hands-down, I use PAF! I am not a
member of the LDS church and take no kick-backs for promoting their products
but this program is so beautifully simple yet so easily expandable to fit
just about every type of data entry need. Yes, I have beta-tested a number
of genealogy data storage programs (TMG, Heredis, FamilyTreeMaker and
Legacy) and still can't find one that can beat PAF on every score that's
important to me. It may lack an aesthetically pleasing appearance, but
that's not my focus, at any rate.

As a professional I need a program that I know can facilitate or produce the
following results:

1. superfast data entry - this is foremost on my "most wanted" list of
features - the program has to be fast and easy to deal with and the entry
screens clean and clear

2. relatively easy deletion of incorrect data - ditto sources, citations,
notes

3. relatively easy movement of individuals from one incorrect family group
to another correct family group - ditto sources, citations, notes. Part of
my job involves cleaning up some pretty badly researched family lines and
separating the dross from the gold.

4. permits as many sources, comments, citations, notes, and breakdown of
note categories as possible

5. permits addition of custom events and people for particular events, such
as witnesses on marriages, bondsmen on marriage licences, attendees at a
Quaker marriage ceremony or Jewish bar mitzvah

6. produce clean reports - the usual lineage and family groups as well as a
complete range of customizable focus lists - i.e. a group of research tasks
that yet needs to be performed.

7. PAF is free if downloaded and rock-bottom cheap if purchased on CD. Add
the PAF Companion - similarly rock-bottom cheap - and you have expanded your
possibilities for different types of lineage, ancestral and descendant chart
layouts.

But, you may also want to take a review of the FAQs I have posted on my
website concerning some aspects of the PAF program. Follow this link:
http://www.ancestrysolutions.com/FAQPAF.html

This is just one professional's opinion, but, I hope you have found it
informative.

Best wishes,
Susan D. Young
[email protected]
http://www.ancestrysolutions.com


----- Original Message -----
From: "Paul McRory" <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Wednesday, December 01, 2004 6:41 PM
Subject: Best Genealogy Software Programme??

Hi,

Can I ask the assembled mass of experts here as to what is generally
considered to be the best (ie: most comprehensive, useful, fully-featured,
etc, etc)
genealogy software application?

...and before 50 people rush to their keyboards to say that "Oh, I use
Programme X and it's great!", I'm really after the one or two that are
generally thought highly of by the professionals, or at least those that
do
'seriously-serious' genealogy. ..oh, and reasons why would be good to.
No
sense in passing up the chance for a decent review, eh?

The reason I ask is that I've been using a small freebie application til
now; but with all the 'stuff' I seem to have collected I need a way to
store/file/arrange/present it to do it justice. Thanks all.

Paul

______________________________

[J. Hugh Sullivan]

On Fri, 03 Dec 2004 13:17:03 +1100, Paul Blair <[email protected]>
wrote:

There is one other program that a purist might like. Go to
http://www.family-historian.co.uk/ to see Family Historian, which has
few pretty screens, but the layout would delight anyone into databases.

I'm headed there in a moment to try it out - but I have a question. If
the program is so good why are you looking for another?

There is a trial version available. It allows any size database to be
tried, but is crippled to 100 people to try out the various reporting
things. This is pretty useless, as you can't really get any idea of how
well/badly things work.

One presumes trial programs are crippled or time limited. I do a GED
on 1direct line and limit it to 100 people or less - then one can do
all the evealution he wishes.

Thanx for the hint. It's downloaded.

Hugh

[J. Hugh Sullivan]

On Fri, 03 Dec 2004 15:06:08 GMT, [email protected] (J. Hugh
Sullivan) wrote:

On Fri, 03 Dec 2004 13:17:03 +1100, Paul Blair <[email protected]
wrote:

There is one other program that a purist might like. Go to
http://www.family-historian.co.uk/ to see Family Historian, which has
few pretty screens, but the layout would delight anyone into databases.

I'm headed there in a moment to try it out - but I have a question. If
the program is so good why are you looking for another?

There is a trial version available. It allows any size database to be
tried, but is crippled to 100 people to try out the various reporting
things. This is pretty useless, as you can't really get any idea of how
well/badly things work.

One presumes trial programs are crippled or time limited. I do a GED
on 1direct line and limit it to 100 people or less - then one can do
all the evealution he wishes.

Thanx for the hint. It's downloaded.

Hugh

My first problem is that the program only has an "individual" screen
for navigation - it needs pedigree and family screens.to navigate
easily.

Hugh

[Donna]

Go here for a comparison of the features of the top 10 genealogy
programs::::

http://www.genealogy-software-review.com/index.html

Also some tips on choosing genealogy software::::
http://www.genealogy-software-review.co ... tml#anchor


You have lots of choices. As many others have said, think about your own
needs, and then choose accordingly.

Donna

[Neil Paterson]

Paul Blair wrote:

Edward A. Feustel wrote:

"Doug McDonald" <mcdonald@SnPoAM_scs.uiuc.edu> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

Paul McRory wrote:

Hi,

Can I ask the assembled mass of experts here as to what is generally
considered to be the best (ie: most comprehensive, useful,
fully-featured, etc, etc)
genealogy software application?

...and before 50 people rush to their keyboards to say that "Oh, I
use Programme X and it's great!", I'm really after the one or two
that are generally thought highly of by the professionals, or at
least those that do 'seriously-serious' genealogy. ..oh, and
reasons why would be good to.


The names have been given ... Legacy and TMG.

What do I use? Well, I have not truly tried TMG, I admit. I started with
Legacy and like it. But I also use ... FTM. Yes, I know, it sucks,
really, it does .... especially for data entry and reports. But those
ancestor and especially descendant trees are very useful.

FTM sucks big time. It's handling of names is abysmal. I had to write
a modestly complicated C program to massage the GEDCOM produced
by Legacy so the names and titles (I have lots of people with
no last name ... over 1000) come out right in the little boxes in FTM.
And there really is no hope of entering a complicated name in FTM
and having it come out right in a GEDCOM.

Doug McDonald


You might well consider a relatively new program. I like its interface
and the
fact that the developer is very responsive: Genbox.

Each program has its good points and bad points. Why not collect those
appropriate
for your platform and learn which one permits export to all the others
(at the level of detail that you wish to use). Input your data to
that one and export to the others.

Regards,
Ed

There is one other program that a purist might like. Go to
http://www.family-historian.co.uk/ to see Family Historian, which has
few pretty screens, but the layout would delight anyone into databases.

There is a trial version available. It allows any size database to be
tried, but is crippled to 100 people to try out the various reporting
things. This is pretty useless, as you can't really get any idea of how
well/badly things work.

I have no connection to the company...

Paul Blair
Canberra

Family Historian gets my vote too. I've been using it for about 8
months now and it does everything I need. It is a far more powerful
package than it looks at first sight and I haven't yet tried out many of
the functions it provides.

Its native file format is GEDCOM so importing/exporting to other
packages is easy.

The current version to buy is 2.1 but an upgrade to version 2.3.1 is
available FREE from their web site. This upgrade includes an excellent
Narrative Report feature.

One last thing that makes it unique among the other big genealogy
packages out there, is that it is developed in the UK (no apologies for
the flag waving).

I also have no connection to the company, I'm just a very satisfied user.

Regards,
Neil

[John]

Just thought I would add my voice to this thread and sing the praises of Family
Historian. I have used TMG and still have it as a back up, there are one or two
features I like, but FH is my tool of choice. Easy to use, great backup and
users group and as has been mentioned before a British product, so purpose
built for UK genealogists, no requests for State or zip code etc!
I have no connection to the company, just another very satisfied customer.