Family Tree Software

where do I start?

[Shakil]

For quite some time I have had this thought in my head, and earlier today whilst talking with a Senior member of the family, I thought maybe now is a good time to look in more detail.

Can anyone recommend any Family Tree Software, as I am totally lost on who/what/how much I should be looking at.

I am sure there is NO point getting my developers to write this, as a)Its NON commercial, and b)Must have been done 1000s of times before.

Any help would greatly appreciated.

Shak

[dingman]

I am sure there is NO point getting my developers to write this, as a)Its NON commercial, and b)Must have been done 1000s of times before.

I wish my grandmother saw it that way. Guess who "her developer" is and how much she pays him...

[Shakil]

her develeper = You
she pays you = That Grandmotherly love :)

Unfortunately all my grandparents passed away before I was born, so I can NOT comment from experience.

but hey, I am sure she is worth EVERY second that you devote to developing her project.

Shak

[rjohara]

The best Mac software hands down is called Reunion. I don't know about what is available for PCs (though the ones that get the biggest marketing I understand are not all that great).

One of the best uses the Internet has been put to, and an excellent example of a distributed database, is Gendex [gendex.com] with its millions of records. You will want to be sure that your software can output a Gendex file - Reunion does and I imagine most others do also.

[HarryM]

The family tree software I use is Brother's Keeper. You can download the (almost) full version for trial.

In MHO it's the best if you are a serious researcher, and it can also provide eye-candy output if that's what you want. You can have several databases, and it provides good input facilities, and all the reports anone would need.

I have the Windows version. I'm not sure if it runs on Mac.

[doc]

I have been using FamilyTreeMaker for several years and have been quite happy with it. The current version is version 10, has a lot of features. There is also a free personal ancestral file at Familyseach.org, which I have never used but might be a good starting point.

[dingman]

but hey, I am sure she is worth EVERY second that you devote to developing her project.

Oh, she is. It's just that I could spend an awful lot more time on it than I have available.

[Shakil]

Thank YOU for all the help.

Shak