Comments on: What’s the Best Genealogy Software?

By: Carole in the Dallas area

Carole in the Dallas area — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 19:44:16 +0000

I have been dabbling in searching for my roots off and on for the past five years. I have used PAF as my main program but am looking for another program to use.

I joined ancestry.com…have PAF…and also am working on my new family search site….how can I enter my new info on ONE site and have the other software automatically UPDATE. Does rootsmagic or legacy automatically update my ancestry.com or my paf or my new family search. This entering the SAME info over and over and over in three different areas distracts from my limited resource time and fails to progress this work in a meaningful manner. Any ideas guys? I need something that links with it all….whew….my fingers are getting sore…chuckle.

By: tink0

tink0 — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 01:38:45 +0000

Do I have to re-enter all my genealogy info when I start a new program. I have been using FTM and am thinking of using a different program such as Root Magic Essentials. I have over 2000 people listed and it would like to GEDCOM in the information to Root Magic. Possible?

I keep writing this question and it keeps disappearing from the list of questions. You can send the message to me if you wish at the email listed.

By: tink0

tink0 — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 14:24:25 +0000

Thank you for the monthly newsletter. I find some new info each month. I have a question: I have Family Tree Maker and have been staying with it - not updating since most of the “new” stuff I don’t need. If I changed to another program would I have to enter all 200 people and notes in again? Couldn’t I just GEDCOM it to the new program? That is what is holding me back. I just don’t have any desire to enter 10 or more generations with side people in again.

By: Becky

Becky — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 01:57:28 +0000

I’m a die-hard The Master Genealogist user. When there were some issues with saving reports to a file, I switched to Legacy and nearly lost my mind! But the issue with reports was fixed and I’m happily back to TMG. By the way, when I emailed my problem to Wholly Genes, tech support called me to discuss the problem. Another time I posted an issue to one of the forums and the president of the company called me one Sunday afternoon. Can’t beat support like that!

By: M.B.Goodall

M.B.Goodall — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 17:09:01 +0000

Root Magic 4 or RM4, as we know it by, is the most awesome program on the market right now that is newbie friendly / and can be used for LDS work as well as just doing family History. it direct connects with new family search/ ancestry and several other programs . give it a try there is a free down load available

By: Theresa Joos

Theresa Joos — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 22:03:19 +0000

I would like to recommend The Master Genealogist (TMG). I have used it for years & really like it. The flexibility of data input & output & the superior customer service make it a natural choice in my view. Not only do they answer phone calls and emails swiftly but the users provide great support for each other on both the company website and through the TMG mailing list.

There are also amazing additional resources like Second Site, a program which automatically takes your TMG data and creates beautiful websites and the book Getting the Most out of TMG (mine has been read cover to cover & thoroughly highlighted!)It also has a direct link to Gensmarts which is very convenient. Some people are a little intimidated by all the choices, but you don’t have to use any feature you don’t want to and it works great straight out of the box without adding all the goodies.

By: Brent Ropelato

Brent Ropelato — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 21:33:36 +0000

I started out with PAF which was easy to use and you can’t beat free, then moved onto Ancestral Quest which I thought was a good program then stumbled across Legacy 6 years ago and have stayed with Legacy ever since and love it.

By: Penny Simms

Penny Simms — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 22:14:48 +0000

I’ve been using Roots Magic and before that Family Origins. I like the programs because they produce the pedigree and family group sheets that are the same quality that you would buy. It looks more professional.

I’ve tried Family Tree Maker and Legacy. I used Legacy to upload my information to the program Clooz which is a document program to link family together and to tell you what you have. Clooz is okay, but for the beginner into genealogy.

After 20 plus years of information gathering it would have been nice to have these programs in the beginning.

By: Darrell Clakley

Darrell Clakley — Thu, 21 May 2009 19:58:56 +0000

I have used a myriad of programs, but the one I liked best is no longer out–Generations. It was easy to use and had enough features to satisfy most anyone. It was especially easy to use the source feature. I use Legacy now, but I do not like the way it does source citations.

By: Charles Sudweeks

Charles Sudweeks — Tue, 19 May 2009 03:45:12 +0000

I have used PAF for years and like the way everything works. I am currently using PAF 5.2
Since there are new things coming out that I want to do I have elected to go to Ancestral Quest 12.1. AQ is actually the grandfather of PAF for windows. All of the screens look the same as PAF and most of the functions work the same with many new enhancements. AQ also has links directly to Ancestry.com and the “New Family Search” so you can go directly to these areas and back to AQ.