Magazine article compares genealogy software programs

Genealogists should always compile their genealogy when they can in a genealogy software program, mainly to keep track of various kinfolk and how they are related to each other.

The January/February issue of Family Tree magazine includes “Data Entry,” by Rick Crume, covering several topics related to putting your data into a genealogy program, including style, consistency for names, dates, places and foreign languages.

Crume included a chart that compares what he considers the five major genealogy software programs by price and his comments. The five are, in alphabetical order: Ancestral Quest 16 (ancquest. com) $34.95, which he says it is very similar to the old PAF (Personal Ancestry File) program that many liked. There is also a free basic version.

Family Tree Builder (myHeritage.com/family-tree-builder) is free, but I guess one has to be on MyHeritage.com to use it. Crume says it automatically searches for matches on MyHeritage and FamilySearch.org, and syncs with trees on MyHeritage.

The third one is Family Tree Maker 2019 (mackiev.com/ftm) at $79.95 and is the favorite of a lot my friends. Crume points out that it offers hints from Ancestry.com, syncs with family trees on that site and has lots of good charts and reports built in.

Legacy Family Tree 9.0 (legacyfamilytree.com) at $34.95 is the fourth listed program. There is also a free standard edition. This program searches for data through a number of sites including Find a Grave, Findmypast, GenealogyBank and MyHeritage.

The last program is Roots Magic 8 (rootsmagic.com) at $39.95, which has easy editing and navigating and offers hints from various places as do the others above. It can share family tree data with Ancestry. com and FamilySearch. org. There is also a free “essentials” version.

You should beware of any sharing, keep control over your data, have your information on a standalone program that you control, and a backup.

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