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Genealogy Software

Okay, so I must admit that I do not use any genealogy software right now. I once had Family Tree Maker around 2004 but when my computer crashed and I lost all of the data (thankfully I had backed up everything with paper due to me being very paranoid) I just couldn't find the time to retype everything. It just sounded like such a pain in the butt.

So, because of this, genealogy software is one of those areas of genealogy I am quite uninformed about. Many of you are experts and some are novices or somewhere in between. If you have used genealogy software I want to hear from you. What are your experiences? What is the best software to use for genealogy and why? What is the easiest software to use? Prices compared to quality? Etc. I am thinking about purchasing some genealogy software to be able to print out reports again, etc., but want to be a well informed consumer before doing so.

I have posted this same description in the forum section. Please go to: http://www.genealogywise.com/forum/topics/genealogy-software or you can reply to this blog to post your answers.

Thank you all in advance. I look forward to reading your responses.

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Comment by Susan Fairchild Barry on August 7, 2009 at 2:21am: I use Rootsmagic, although I also have Legacy, but prefer Rootsmagic. It has a "2go" feature- load program & files onto a flash thumb drive so you can take with you without having a computer.But just like organization, there are many systems. You need to look at several to see which is best for you I still have tons of data in the surname notebooks on my bookshelves, as I started when we had touse paper & pencil, and know the town the ancestor came from and look at the reel of microfilm page by page to find them.... It is taking me a while to convert everything to computer, cuz there's always more research to do!

Comment by Lynn Turner on August 6, 2009 at 3:27pm: Do some test driving...most software companies allow you to download a trial version. I would also do some Google searches for 'Genealogy Software Comparison' you will find all sorts of reviews, scorecards, and other articles related to the topic.

To get started I would take out your pen and paper and make a list of features you want, then start looking. I would also recommend listening to the Family Roots Radio podcast (couple years old, but still applies) titled: Maximizing Your Genealogy Software

Good luck and have fun!!

Comment by Neil Henwood on August 6, 2009 at 10:34am: I have got The Deluxe version of Legacy 7 and also Family Tree Maker 2009. I tend to use FTM the most as Ancestry is the main site I use and it ties into it. Legacy is good though and if you just want some basic software the free version is quite good.

Comment by tami osmer glatz on August 5, 2009 at 10:18pm: Oh my gosh - a real paper and pencil genealogist?! Wow. Computer crashes tend to reinforce the importance of backups, don't they? I keep my genealogy file backed up on a flash drive, and use Mozy.com for my entire hard drive as well, so I can sleep soundly at night! But in regards to your original question - I definitely recommend Legacy 7. Its simple to use, and has a million fantastic features (you can read about some of them in the GW group for Legacy 7) but one of the most unique is that you can enter your source citations using the professionally accepted standards of Evidence Explained! by Elizabeth Shown Mills. You can try out the basic version for free, but I would definitely pay for the upgrade to the Deluxe version. Another of my favorite things is that you can customize your index views and have women listed alphabetically by both their maiden AND married names. Anyway, thats my 2cents!

Genealogy Software

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