Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Genealogy software

I haven't been in the market for new software in many years, and there are lots of sites that review genealogy software, so I won't make any comparisons.  Well, not many.  But I can tell you that I use Legacy Family Tree and am very pleased with it.  Information is easy to enter and view.  Keeping track of information sources is easy.  I tend to stay away from proprietary features, like adding pictures and video clips because I assume that it will be difficult to change software, if I choose to do that one day.  But I would recommend this software to anyone.  (And if you're in my family, it certainly makes it easier to share information by using the same file format.)  There is a supplemental charting program to make up for the very limited built-in charting capability.  There may be other features you want that I don't use, like DNA tracking or collaboration over the Internet, or searching genealogy sites for matches with your family tree.  Legacy does all of these things, but I don't know how they compare to others and I personally don't use them.  I think that all of the software companies offer free versions of their software, at least on a trial basis, and I would recommend trying some out.

I also use GenSmarts to analyze my family tree and make research recommendations to me.  Legacy's built in research helper seems less specific and too complicated.  I also use an app called Families to display my family tree data on an iPad.  You can make changes on the iPad and sync with your desktop file, but I haven't tried that yet.

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