Genealogy Software
steven...@juno.com
program to keep track of my family tree. What is the best program I
should buy? pros and cons"
Since JewishGen cannot endorse any product(s), I usually respond
directly to the writer. However, I thought that a "generic" response
would be acceptable with JewishGen policy and perhaps preclude the
repeated request. The following is an excerpt of the response I
typically send out.
Your choice of which software program to use will be determined by how
"serious" a researcher you are, your comfort with the way each program
works and your pocketbook. Most are affordable and several are shareware
which allows you to test them before you spend any money.
Many people outgrow the intro programs within a year or two and then
have to transfer their data to another program. It is worth the
investment of time to try several before you put in too much time
entering your data into a program that you'll be unsatisfied with.
There is no *best* program!! Readers of the JewishGen Discussion Group
are using a wide variety of programs. The choice of what to purchase
depends upon what *you* want to do. Some people merely want to know the
family relationships so they can draw the familiar "tree". Everyone
includes at least basic BMD (Birth/Marriage/Death) data. Others want to
include locations for these events. Still others want to record many
other events in each individual's life. This may include photographs or
even sound recordings.
Some want to be "more professional" and record where they obtained each
piece of information and how reliable (surety) they consider it to be.
Then comes the question of what you plan to *do* with this data. Do you
want to write a family history book? Some programs automatically create
basic sentences from the data you provide. These can be exported to a
word processor and polished for publication.
For the PC, many of the better programs can be examined for free to
assist you in making your decision. Shareware programs, like Brother's
Keeper and Cumberland Family Tree, allow total testing. Mid-range
programs, like Family Origins and Family Tree Maker, also have demos that
allow you to work with up to about 20-25 people in a family. Top of the
line programs, like Generations (the PC version of Reunion) and The
Master Genealogist offer many more bells and whistles that you may or may
not like/want.
I cannot comment on Ilanot, the only Hebrew oriented package, because
they would not provide any sort of trial or demo of their software for
review. At this time, it is the only one capable of easily printing in
Hebrew (assuming you have the fonts available).
Finally, do _not_ be swayed by the added CDs of data that accompany some
of the programs. Most are worthless for Jewish genealogists and others
have equivalent (and more up-to-date) information available on-line.
I hope this will get you started in your decision. My strongest advice
is to "try it before you buy it" one way or other. The features may not
be as important as the ease of working with the different screens for
entering and recalling your data. This is often a personal preference.
If you have other specific questions, don't hesitate to drop me a line.
Steven Chall in Minneapolis, MN =[;-)
PS Here is an alphabetical listing of a few of the programs that are
available. There are several other programs that may be better choices
for non-english speaking areas.
A&D - Ancestors and Descendants (~$50)
http://www.aia-and.com
AQ - Ancestral Quest (~$45 - $55)
http://www.ancestralquest.com
BK - Brother's Keeper (~$50) shareware
http://www.brotherskeeper.com
CFT - Cumberland Family Tree (shareware ~$45)
http://www.cf-software.com
FM - Family Matters ($25 shareware)
http://www.matterware.com
FO - Family Origins (~$30 - $50)
http://www.familyorigins.com
FTM - Family Tree Maker (~$20 - $70)
http://www.familytreemaker.com
Generations (~$50)
http://www.sierra.com/sierrahome/software/catalog/familytree
Heritage (for Mac)
http://www.eskimo.com/%7Egrandine/heritage.html
Ilanot - Hebrew capability (~$40)
http://www.jewishstore.com/Software/Ilanot.htm
KK - Kindred Konnections (free)
http://www.kindredkonnections.com
Legacy (~$50)
http://www.legacyfamilytree.com
PAF - Personal Ancestral File (free)
http://www.ldscatalog.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/CategoryDisplay?
cgrfnbr=373032&cgmenbr=1402&CGRY_NUM=1678&RoxStart=1&LocCode=FH
TMG - The Master Genealogist (~$80)
http://www.whollygenes.com
UFT - Ultimate Family Tree has been discontinued
MODERATOR NOTE: Also check JewishGen FAQ under "Computer Software"
at: http://www.jewishgen.org/infofiles/faq.html#Computers
Discussions of specific programs should be carried on privately.
mailto:steven...@juno.com
---
Questions about Jewish Genealogy?
See the JewishGen FAQ ("Frequently Asked Questions"):
<http://www.jewishgen.org/infofiles/faq.html>
or find it and links to all our projects and programs
on the JewishGen website: <http://www.jewishgen.org>.
ai...@mail.actcom.co.il
>
> I cannot comment on Ilanot, the only Hebrew oriented package,
> because they would not provide any sort of trial or demo of their
> software for review. At this time, it is the only one capable of
> easily printing in Hebrew (assuming you have the fonts available).
>
I realize that JewishGen cannot advertise or advocate specific
software packages and I am not doing so now. At the same time I
don't think it is fair for JewishGen to publish a statement such as
the above without checking thoroughly. There is another package for
Jewish genealogy called DoroTree which, while not perfect, does
provide for many of the needs of the Jewish genealogist. The
current version is 1.55 and more revisions can be expected. More
information can be found on its website: http://www.dorotree.co.il
Needless to say I have no interest, commercial or otherwise, in
DoroTree except as a potential user.
Abe
Abraham & Shulamith Lebowitz (Har Nof-Jerusalem) ai...@actcom.co.il
Che la pace sia fra le tue mure, o Gerusalemme, e la tranquillita'
nei tuoi palazzi. Per l'amore dei miei fratelli e dei miei amici
io ripetero': la pace sia con te.
E LA PACE SIA CON VOI!
Searching:
BLOCH, AARONSON, HIRSCHFELD, KLINKOWSTEJN - Suwalki Gubernya
WAXMAN, RIVIN - Starobin, Slutzk, Belarus
SCHWARTZ - Shidlove, Lithuania
PREIL - Birziai, Krakes (Krok) Lithuania
LEBOWITZ, SAMOWITZ - Ungvar (Uzhgorod)
FRISCH - Budapest
For further details point your browser at:
http://www.geocities.com/CollegePark/Library/8798/
MODERATOR NOTE: Thank you for pointing out this oversite. JG does not
have the personnel or facilities to check every piece of information in
messages posted in this forum.
mailto:
Sue Kahana
it's unfair to say that there are only one or two programs that handle
Hebrew. We use both Brother's Keeper and Family Tree Maker, and both
of them have no problem, at least under Win 95/Win 98 Hebrew Enabled,
in handling Hebrew names.
The statement was a bit sweeping.....:)
Sue
On 28 Jul 2000 19:35:44 -0700, ai...@mail.actcom.co.il wrote:
>On 22 Jul 00 at 9:32, steven...@juno.com wrote:
>>
>> I cannot comment on Ilanot, the only Hebrew oriented package,
>> because they would not provide any sort of trial or demo of their
>> software for review. At this time, it is the only one capable of
>> easily printing in Hebrew (assuming you have the fonts available).
>>
>
mailto:
Bill Rubin
difference between accepting Hebrew in fields and 'handling' Hebrew.
You can see an example of this if you download a demo of Dorotree from
their web site: www.dorotree.com or www.dorotree.co.il
Sincerely,
-Bill Rubin
Arlington, MA
Sue Kahana wrote:
> Again, I have no interest, commercial or otherwise, but I think that
> it's unfair to say that there are only one or two programs that handle
> Hebrew. We use both Brother's Keeper and Family Tree Maker, and both
> of them have no problem, at least under Win 95/Win 98 Hebrew Enabled,
> in handling Hebrew names.
>
> The statement was a bit sweeping.....:)
>
> Sue
mailto: