Jack Sonneborn________________________________________________________________
klompen@verizon.net 2009 Baltimore Family History Workshop
12 Sep 2009
WHICH FAMILY HISTORY SOFTWARE
SHOULD I USE
OBJECTIVE: To show you some of the better known genealogy software programs so
that you may make a more informed choice as to which one to use.
Most genealogy programs are those which store individuals’ names, dates, places, events,
sources, and images and display the relationships between the individuals in the database. There
are over 100 programs available for use. Each has some unique features. One should carefully
examine WHY they are doing genealogy research and determine what their end objective is –
how they will use the information gathered, and whether they want to share that information, or
just compile it and keep it for themselves.
The Major genealogy programs differ from auxiliary or utility genealogy programs in that they
do all of these basic functions.
Auxiliary programs perform specific functions which may compliment, expand, or
correct shortcomings in major programs.
Utility programs are used to make research suggestions, create books or web pages from
a genealogy database, draw maps, draw various charts, examine databases for
inconsistencies, and much more. What distinguishes the utility program is that it does not
do all of the basic functions of a genealogy database program.
Many major genealogy programs add the features of popular utility programs into later releases
of their basic program.
Most lists of major genealogy programs only list the following six.
Name and Website Comments
Ancestral Quest Free demo (120 names) a great program, originally PAF was this
program, but much has been added. Strength: Collaboration online
www.ancquest.com
FamilyTreeMaker Not recommended Severe flaws include GEDCOM import &
www.familytreemaker.com export, Christening & Burial overlooked, abysmal web page index.
Strength: Printing options
Legacy Free (less functional) MAC-like look and feel. Powerful, robust.
Poor web pages created. Strengths: tagging, research guidance
www.legacyfamilytree.com
Personal Ancestral File Free download. Lacking in special features, but handles basics well
even multimedia. Ancestral web pages done poorly. Strengths:
www.familysearch.org widely used, well known.
RootsMagic Free demo (50 new names). Good features, well-rounded program
with many bells and whistles. Strength: Mapping interface.
www.rootsmagic.com
The Master Genealogist Free trial (30 days). Most powerful program. Event-based rather
than individual based. Good web page. Strength: Documentation
www.whollygenes.com Weakness: complexity, high learning curve.
The NEW Genealogy Software
We are currently aware, and used to, genealogy programs which allow us to store our data on our
own hard drives, with back-up storage on some removal media. Recent developments are
allowing us to get away from this way of thinking. . Some software products, including Ancestral
Quest and Legacy, attempt to allow members of the same family to collaborate by “synching”
their databases with each other over the Internet. One product worthy of note is
FamilyTreeLegends, which is a genealogy software which also publishes automatically to the
Internet (to gencircles.com). As you make changes to your database, the web pages are updated
automatically. This product sells between $30 and $80, depending on the options chosen, and is
available at www.familytreelegends.com.
One could argue this concept is behind Ancestry’s World Tree, OneGreatFamily.com,
MyTrees.com, and even the Ancestral File.
These products take control away from the family and transfer the control to a company.
The newest type of programs keep the control with the family, but use a web-based
program to maintain the family’s data.
The key issue is the level of control. Some offer a totally open database, where anyone
can make changes and one has to rely on the ability of people to come to a consensus.
Some allow an individual to control the database, but open it to others. In some cases,
only certain individuals pre-approved by the database creator can make changes (either
with or without approval required from the database owner/creator). In some cases,
anyone can make changes, but the creator has to approve the changes before they are
incorporated into the database.
Products which store your data on the web include www.ages-online.com, pHpGedView
(http://phpgedview.sourceforge.net), www.zooof.com, and www.geni.com. The one which
allows the most control to the user/creator is pHpGedView, which is a surprisingly robust
program. I suggest you give this concept serious consideration, as it has several advantages.
The newest kid on the block is new FamilySearch (nFS). It is a brand new product which takes a
hybrid approach. In nFS, all data is stored in one place and differing opinions can be stored on
each individual in the database. In the case of differing opinions about some of the data, each
user can select their own view.
All of the data is preserved, but you select the version you want to see and then try to convince
others so they will delete any incorrect data. This is in limited use now, being rolled out
gradually by geographic area. The rollout is due to be completed in 2008.
This gives rise to yet another type of program, one which interfaces with new.FamilySearch. The
first two such products are Family Insight (www.ohanasoftware.com) and Ancestral Quest for
PAF (www.ancquest.com).
I need to give a lot of thanks to Bro. Alan E. Mann who gave me the idea to present this subject
matter. He has a website with loads of good stuff. Take a long look at it.
The best way to compare genealogy software is to talk about the strengths and weaknesses of the
various programs, and give people references to the various reviewers’ comments.
About.com has a lot of good material about family history. Kimberley Powell has written some
guides to genealogy software, how to choose genealogy software, and reviews. See
http://genealogy.about.com/cs/genealogysoftware/a/software.htm.
What are the TOP TEN Genealogy Programs?
There is a nice side by side comparison chart with features at http://genealogy-software-
review.toptenreviews.com/ . This review was done last year. It ranks the major software
packages in the following order:
1. Legacy
2. Family Tree Maker
3. Ancestral Quest
4. Personal Ancestral File (PAF)
5. Roots Magic
6. then the remaining 5
Another comparison is found at www.consumersearch.com/www/software/genealogy-
software/index.html it tells a little about each program’s strengths and weaknesses as perceived
by a non-genealogist consumer panel. This review rates them in this order:
1. Roots Magic
2. Legacy
3. Family Tree Maker
4. Personal Ancestral File (PAF)
5. Reunion
6. The Master Genealogist
What I will show you now is what four of the major programs look like and what are some of
their features. A very LARGE consideration is what you want the software to do for you.
As you can see, RootsMagic and Ancestral Quest are at the top of the heap. I found them to be
the best for MY needs. RootsMagic wins out over AQ for my own personal use. WHY?
Because I tried them all and RM suits my likes the best.
YOU, need to try them for yourself and use the one YOU like the best.
Thanks
Jack Sonneborn
York PA Stake, York 2nd Ward
Family History Consultant