I beta'd RM 4 as well and I LOVE it... Will be looking forward to your review.
Cheryl -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Lynn Pritchett (Herstory) Sent: Saturday, April 11, 2009 5:52 PM To: Azores Genealogy Subject: [AZORES-Genealogy] Re: Getting started: Which genealogy software to use I will be publishing a review on the newest version of RootsMagic in the next couple weeks at the free-access online magazine Suite101. (Titled - RootsMagic4: which my husband & I had the opportunity to beta test before it was marketed - Now checking/using market version). Over the years, we have purchased/used all 4 of the 'most popular' Gedcom programs Cheri Mello compared in her speech she mentioned, so have experience which to draw upon. I can post the link here when it's published, if there is interest? ~ Lynn On Apr 9, 1:47 pm, Cheri Mello <[email protected]> wrote: > I had this question at lunch today: Which genealogy software program should > I use? > > That's actually a difficult question to answer, as a lot of it is based on > personal preference. Many factors are involved whether you are beginning in > genealogy or and experienced user thinking of switching to a different > program. > > All genealogy software programs record names, dates, places and allow you to > source them. Most have analyzing and planning features. Sourcing is > important, but often overlooked when starting out (all that enthusiasm of > finding your ancestor!) I've gone back many times wondering where I found > something only to find out I didn't source or forgot to do it! It's also > helpful in contacting cousins and analyzing your data to be able to tell > them where you found the info, especially when there is a question about a > particular ancestor. > > If you are beginning, you are lucky. Get a program NOW, so you aren't > redoing all the work you did before. I still have quite a bit of my info > still in notebooks :( It is so much easier to organize and keep track of > your genealogy with a program. > > Other features that many programs do: Reports, charts, books, multimedia, > Internet, DNA, and more. > > An OUTDATED (2005) genealogy software report card that compares the features > of genealogy programs without extra commentary, can be found here:http://www.mumford.ca/reportcard/ > > Many of the programs mentioned no longer exist and some new software is out > there that is not reflected on the above URL. I don't believe any > Internet-type software (e.g. you do your family tree on Ancestry.com) is on > there. If you are narrowing down a software program and are now considering > just a couple of them, it would be best to read a review about them in a > genealogy magazine (or Google it; you can find many reviews online) and > download the demo/horse and pony show to see how you like it. > > Another more updated genealogy software review, with editor commentary can > be found here:http://genealogy-software-review.toptenreviews.com/ > NOTE: No free software programs are evaluated, nor are any Internet based > genealogy software programs (e.g. Ancestry.com) I also noticed that they > didn't evaluate the current version of my genealogy program, but a version > that's about 2 years old and therefore my program didn't score as high. > > A year ago I did a speech on Gedcoms. I did the 4 most popular genealogy > software programs out there are: > Family Tree Maker (FTM), Legacy, Personal Ancestral File (PAF), and The > Master Genealogist (TMG). (That's in alphabetical order, although FTM came > out at number 1 in the user surveys that I looked at). Lately, it seems > that RootsMagic is starting to gain steam. > > OK, so which one to use? Well, what's most important to you? Some people > say that they want a free program. I'm aware of Family Tree Legends, Legacy > (standard edition - the deluxe you pay for and unlocks about 100 more bells > and whistles), and PAF (I think there latest update was around 2000/2001). > > Some people want easy to use. That used to be FTM, but I think with the > more recent versions, users state that it is harder to use. PAF is also > easy to use, but is no longer supported (in doing my Gedcom speech, I called > SLC and they said that they have something else under development but were > not at liberty to say). Also "easy" depends on what you mean by easy. What > is easy to a person who got into computers fairly early in life versus > someone who didn't get into computers until after the age of 65, may be two > different things. You'd need to download the demo versions and talk to > users of that program to decide if it's for you. > > Some people want a powerful program. That would be Legacy (deluxe) or TMG. > TMG is probably the hardest to use, although in their newer versions, they > have really tried to overcome this critisism. > > I had a what would now be considered a dumb reason to pick a genealogy > program. And a good reason too. I bought my genealogy program in the early > 1990s. Programs had limitations then. I wanted something that I would not > outgrow, and have to migrate to a different program. That was my good > reason. The other reason? I needed a program that would take diacritics > (accented letters) and that would take 19 and 20 + character names such as > Vila Franca do Campo. Programs in the early 90s couldn't take a city with > that long of a name, or any diacritics. Almost all genealogy programs can > take diacritics and long place names. > > NOTE: Because there are more PCs out there than Macs, it seems that all > software reviews are written for PCs. If you use a Mac, you can run a > program called Parallels and run your PC software on that. There are > probably a few Mac genealogy programs out there. I hear Mac users talk > about Reunion quite a bit, so I would guess that would be one of the most > popular genealogy software programs for Macs. I don't use a Mac however, so > I'm not as up on the software as a Mac user would be. > > -- > Cheri Mello > Listowner, Azores-Gen > Researching: Vila Franca, Ponta Garca, Ribeira Quente, R. das Tainhas, > Achada --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. Follow the confirmation directions when they arrive. 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