Geneaology Software

[4DeeperJoy]

Interested in reviews of software that you all use to manage family tree information. What's worth the money? Which bells and whistle are really useful and which are too much work to maintain? Doing some comparison shopping. Thanks!

[luvmynaps]

I bought the Family Tree Maker software from ancestry.com (http://store.ancestry.com/ProductDetail.aspx?p=mfsku4751(shops)&PT=Software%2fFamily+Tree(shops)) back in 2005 and I love it. I didn't do the ancestry subscription with it because I could go to any public library and look at the information for free and the state archives was fairly close if I needed more info. It has been an awesome way to record information and once you get the fields populated, you can organize it any way you want. One of the cool thing is the book making feature. I used all the pictures I uploaded, stories, notes, and bio info to create a book for my family reunion last year. All I had to do was click a couple of buttons, and whalo! I saved it as a pdf and uploaded to kinkos website for printing. Unfortunately, I haven't been on my geneaology game hardcore for the last 2 or 3 years so I can't remember all of the bells and whistles, but I hope that helped.

[SweetHoneyLocs]

I have not purchased one yet. However, I do know of two free ones that are really good and can connect you to other trees just like ones you purchase. They are:

www.tribalpages.com

www.geni.com

[4DeeperJoy]

Hey you two, thanks for the advice. I'll look into all the options.