This is a great program for most genealogist. It has all the bells and whistles most genealogist want. Developed originally as an addon for PAF, it is know a full blown stand alone package, that can use your PAF data files, and give you the new features you may need, such as new Family Tree access (formerly new FamilySearch), web searches (Ancestry.com) and more. Numerous reports, including a few special reports.

Biggest Pro: Updated regularly to keep current.
Biggest Con: none

Solid, solid program (which in the end, is what we really want). Not overly flashy but powerful - it looks on the surface like PAF with color. But under the hood there are tons of powerful new features.

I have used lots of other programs. This one is the best.

With a free basic version, there is no reason not to start with this program.

Biggest Pro: Continually updated with the features that I use and need.
Biggest Con: Can’t think of one.

Have tried most ancestrial programs, this is the best

This does not produce “3-D” singing, dancing flower borders, but it is the gold standard for professional, airtight programming. It is clear that these guys care about the customers’ ultimate goals of reliability, clarity, and capacity. These program does exactly what it says it will do. I have yet to find another one that does.
Others have more decoration on the screens and reports, but I’m more entertained by something I can trust my 4,800 family records to.
After 20 years of family history research, this is the one I trust.

Biggest Pro: Conservative, airtight programming
Biggest Con: None

I have been using it since Version 1 and have never had any problems. It is intuitive and easy to use. It has immense capability in its features, much more than most could use. Support is the best I have ever seen from any software vendor. It is inexpensive and has a free version. A real buy!

Biggest Pro: Ease of use and product support
Biggest Con: none

It is great, I love it.

Biggest Pro: Professional help is just a phone call or an Email away.
Biggest Con: Once I link to an individual in Family search, other records with the same name are not available to me.

Ett av dom bästa släktforskningsprogrammen

(translation from Swedish: “One of the best genealogy programs”)

Biggest Pro: Lätt att arbeta med (Easy to work with)
Biggest Con: non (no)

The developers are excellent at keeping on top of changes to nFS and any other issues found by users. Updates are frequent and free.

Biggest Pro: Ease of use and frequent updates
Biggest Con: none

An excellent program which allows considerable felxibility in usage, Excellent support available from program Creator and very active user forum

Biggest Pro: ease of use, level of reporting
Biggest Con: lack of templating for events

I converted from PAF when they didn’t bring out a Windows version. I have absolutely loved AQ. I also like that the program is continually updated and improved. The user community asks for changes and they happen.

Biggest Pro: Sources and images
Biggest Con: Not enough people use it

Easy to learn and use. Intuitive and easy source documentation process, which should be one of the criteria to be rated. I have installed and used many of the popular genealogy software programs and always come back to Ancestral Quest because of its straightforward data entry process, research manager, and wide range of features that do not distract the reader with eye-catching add-ons that add little to the substance.

Biggest Pro: Ease of entering source information.

I started using Ancestral Quest with version 1, and really liked version 2 which I still use. I tried version 3 and it ran so slow on the computer I had then, that I uninstalled version 3 and kept using version 2. Recently I installed version 12, still learning all the new features but it still is a lot like version 2 which I like. I still don’t like not to be able to use more than one picture in the notes or to resize the pictures in the notes. Before I switched to windows I had a program that allowed as many picturs as you wanted in the notes and you could size them individually, so a group picture could be large to see everyone, and a close up could be small.

Charles

Biggest Pro: Ease of use
Biggest Con: Having nearly all the pictures in the scrapbook

I am a long time user of Ancestral Quest and until 12 weeks ago all of my ratings would have been 5’s, however I have found a bug in my program and cannot get a answer from Customer Service. I have emailed 5 times and called 3 times, as well as copying and sending my program to them, at their request, for review, but still no response. The problem is when entering new sources and documentation. When entering new documentation that information is added to all people in the program who also have the same source deleting the previous documentation.

Biggest Con: Customer Service

There seems to be an error in the description for Ancestral Quest. Ancestral Quest is based on PAF not the other way round as said, “This is the program on which PAF was based.” I was using PAF in the early 1980’s long before Ancestral Quest was released.

Editor’s note: Thank you for the correction. The Windows version of PAF was based on Ancestral Quest.

Although rich in features, it is simple to use.
Bugs are handled promptly after reporting.

Biggest Pro: Research Manager makes it easy to plan and implement research strategies

I’m a long-term user of Ancestral Quest. It’s intuitive and easy to use with robust reporting and well-designed reports that can also be customized. Source citations are well organized and allow for streamlined data entry. Documents, photos/images, and audio/video clips can be easily attached to a person or a source. The program will search selected online databases with a single click. Customer support is outstanding; the software designer participates in an online user group at Yahoo and provides timely feedback, fixes and answers.

Biggest Pro: Easy to use, but still full-functioned
Biggest Con: can’t think of one