An Analysis of Family History Software

June 26, 2011 | Author: | Posted in Geneology

Millions of people every day are researching their family history online and at home, using all different types of software to record their findings. Even the most basic programs have an ancestor view, but what other features should users be on the look out for? Well it all depends on what the user wants to get out of his or her genealogical experience, and what sort of price that person is willing to pay for those features.

Most good family tree programs include a variety of ways to display the information entered. These include the descendant view, which shows the list of descendants of a selected individual, the family view, which shows siblings, children, spouses and parents of the selected person, and a number of printable charts that display the above data, plus lists of sources cited and individuals entered. Thankfully most programs use the GEDCOM (genealogical communication) format which means that even if you change your mind about the genealogy software you are using, transferring your data from one program to another is pretty simple – you won’t have to enter every individual and their facts over again.

Some programs will do all of this for free, whilst others require large outlays of money. Which are the best value for their price? For more information, read my review of a number of the top free and priced softwares.

Author:

Hi Everyone, I'm Poison_kitty. I like all sorts of things like horses, dogs, knitting, cross-stitching and genealogy. I like to talk about all this stuff over at Squidoo, so check out my website for more info.

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