Great software but shame it is not produced in Mac I have become so fed-up with Microsoft despite using it since it was founded, that I have now purchased a Mac. Will buy CrossOver saftware to run FHv4 on Mac - Any body had experience of running FH over Mac via CrossOver.

Thanks

Biggest Pro: Flexible and can cater for beginners to professionals
Biggest Con: No Mac version

The best ever. I’ve used many different genealogy databases over my 40 years of genealogy research. Having tried Family Historian, I wouldn’t go back to any of the others. It does take a bit of learning, but when you get into it the queries are not as difficult as first thought. The charts are brilliant and the support the best ever. Navigation is excellent.

Biggest Pro: Great for getting an overall view of your tree.
Biggest Con: None that I can think of.

My Great Big Family support contacted me soon after I entered the two negative reviews. They had the website setup and I began reviewing it right away. It looks great. What I said in the reviews is true, but now that I have access to the website I wish I could remove them. Maybe an Administrator can.

(((I’ve removed the other two reviews for you. — Louis)))

Biggest Pro: Lots of functions
Biggest Con: Lot to learn to administer

What can’t this program do? It takes some time to get used to it, but it is designed to help the genealogist get into good habits, eg, use of sources.

Biggest Pro: Can handle almost any genealogical fact/event. Comprehensive
Biggest Con: Complex. There are so many features, it is difficult to know them all.

Would be nice if this thing worked in Windows, but it doesn’t. So for most people it is worthless.

Hate it! Hate it! Hate it! and being forced to use it since my new PC(64 bit) cannot properly utilize my old FTM2006 and FTM not willing to create a patch that would allow it to do so. And now having issues getting 2010 to accept my existing file, potential to lose decades of research and merged media.

Work area way too busy - too much on the screen - I don’t need trees and indexes and personal profiles all at one time - media does not open in separate IE window for side by side comparison - always starts me out at the home person, rather then where I left off. To top it off it is SLOW SLOW SLOW - And these dislikes are from only two attempts to use it.

I have been using FTM since version 1. This stinks. It is clearly meant for new users to create serious ‘Oooh’ factor without having the functionality that long term users need and are accustomed to having. It seems to be all about those stinking little leaves that no one who has been in the game at all requires. They are writing code to match their TV marketing campaigns with no consideration to their faithful client base.

Biggest Pro: none
Biggest Con: everything

Since FTM was rewritten beginning with Version 2008, I thought this was going to be a good program and would be an improvement. It is NOT because what used to be an easily adaptable program to the way I want to input, edit and produce descent reports, these new FTMers are not adaptable. If you tweak it a bit, the program doesn’t know what you want it to do and will try to force you to use their defaults.

I bought 2008, 2009 and tried 2010 for a while and always revert back to FTM Version 16 which is a very nice program that is adaptable to the way and look I want in a genealogy program. They have lost me as a customer of FTM and am looking at Legacy 7.0 and RootsMagic 4 which are much better than the new formatted FTM since Version 2008.

Biggest Pro: Cannot think of one single thing that would be considered to a Pro for these versions of FTM since 2008
Biggest Con: FTM Since Version 2008, this program does NOT allow for customization and wants to be ALL there is to genealogy. It is NOT.

Brother’s Keeper is nice and easy

sds

Avoid this site. They have no respect for your privacy. Anyone can add information about living individuals and it is available for any member of the site to see. If you ask for it to be removed, they will not help you. Worse, anyone can information about your minor children (over 13, under 18) and it is also viewable. And they will not remove it. This would be a fantastic site, if they would respect the privacy of living individuals.

Biggest Pro: Great idea to link family members
Biggest Con: no privacy and no way to remedy it.

I like my Family Tree Maker Version 16. I have been using it since it first came out. My problem is that I have purchased a new computer with Windows 7 64 bits and it won’t let me downloaded my program.
I don’t like all the programs so I would be much like to keep this one.
R HUnt

For anyone considering buying this program:
While it is true that MacFamilyTree is a program with a huge amount of potential it is severely lacking in several critical areas.
1) Virtually no proper source support. Yes, it does let you attach a large number of sources to individuals and events but what does it do with them? All the sources for the ENTIRE record are lumped onto a Sources tab with no reference to what event/date/place/note they are citing. To see what sources go with what, you have to click on each source in the list and then decipher the long list of attached events. Sources (like with Family Historian) are forced into a book format. I could live with that but on display only the title, page, and date are listed. Worse yet, the person is the ONLY report that bothers to show sources at all! And on that report you don’t have true endnotes/footnotes only a truncated bibliography. I’m no fangirl of Elizabeth Shown Mills but it disturbs me that so many people are perfectly happy with a program that spreads information with virtually no documentation to support it. Even Wikipedia does better than this.
2) Version 6 still has not fixed the incorrect relationship bug - people intermittently appearing joined to the wrong people.
3) As of 2010 this program has NO Register Report (one of the main report used for keeping family updated), no feasibility checking (married before age 14, died before birth etc.), no mass find and replace, weak search features, and no custom events, tags etc.

The good news is the Synium seems very responsive and they are improving their product at lightning speed. I purchased the software because I wanted to support their innovation but, as of today, I cannot use it as my main program.

Biggest Pro: Fast, great interface, blazing a new trail for genealogy information display, web interaction, live reports
Biggest Con: No proper citations AT ALL, weak data analysis reports and tools, limited customization options.

I was recommended this program by a second-cousin in the Netherlands whom I stumbled on in the Net. His recommendation was absolutely right, John Steed is very helpful , especially for beginners. I have used this about three times a week for a year and have always been able to access my various databases with great ease, also able to make corrections which are often preceded by a helpful query such as “Do you really want to delete this person, you can unlink them etc?” This has saved me from major mistakes quite often.Reports are easily accessible and of many varieties. The help tab is very informative.

Biggest Pro: ease of use and clarity of reports
Biggest Con: difficulty of making Gedcoms for partial sets of the database

I realy like this program

Biggest Pro: Easy to use and expand
Biggest Con: Needs a lot of memory

LOVED IT…until I reached the 250 maximum person limit (Free Version) and couldn’t merge files unless I pay. Really have a lot of info loaded so far so don’t want to have to start over with different software but I also don’t consider $75 “inexpensive upgrade”.

Took a little bit to figure out how to make edits (children with multiple partners, divorces, etc) but easy enough once I figured it out.

Overall, very easy to use but unless you want to pay, you better plan to keep your tree small…

Biggest Pro: Very easy to use
Biggest Con: 250 person limit and no merge of data unless you upgrade to premium

Very clean interface, fast, easy handling. In Swedish. With better source handling it would be my choice.

Biggest Pro: Very easy to use
Biggest Con: Limited source handling

Excellent program, highly customizable. A little complicated with all its features.

Biggest Pro: Excellent sourcehandling, full feautured, available in several languages (also in Swedish)
Biggest Con: Cluttered interface but can be customized.

In my opinion a much underated program in this forum. Clean and useful interface, easy handling overall. A little slow though.

Biggest Pro: Excellent interface, useful features, Ancestry links.
Biggest Con: None except somewhat demanding on recources.

Probably most popular program amongst Swedish genealogist. Full featured but rather complicated. The recent update to 8.2 dfidn´t give the program the overhaul it really needs.

Biggest Pro: Full featured
Biggest Con: Ugly GUI, non standardd use of several concepts

Very easy to use, great support. Link to Genline digital archive, more links comming!

A utility for merging GEDCOM files. The best program I have found for this purpose. Also cleans up GEDCOMS of unattached individuals, duplicate data, multiple parents, etc. Can merge multiple GEDCOMS at a time. Struggles with massive files. Output is not perfect, but close.

Biggest Pro: Does as advertised.
Biggest Con: No updates or upgrades for years. Output not perfect, so all results have to be closely checked.

There is only one flaw that I have found — difficulty in loading data, specifically having to switch between too many screens. I would like to see the events and their sources on the same window when entering data. Other than that a great piece of software.

Biggest Pro: Thorough and intutive.
Biggest Con: Lack of ease in data-entry.

The new interface is clean, complete, and intuitive.

Biggest Pro: Seamless integration with Ancestry.Com
Biggest Con: Loading time, speed, and memory use.

Utility for research suggestions. VERY helpful. Not too intuitive, so overload is the norm. Lacks some common sources like NARA.

Biggest Pro: Helpfulness.
Biggest Con: Incompleteness.

Very easy and fun to use with a brilliant overview

Biggest Pro: Very easy to use

I have used it for over 10 years. and it is very easy to start with

Biggest Pro: It´s simple to use

I have used it for about 25 years and see no reason to change,

Biggest Pro: It´s simple to use

A solid software for your findings. Good source handling. Map-handling very useful but a little complicated.

Biggest Pro: Easy input of data.
Biggest Con: As Lars Y Svensson: Can be a little complicated to use some features.

The absolut best for Swedish user.

cover also many nationality and languages and also events that are in different countries. There are many types of event that are not common all over and many of them are not in the Gedcom of many different programs.

Very important is also the support from producer and all the sponsors around the world.

Have been a registered user of BK as far back as the old DOS – in those days, before fast internet John would send us 1.44 floppies with the update. A great program that is not a rip $$$$’s off

Great product with no downloads necessary: with a good internet connection, you can have an excellent family tree within two minutes of first loading their website, http://www.treeseek.com .

Biggest Pro: Very easy to use, and easily creates very nice charts/diagrams etc. without any strings attached.
Biggest Con: Vague website information: I didn’t know if my login info would be used for unwanted purposes, and I wasn’t sure that I wouldn’t be charged for it; the website should be more clear..

I Have been using it for yeary. Good reports & Books, Over 8000 Names in my tree with no problems.

Biggest Pro: free
Biggest Con: not updated

AWESOME application! Highly recommend! I can sit at a specific genealogy library and the application will tell me what items they have that I should check for for which people in my database and to fill in what blanks! SUPER research tool to get your research FOCUSED and ORGANIZED!

Version 3 was GREAT! The new version 4 is a complete rewrite that lost many of the best features the software previously provided. The new version 4 is also MUCH more difficult to use, basic functionality changed from previous versions and is not easy to use. Numerous glitches and problems with the software now make me suspect loss of data integrity overall and have led me to look for another application to use that I can feel more confident and at ease with. Such a shame since Family Origins and Roots Magic have been staples for me since my days of writing genealogy software reviews in the early 90s.

A long history of proprietary gedcom format makes Family Tree Maker a no-go for me. Combined with a company that has been a bit ’shady’ over the years in their financial pursuits and this one’s a lose-lose in my book

Biggest Pro: none
Biggest Con: doesn’t play well with ANY other software out there

I HATE the new interface - it is awkward, cumbersome and difficult - the changes make to the usability of this program have made it a nightmare - I HATE it!!! - This coming from one who has used FTM since it’s beginning - what a shame!

Biggest Pro: The cons outway ANY pros there might be!!!
Biggest Con: Where do I start??? It is NOT intuitive - you can do almost nothing naturally - I HATE it!!!

Have been using FTM since Ver 8.0. The latest version is the best ever. Easy to use; comprehensive. Really appreciate having so much information on the page. It may take a while to adjust to the new format, but not too long if you don’t try to work with earlier versions at the same time. Converting from earlier programs was error free and efficient. For those with older versions migrating to 2010, one needs to install FTM 2005 (free from “pastftm” site) as a bridge between earlier versions and the latest. There will always be something in such programs that users would like, but that’s life.

Biggest Pro: Ease of use & compreheniveness.
Biggest Con: None

I have been using FTM since version 4. Loved the programme. Easy to use, did everything I needed and all on an unclutered screen. Then came version 2010. What a heap of…… Yes I have spent weeks attempting to use the new programme. Clutered screen, difficut to use, a right royal pain. How could this company get is so wrong. I am now looking for another programme and I have cancelled my Ancestry subscription. I am not recommending this programme to anyone.

Biggest Pro: None left
Biggest Con: Not easy to use, default to everything UAS, clutered and dito to the other comments above.

A full body program that offers good support to organize sources and to plot positions on maps with coordinates.

Biggest Pro: Full set of features
Biggest Con: Can be a little complicated to use some features

Very easy to work with, simple and straight forward. The reason for me to switch to Disgen is to have better possibiliteis to organize sources and to use maps.

Biggest Pro: Simplicity
Biggest Con: Lack of map and coordinate support

A great program that does the job and does it right! Bravo!

Biggest Pro: Very through program
Biggest Con: none

Free, easy to use, and is stored online so you can access and edit your family tree by logging on from any computer. Has many fields in which the details of the lives of the people on the tree can be filled in.

Biggest Pro: Free, stored online, can be published into a GEDCOM file on your computer.
Biggest Con: Limit on how distant the relative can be from the founder for them to be added to the tree.

A sensible way to make sense out of head-of-household only censuses. It helps to narrow down birth dates and construct the contemporary make-up of the family.

Biggest Pro: logical arrangement of data
Biggest Con: none

Brilliant method and forms to wring family data from the pre-1850 census, where only the head of household is named. Uses data from multiple census years to tease out names of the children.

Biggest Pro: Organizes census data in an out-of-the box way to show relationships
Biggest Con: Not always able to give definitive results

I’ve used FTM since the beginning. I will not be upgrading to 2009 or 2010. Each and every new release removes the features I like about FTM and replaces them with features that frustrate me.

I’m in the market for a new program now.

Biggest Pro: WAS easy to learn and use.
Biggest Con: they do reply to questions, but there is never an answer. FTM doesn’t do what I need it to do, and they don’t seem to want to include user suggested ideas.

Although this is described as being for Family Historian it should work with any GEDCOM file. It reads your GEDCOM file to provide the basis for inputting the new source and so is using the sources already identified. At present (June 2010) it is only set up for census records but Nick plans to expand it through all the common sources.

It takes you through the data you should have available from the source you are entering and reminds you to enter the full text from the source as well as allowing the attachment of an image. For a census it automatically creates residence, occupation, recorded age, and birth records as necessary.

Biggest Pro: Records everything available.
Biggest Con: Demonstrates my poor memory

I’m using genealogical programs for over 3 years now. The last 2,5 years i use Gramps.

I was looking for a program that gave me options to connect resources to the data I entered.
This way you can verify later on if the info you entered was from a thrustable source or just ‘heard from …’
My previous genealogical program was ‘aldfaer’. And because of the lack of some decent resource implementation i started looking for an alternative program.

The only area Gramps is not that featured is the graphical output. There are several graphical output functions, but not as many as i was used in aldfaer (maybe a little bit spoiled). But because of the open source character of the program, i think there will be more and more graphical outputs available. Even when I have some time (next year or so, i’ll create a Gramps plugin for graphical output).

I’m using more and more linux and this program also works on that OS.

Biggest Pro: expanded resource information, open source
Biggest Con: because of the amount of options and features, first usage is not that simple (so hang on the fist time you use (test) it)

I enjoy transcribing these headstones, it is fun and easy

I reviewed several programs before I bought Legacy. It is the best for me.

Biggest Pro: Ease of data entry-a lot of good features-General ease of use. The Set Relationship tool
Biggest Con: I wish it had an automatic spell-check-like that on ‘Word’. No spanish.

I have used Legacy for several years now and although I am frustrated by several things about it, it has been a very good experience overall. I have tried a handful of other programs over the years and every one has ended up being noticeably worse. I am an experienced computer user (I write software for a living) and don’t have patience with poor UIs and complex navigation and I always come back to Legacy pretty quickly when I try anything else.
The Good:
1. Switching between Descendent and Pedigree views to move quickly through my file is a breeze. It is usually faster than going to the name index. This is a huge timesaver for me because I jump around a lot when I am working in the file.
2. The depth of sourcing ability is great (confusing, but great). I try to put lots of sources and it handles them all.
3. The ability to customize my view to look the way I want is very easy.
4. Generating reports that look like and contain the info I want. Other people ask me all the time what software I used to generate my reports I send them.
5. Regular updates and tips are not obrusive and can be installed or accessed as needed instead of being forced on you. And they come at a good price, too.
6. Automatic prompting for backups of all the files you’ve worked on at the right times. This has saved me once or twice after I made a big mistake by not following directions and making some unintended big changes to my file. (This was me being lazy and not a problem with their software and they saved me anyway. Good Job!!!)
7. I’ve never had to open a manual to do most of what I’ve done in Legacy. It’s pretty straightforward to me.
The Bad:
1. Figuring out how to enter sources is very difficult. Every time I have a new type of source, I spend lots of time entering it and reentering it until it appears like I want it and it can be reused correctly, etc. Once I figure it out, though, it is easy after that. The new source writer templates are a great idea implemented in the same confusing way. They need to redo their source entry from the ground up to make it more useable and better support multilevel sourcing where you can reuse whatever parts are appropriate (Of course, so does everyone else in my opinion). However, it still allows me to enter what I want where I want it eventually which is more than most other programs allow.
2. Applying the latest update always loses my custom settings. Very annoying.
3. Occasional glitches in the displays where it loses position or I get a blank screen. For instance, if I am at the bottom of the descendent view and add a new individual to the file there, it jumps up in the list when I return to some fairly random place above and I have to scroll back down to the bottom to add the next one. Very annoying if entering a large family. Once or twice it has then completely lost it’s place and crashed. Their support has been fairly nice about it, but don’t really seem to believe me. I will say that I have never lost any data, though.
4. Uploading my tree to Ancestry has been an adventure at best. It doesn’t work very well for me and I haven’t even tried it with the latest version because of what a hassle it was. The only way I really got my tree to show up correctly was to export it to a gedcom and then import it with Family Tree Maker and then upload it from there. That did work, though.
5. No support for attaching pdf files.

All in all, despite my complaints, I really like it and would heartily recommend it to anyone who wants to seriously build a tree and enter their own sources.

Biggest Pro: Navigation to users. I switch back and forth between views all the time and can quickly get where I need to go all the time. Every other program I’ve tried has been much slower to navigate.
Biggest Con: Figuring out how to enter the sources correctly.

I bought my Android Incredible phone in order to run this program. It’s a great way to have your genealogy data always at your fingertips. Enter your data on your home computer, create a GedCom and send it to your phone. Shows all data - notes, sources, family links, pedigree view. Easy to read and to update files. Good support.

Biggest Pro: Easy to use and shows all data.

I have been, by default probably, a fan of FTM from early on. Since I work with a surname genealogical society I often get files from members with their lineage, and about 20:1 they are FTM files. I had gone to FTM version 16 (2007) and liked it very much. It worked, and it gave you various export options for the whole FTM file to members who perhaps were not on Version 16.

The mystery here is that this particular software has been passed around through a number of owners. And each one has usually decided to add their stamp (of new ownership) to the product. I think Version 11 was the last major change before they came out with FTM 2008. From the get go, I have disliked the new product. It was too radical a change. A change, I think, for change sake. I was particularly unhappy that you could not export back to an earlier version once you got into FTM 2008. My advice to everyone in The Society has been to go no further than Version 16. And if you can’t find that anywhere, to look elsewhere for your genealogical computing needs.

Biggest Pro: None really!
Biggest Con: The whole new file format, screen layout, you name it.

A super programme and John Steed has been there to hold my hand the only time I had problem.

Two thumbs up

Biggest Pro: ease of use
Biggest Con: teeny weeny little niggle…….. I wish you could change colours a little easier.

I have been a heavy user of TMG for about 6 years and really like it. Contrary to the previous review it does not have a problem with Windows 7. I use it on Win 7 and see no difference from XP. However, there is an issue with printing reports to Word with 64 bit machines. TMG promises that issue to be corrected in ver.8 which hopefully will be out before too long. There is a work around for the time being, though. The flexibility and sourcing possibilities are endless. One must realize, though, that you probably won’t use many of the options and it can get overwhelming if you try to use them all. If you can think of a way to enter data or to output data, you can probably do it. They say that the average user just uses a fraction of the features.

Biggest Pro: Flexibility and sourcing
Biggest Con: learning curve

I have been using TNG for many years I have it installed on my computer (Linux Mint O$) and on my webhosting and I just upload backups media etc each week. I used to just use the wbesite for adding etc, until my site was hacked so I do recommend having it on your local host.

It’s easy to use and dispite what John Dungan remarks about SEO, names from my database often come up on the first or second page on google.

Despite this being something Darrin produces in his spare time, his customer service is outstanding, when as a “newbie” I had installation or server problems and emailed for advise, his replies and help was so quick that I was up and running in no time.

The only thing on my wish list would be able to link an album to an event rather than just the person.

Biggest Pro: Darrin Lythgoe - The mans a genius
Biggest Con: None

Great program…however, it is reported that it runs with great difficulty on Windows 7 and, of course, Windows 8 in the future. As I run XP Pro, I experience no problems at this time.

Biggest Pro: Extremely Flexible…
Biggest Con: Probably too flexible for most folks who then would be required to do a bit of thinking to use it!

I have spent years putting information into this program along with many photos and notes when we had a desktop now crashed. the backups on diskettes did not transfer well to the new desktop and I found more corrupted info when transferred to my laptop. No photos transferred at all. I pretty much need to reinvent the info now because so much is in the wrong family and the program itself is misaligned so I am unable to accurately add some info.
Has anyone had this happen? I am afraid to mess with it too much and lose what I have.

This is a great little gedcom viewer to have on my Android phone. Great to always have access to my tree, and presented in a pleasant visual style, with all notes but of course no images. Includes simple tree view.
No ability to input or output data but thats not what its for.

Biggest Pro: My family tree data always available.
Biggest Con: No images and no charts.

This is a wonderful new piece of software. At first glance it might look a bit primitive but it is astonishingly useful. All your family tree data is available and visually presented on one screen, zooming in allows you to see images, sources, facts, siblings. The search function is the best I’ve seen - it will search for any word anywhere in your tree (including notes) and will visually represent them. So at a glance you can spot ‘not verifieds’ in your tree or find all the people from a particular parish. Just have a go with their 30 day free trial.

Biggest Pro: All your data visible and available all the time. Identifying missing data and tasks to do very easily,
Biggest Con: None

It is not free!

I’ve used TMG for well over ten years now. It’s a powerful program, as others have noted here, and I’m still finding new ways to use it. The basic learning curve is probably no more difficult to master than any other program. Once you get the hang of data entry (which is pretty self explanitory) things go quickly, and when you build up your confidence with the program you can begin to experiment with some of it’s other features. I’m not a computer wiz and feel that if I can learn the basics easily and quickly, darn near anyone else can too… and you have the knowledge that this repository for your data is a seriously good program.

Biggest Pro: The ability to store as much, and as detailed, data as you wish.
Biggest Con: I was going to say that it’s not as pretty as some other programs, but I’ve customised mine in such a way that I prefer it to any other program I’ve seen.

I started using GEni while it was in hard beta, several years ago. At first I was active in helping them build the service bes as I could but I realized that they are not actually interested to provide good geneaology service.

Stil, I used them, because I could not find better.

Now, I decided to get all of data I entered to geni and start using desktop application to maintain my family tree. I found out that I cannot. Geni des not allow me to get my data until I pay for it. Then I got interested and found out that Geni turned out to “You are all going to pay” insted of “We are all connected”.

I am pretty sure this is illegal to sieze someones data and blackmail to release them.

I guess I would pay, get my data, and from now on I would do lot of efforts to let people know who Geni.com is.

Biggest Pro: nice interface even if it is quite limited
Biggest Con: sizing my data and blackmailing me to pay to get it

I am currently using FTM 2009 and find this easy to use, perhaps because I have used previous versions of FTM. Not sure if I will upgrade to FTM 2010 or maybe try something different so I am currently looking through this review to see if I might consider whether any of the packages shown will give superior results, ie the output of charts, etc., and/or shows a more user friendly package.

My brother and I have been using GEDitCOM for 10+ years and now I use GEDitCOM II. Other than the the online reviews touting so many customizable features and ease of use, all true, it’s preservation of GEDCOM data is second to none. And it will help the user search out and correct errors in the data easily. After spending decades doing research and 10’s of thousands of dollars, I want a program that will preserve our data and keep it fresh for my use and the use of the next generations. GEDitCOM does that for us. I highly recommend it. Also tech support is excellent and friendly.

Biggest Pro: Accuracy of preserving GEDCOM data
Biggest Con: It is a Mac only program, but one could purchase a Mac

I’ve used RootsMagic since it was Family Origins v.2. It just gets better and better with each iteration. Bruce Buzbee and his team are responsive to users. The online discussion group is great. Whenever I have a problem, I get prompt and accurate responses. The program itself does everything I want it to do … except for one thing. I would like it to include an “everyone” chart with all corollary lines, like Spansoft’s TreeDraw charting program does.

Biggest Pro: Full-featured AND easy to use. Highly adaptable to different classes of users.
Biggest Con: Needs an “everyone” chart and needs user enlargeable fonts in the Source Details input box.

I have been using TreeDraw for about 8 years. It is the only program I have found that allows me to create an “Everyone” tree that includes all collateral family. Customization is relatively straightforward although there is a bit of a learning curve. The program makes it reasonably easy to move boxes around so that large families are grouped together rather than being spread out too far. A trackball-like device on screen is used for navigating around the tree, but the program could be improved by adding more conventional navigation tools. I highly recommend this program to anyone who needs a full tree. Support from Nick Hunter is superb.

Biggest Pro: Everyone tree with customization
Biggest Con: Supplement the “trackball-like” navigation with conventional navigation tools.

I purchased FTM 2010 and am extremely disappointed. I have been using FTM for many years but this is the worst ever. It jams too much information on a single screen causing it to be very cluttered in appearance. Its hard to maneuver and hard to get a clear picture of one’s files. I have not had problems with the running of the program on my machine but I find this software cluttered, ugly, hard to maneuver. FTM is too busy trying to sell and link to their Ancestry products instead of producing a software that works for people who are serious about their research. DON’T BUY IT.

Biggest Pro: ABSOLUTELY NONE
Biggest Con: Cluttered, hard to maneuver, does not view well …

I have been using this little-big program since the Alpha release. Even then, it was the program I had long wished for and it was a dream come true.

Biggest Pro: Fast, presents data every way a person would need it.
Biggest Con: Slow on updates. But developer has been over-whelmingly busy.

Nice program. The first I used and still my favorite

It is easy to use for the beginner and yet very powerful for the advanced user. There are multiple ways to see your data. The source wizard makes it easy to correctly cite references. The to-do list can be printed by repository and that allows you to organize your research trips. The correspondence list makes it easy to organize all the emails and other correspondence received. Reports can be customized and books are easy to publish. Roots Magic to Go is a powerful addition that comes with the program. It allows you to have most of the program and all of your data on a 4G jump drive that you can use on any computer. In other words you don’t need to carry your lap top if you are working in a library that has computers.

Biggest Pro: Source Wizard, Roots Magic to Go, and To do lists

I wanted and needed a program that was very user friendly because I am a stark novice, new to genealogy and not a professional. I have spent two months making a tree on Ancestry and needed software to send the tremendous amount of stuff I had accumulated.

After a lot of time spent researching genealogy software, it seems as if I was lead down the garden path once again! The reviews I read on Reunion 9 for Macs were so glowing that I said even though the price was a bit large and the OTHER reviews said it was as good as sliced bread or canned beer, I took the bait. What a waste of time and my money!

Program is extremely tedious, NOT user friendly, incredibly confusing, and has a VERY steep learning curve for ones who are newbies. The software mfgr should warn folks who are new to the family history game about the learning curve! I guess they just assume all who buy this piece of junk know all about data entry and such for family trees! There are some of us who DO NOT and it would be nice to be warned before hand! The price is way way over the top and overall not good value! My dislikes are so many I can’t list em all! But one GLOWING complaint- no delete function for wrong entries! You gotta open a clipboard and navigate this to delete an entry! Where is the “save as” button? You gotta be joking!
Did I mention NO paper instruction book? They want you to PRINT your own, and it is LONG too! Guess printer ink and paper costs are best left to us unsuspecting customers! Thanks a lot!

I have been diligently trying to figure out this program for three days and have given up in disgust!
Hard to believe this is a MAC program! It will now sit on my hard drive unused till I decide to take it off and give it to my grand kids in around fifty years IF anyone in my family ever becomes interested in genealogy.

I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND THIS PROGRAM TO ANYONE WHO IS NEW OR HATES STEEP LEARNING CURVES!

Biggest Pro: Nice looking WHEN you can figure it out!
Biggest Con: STEEP learning curve-and NO paper instruction manual

We’ve been extremely pleased with our online genealogy Web site built around TNG. It does what it’s supposed to do, and does it very well.

It might be good to keep in mind, however, that TNG is a Web application built in PHP. This being the case, you’ll need some basic knowledge of how to set up Web sites and how to manage them. If you know HTML, CSS and maybe a little PHP, you’ll be able to tweak the software and your site’s design to your heart’s content. If not, you’ll still be able to download and install different templates to customize your site.

The developer, Darrin Lythgoe, has always been very responsive to any question that I’ve written to him about, and that alone makes a huge difference.

As to one of the comments here regarding TNG not being SEO (search engine optimization) friendly: TNG does not rewrite URLs to a simpler form, yoursite.com/file.html as opposed to yoursite.com/directory/showmedia.php?mediaID=7912, for example. However, search engines, like Google, have long ago developed to the point where they’re able to handle difficult URLs, so really, this just isn’t the problem that it might once have been. Checking our own TNG site, the search engines have done an excellent job of indexing most everything — despite the complex URLs. If search engine rankings and thorough indexing of your site are important to you, fine-tuning the wording and structure of your front page, plus getting your site linked to from other sites on the Internet is far more important than optimized internal URLs. Perform a Google search on “search engine optimization” or “SEO” for more information and tips on how to go about doing this.

Cory

Biggest Pro: Full-featured, very stable, actively being developed and maintained, plus great customer support
Biggest Con: Customizing it can be a bit technical

I have used FTM since the early versions. I have used every version shortly after it was released and I can’t say that I ever had major problems that weren’t do to learning the new program. I’ve usedFtm on every version of Windows except Vista, however I have seen FTM working well even on Vista. I don’t know if I use FTM differently than a lot of people or not but I use it every day for all my genealogy needs. I have to say I am happy with this program.

Very good relationship computing. Available for all platforms with built-in web server.

Pretty easy to use program with a really useful ‘close family’ chart option (if tweeked).
Better than some programs costing £30+.
And it’s FREE!
Try out the commmercial ones before you buy one, I did and found FTB to be better than nearly all of them. Recommended.

Biggest Pro: Pretty good and FREE.
Biggest Con: Would be nice to have ‘all relatives’ chart option and be able to merge trees - but did I mention it’s FREE??

I have tried other software but once I bought RootsMagic have never needed to look elsewhere.

Biggest Pro: Very easy to use with great reports
Biggest Con: Haven’t found it yet

I have been using FTM since 2001. As the years wemt by I upgraded my programs, until I bought V-2010 for my sister. What a shock!! An upgrade that removes blocks of the program provided by V-16. When I tried to load my entire V-16 program onto her computer it looked OK, until you tried to open some documents and then the fun started………….. This program has over 7,000 individuals with supporting documents by the thousands.
Today I look for V-16 to purchase so I can replace V-2010 for my family members. I am a 64 marker DNA participant and have 4 family files, the smalles is over 2,000 individuals. I use three computers as backup and update with a thumb drive, daily. Backup, backup, backup.

Biggest Pro: Very easy to use and very stable, backs up to your computer so you have 100% control
Biggest Con: Keeps Ancestry.com out of my business, which really ain’t that bad

One of the best free items to evaluate or analysis of ages and family members with pre 1850 census records. I have added it to Gary Minders worksheets, per family, as a file inside the file, so they are all together. I like the way John Haynes changed the male and female data entry so they are in the same vertical column. Have switched Gary Minders male and female data from horizontal to vertical so that I am reading the files the same way.

Biggest Pro: Helps to sort dates in pre 1850 census records
Biggest Con: non that I know of

I have used several software programs over the years, and find RootsMagic to be at the top of the scale.
Anther program is advertised as the “Rolls Royce” of all programs but it is so complicated their mailing list is always comprised of people experiencing difficulty using it.

Biggest Pro: Ease of use.
Biggest Con: None

Excellent program. I have used it for over 10 years. The mail list is excelleent because it answers every questio I have had.

Biggest Pro: Easy to use from day 1!!!
Biggest Con: There isn’t one!

can be used for any type of genealogical data, output can be easily programmed, selection and sorting are very easy and powerfull, …

Biggest Pro: adaptivity
Biggest Con: not yet available for windows

I’m looking for a copy of UFT to upload so I can convert all of my data to another software.

When Vista came out Microsoft came out with a platform in which you could run 16 bit programs on a 32 bit OS. Can’t remember what it was called. It would run partitioned like Linux runs on a machine. Try a local computer club to see if some one can help you locate that platform.

Did you know that there is an option to turn off FamilySearch? It is in the Tools Menu->Options ->FamilySearch
The Census Tracker is an extraction process-it doesn’t find census records for you, so you can go to any census index that you want. There are a lot of features-check out the help menu to learn all the things that it can do.

Biggest Pro: Census Tracker
Biggest Con: Still very new

I have used Family Tree Maker since 2005 and currently use FTM 2006/Version 16. I have purchased 2008 and 2009 which I do NOT use and have uninstalled because the latter want to be the “end-all” to genealogy for everyone. It is is not.

Apparently FTM 2006 (with the auto update to Version 16) is no longer available for sale–it is a far better program than the later FTMs.

Version 16 allows for much customization whereas the later versions fight you. I like the way you can import images and then delete them off the computer because the images are stored within the program–NOT so with the later versions although they “automatically” can be inputted, but they require a separate folder.

So much for Family Tree Maker. I am sure it won’t be long before they abandon support for Version 16. Ever since the company has changed hands again … they are not as responsive as they used to be. Sad.

Now I am looking at RootsMagic … any ideas for a good program and is easy to use and yet powerful in handling huge files?

Biggest Pro: Ease of customization and a nice, simple image editing tool within the program. Images for SOURCES!
Biggest Con: Lack of good support and they tell you to purchase FTM 2010.

I have purchased both Version 2008 and 2009, but will not purchase 2010. I do NOT like the way this program wants to do everything for you. You can force customization in the fields but the program fights your inputs. I have reverted back to the very good FTM 2006 Version 16. Now with a new Windows 7 64 bit computer, I am told Version 16 will NOT work with my new computer.

I am looking for a good genealogy program. I have TMG 7 and while it is a “powerful” and far superior product than any of the Family Tree Makers, it is cumbersome and I default to Version 16 for most of my genealogical research/input/search results.

Why they had to screw up a good program is beyond me! You cannot crop the census images and you end up with all those black edges. If you need to enhance the image to see more clearly as you can in Version 16, you cannot do this at all in 2008, 2009 and from what support said not in 2010 either. You can enhance, crop in your own photo editing program, but that is just another step making the use of 2008-2010 not pleasureable.

I prefer using my method of inputting of locations simply as: Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California. When I have locations such as South Otter Twp., Macoupin County, Illinois, the program fights it and the mapping feature (which is why I fell for this in the first place) cannot find it!

They have lost me as a customer … although I will continue my subscription to Ancestry.com.

They want to be the end-all to genealogy! They are NOT!

Biggest Pro: Cannot think of any.
Biggest Con: Fights customizations.

I have used TMG since I purchased TMG 4 Gold and have upgraded every step of the way through the present TMG 7. It is a “powerful” program and one I should use, but I do NOT enjoy using it and have migrated over to Family Tree Maker which is easier to input images without having to have a separate file for them … that is, through Version 16. I have purchased FTM 2008 & 2009 and continue using the older Version 16.

TMG is a far superior program but the cumbersome manner in which it should be used makes it not an enjoyable program. Now, with Windows 7 64 bit I am going to have to find another program. I dread thinking of using TMG because it is not enjoyable to use.

In a delimna.

Biggest Pro: It’s an excellent “Powerful” program with great report outputs!
Biggest Con: Cumbersome in use.

I took a hard look at FTM 2008 many months ago and looked at FTM 2010 more recently. I find myself aghast that the developers could have made such a royal mess of what had once been one of the gold standards for genealogists (user friendly, efficient, enough feature and function to satisfy). I’ve been an IT professional for 30 years and in my experience, very bad things are going on internally at any company that would turn such a blind a eye to what was once a loyal customer base. Either they now employ some of the worst developers on the planet (doubtful) OR there are much bigger internal issues. Users are actually being told that it’s “only” the “old” users who are reporting problems because they’re being resistant to change. Please!!! That’s just the party line (excuse) they’ve come up with to hide behind. Don’t believe it for a minute. Most people embrace change when it’s good. But this is one very very bad change. The earlier reviewers have done a very good job of sounding the alarm on these upgrades (that are actually serious downgrades). Be very afraid of this company going forward. Nothing good will come from the direction they’re headed in. Unfortunately they’re gobbling up genealogy real estate on the web as fast as they can in order to herd the genealogist crowd in a direction that will fleece their once loyal users even worse than they’re being fleeced right now.

Biggest Pro: There isn’t one. Please overhaul this ugly and unwieldy thing asap!
Biggest Con: Where do I start?

Not impressed with the size of windows, do not like having to go to FamilySearch all the time, when they do have let you have access. I am not a Morman and do like the that Morman information has be there all the screens. Wanted this for like it said census tracker. But am not impressed with the census tracker. Minders and Haynie’s work is a better fit for my need. I created my own age list per family and that works better than what is in this software.

Biggest Pro: Census Tracker, but…
Biggest Con: makes you go the family search instead of other places that you get census records at.

Like the comparison feature between two gedcom files. Easy to work with.

Biggest Pro: finding duplicates
Biggest Con: non so far

One of the best tools I have seen for documenting census records in the US.

Biggest Pro: sheets are easily adapted to whether family or a county census listing
Biggest Con: non so far

Best software out there

Biggest Pro: Easy to use

très conviviale , souple agréable simple a renseigner

bylby dobry gdyby!
1- byłaby możliwość zapisywania drzewa, bo nie widzę żadnej możliwości?
2-nie brak polskich liter lub możliwość odczytywania czy zamiany polskich liter

— Google Translation (Polish to English):
would be good though!
1 - would be able to save the tree, because I do not see any possibility?
2-no shortage of Polish letters, or can read or convert Polish letters

Pros:
+ Nice graphs.

Cons:
- No response from customer support in 2 weeks since requested.
- Some Czech characters (e.g. ř, č, ě) are not supported at all, although MyHeritage.com claims Family Tree Builder is fully localized into Czech language.
- Graph output into JPG file is only 72 DPI - far too little for large prints.
- Can have more graphs and reports built in (such as “All blood relatives” graph found in other programmes).
- No information on MyHeritage.com about what´s planned to be improved in the next version of Family Tree Builder and when

Biggest Pro: Nice graphs.
Biggest Con: Bad customer support - 2 weeks since I requested feedback to few questions (sent through their web form), I received no response.

I will be frank and state right up front that I am a genealogy junkie. Everyone has their own defined needs in life, and some of them include working on expanding their family trees. Some people are hooked on food, some on sex, some on vacations, and some on TV. I have to have my genealogy NOW!

For genealogy junkie’s, it can be a very useful website. I would advise users to use it as a coal mining expedition. Seek out and locate your relatives. Another reader recently wrote,” While Geni is a very nice site and very easy to update it has one MAJOR FLAW, which is that once you link to another tree you no longer own your data and cannot delete your own tree. Furthermore anyone in the linked in tree has full editorial access to your data and can amend your tree without your say so.”

Yes. I agree with the post. I hope some of you took a few minutes to read the problems regarding linking trees in the Geni forum. It says the exact same thing as this poster said. My peronal advice is to not link your family to anyone unless you know them very well. In fact, even then I suggest you maintain a policy of your “immediate tree” or family as being your personal property. So when I received a request to link one of my grandfathers, I ignored it. Why? My “immediate tree” rule.

You can still be a nice cousin and say hello to them. Just tell them to bookmark your tree and that you would be happy to share info. You don’t need a linked tree to become a friend on geni. I think you can also add someone to your group. Its in the privacy settings. Breing a sandwhich when you get to that section as it takes a few minutes to set everything correctly.

Anyway, you should really be a bit sociable and email your relatives anyway. The whole point is to swap info. So, issues aside, I can be found on geni.

Biggest Pro: locating new relatives
Biggest Con: lack of control on tree once linked

Family Historian is superb.
I used TMG, and tried various other programs over some years.
What I really wanted was a program which could display a tree diagram, and access individual records by clicking on the diagram.
FH does just that. Simple! For any individual I can with one click show their ancestors, or descendants, or both (hourglass tree), or all relatives. With or without pictures.

It has detailed facilities for data, research, input, and manipulation of data - lots of free add-ons from the users group, who play a really active role in suggesting developments - and these really do get listened to and incorporated in the next version.
I’m hoping to start a Family History club at my school. If I could get a slightly better deal for multiple copies than the one offered so far, I will certainly use FH.

One additional detail: without diminishing it’s usage for other ancestries, I have found FH to be far and away the best for data relating to UK families - especially when used with the additional (free) prog Gedcom Census.
And to be honest, I haven’t even (yet) upgraded to the latest version which came out earlier this year.
I can’t praise it highly enough.

Biggest Pro: Click-through diagrams to data
Biggest Con: Having to rack my brain here. Maybe more right-click functions; but for all I know that might be in the latest version.

Whatever a previous reviewer says (TWICE), GenoPro is not remotely slow, nor particularly buggy so far as I can see, although I’m new to it.

I suspect that for those entering data from scratch, this will be a terrific programme. The only problem is importing a large GEDCOM, which can make the graphical output of genograms very messy. An auto arrange feature needs a lot of improvement, although there are a few tricks that make it easier.

There are a few other issues that I have, but these may be down to my lack of experience with the programme. Time will tell. At the moment, I’m fairly confident that I’ll buy this when my trial period ends.

Biggest Pro: Genogram output, reports, unlimited images, low RAM overhead.
Biggest Con: Autoarrange feature needs improvement.

Last decent FTM was version 16. I have had 2008 2009 and now 2010 and I have a brand new desktop with 9 gb of memory and dual 750 gb hard drives and high speed processor. My Laptop is a Toshiba purchased last November, AMD Athlon with plenty of memory and hard drive space. I had the problem on 08 and was insured going to 09 wouid solve it then when it happened on 09 I was told 2010 has fixed all those issues with Vista and 7. Both my computers are on 7 laptop was Vista and that didn’t make a difference either.

When I reach a certain point of entering information (in any version), the file closes when I try and enter new info. Recently on 2010 on my laptop, just started crashing when I was changing addresses. One day later desktop starts crashing doing same thing. To me that says there is some glitch in the program that cannot handle files over a certain size. I did the compact thing and it made no difference.

I still have my old xp desktop I keep to run a favored Epson Photo printer that wont work with newer OS systems and I hate to give it up. So I am thinking of going back to 16 on that machine. And looking for something else. Becuase no matter what bells and whistles this program has that exceed other software, it has too many bugs to work with. Right now I am trying Legacy. Imported Gedcom from FTM and all is well changing addresses like crazy with no crashes. Not crazy about the look or moving around in it but I can adjust. Will try a couple of others to decide final one to purchase.

My opinion, ditch FTM not worth the aggravation. Instead of fixing any versions they just comeout wiht a new one and make you pay big for it instead of offering as upgrade.

Biggest Pro: Look of screen and inputting multiple fields one screen
Biggest Con: Too glitchy and too many crashes no matter what OS you have