I need some advice on choosing a Family History Program

[Kazza]

Matty,

I am pleased. 

I would be lost without RootsMagic's ToDo feature.  Helps me keep track of what I have looked for and where. 

Kazza.

[Badger]

A good thread this one..... I too have tried various ones, Started with Reunion 2 many years back then moved to Generations, Family Tree maker.

My preference if the data is going to be standalone would have to be http://www.familytreelegends.com/ a very nicely put together peice of software.

However, with finding all these new members of my family, they all started wanting to see what information I had & therefore I looked to the web - but I didn't want to be doubling up on data imput etc.

I then came across http://lythgoes.net/genealogy/software.php.
This is a fantastic  -  everything is done on the web & infact I find it better then alot of standalone software. Fell free to check out my site & see for your self.
www dawesfamily co.uk website lapsed 2013

 

[Ticker]

Just in case anyone is interested, the Christmas edition of Your Family Tree magazine (price £4.99) has a free copy of Family Tree Maker 2005 Starter Edition.  Apprently its a full working version and not a trial.  Might be worth a try.

[bonfirebrian]

Hello,
I'm new to this, would like help /opinions if you wouldn't mind. As a new starter how helpful are the various internet packages. ie; RootsMagic 2 Platinum Edition and others of the like?
Would appreciate any answers or opinions.

Regards
Brian

[casalguidi]

Hi Brian

I've been researching 16+ years and been an avid user of the net for the last 5 but I have never heard of the package you mention?  Is it a program for charting information?

I have family tree maker (an old one without all the extra info CDs) and lately have used the free download from legacy:

http://www.legacyfamilytree.com/

which serves my purpose well.  No doubt people will say that there are better packages out there but I personally find this adequate.

Casalguidi

[gennig]

Hi Brian

There are quite a number of Genealogy software packages available.  Before purchasing any package you should try and check out the demo versions available on the web.

I started with a small software package and as my family grew I have needed to increase the database size, at present i'm using Brothers Keeper 6 I find this suits my requirements.

Rootsmagic has a free demo version available on it's website, have you checked it out. The link is www.rootsmagic.com

Cheers
Genni

[Jane Taubman]

Quite a few of the current magazines, PC Shopper, PC Pro,  have a 50 record version of Family historian,  worth a look as it is fully functional up to a 50 person tree.  So chop out a branch a give it a try.

[Kazza]

Hi Brian,

this is a subject that comes up from time to time,  so I am merging your message with the latest discussion in the hope it helps. 

Kazza.

[Jeannie in Spain]

I've been reading rave reviews on RootsMagic Version 2 and I have downloaded the trial version and I am about to give that a go.  I've had a look at the S&N Genealogy Supplies website and can see that they offer 3 packages:-

Basic at £21.95
Standard at £34.95
Platinum at £49.95

Does anyone know if it is worth forking out the extra money for the extras that you get with the Standard and Platinum packages?  These extras include

£250-worth of vouchers off the British Data Archive CD sets     
6 million name index     
Bartholemew's UK Atlas1898       
Change of Names CD 1760–1901       
General Armory of England, Scotland and Ireland 1894
(Encyclopaedia of Heraldry)         
English and Welsh Landowners 1873       
Scottish Landowners 1872–1873       
Online subscription to www.BMDINDEX.co.uk 

Many thanks

Jeannie