[Ger-Poland-Volhynia] Software recomendations

[Gary Warner]

Richard,

Each person may want different things from their genealogy program, so 
any review of the different programs is going to be biased by the 
reviewer, based on what they want from the software.    I have used 
several programs over more than a dozen years, and of the ones used or 
reviewed (PAF, Reunion and Family Tree Maker), I find Legacy 
(http://www.legacyfamilytree.com/DownloadLegacy.asp) the best by far.   
But then perhaps my needs are different than yours?

I like Legacy for the following reasons:

1.  The standard version, which is adequate for most users, is free.

2.  The Deluxe version, which has many features that I use daily, is 
$29.95 US.   It is the same program as the standard version, but when 
you pay for the license, you get an unlock code that allows the Deluxe 
features to be used.

3.  Legacy has a policy of one license per family, so even if that 
family has a dozen computers, there is only one license required.

4.  Legacy has master lists that easily allow global changes to location 
names, surnames and other items.  I find these master lists exceedingly 
useful to correct and combine multiple versions of the same location or 
surname.

5.  Legacy has auto-complete fields, so that once you enter a surname or 
location, you only need to type enough of the surname or location so 
that the place you previously entered shows- perfect for keeping errors 
out of your data.

6.  Legacy has an excellent merge routine so that you are allowed to 
truly merge two records, and not just create alternate data, which most 
other genealogy programs do.

7.  Legacy has potential problems lists that list records that might 
show a bad date, a relationship that could not exist (like a child born 
after the mother is deceased), children born after the parents have been 
married more than 25 years, etc.

8.  Legacy can show relationships to anyone in the database, either in 
the family view, or even in the name list.   So, for instance, I can 
scroll through the name list and see immediately how everyone in my 
database is related to me.

9.  Legacy allows you to export only parts of your data to someone 
else.   That is extremely helpful when you want to send data only only a 
specific line of your data to a relative.

10.  Legacy allows you to color code the different branches of your 
family tree for easy recognition.

11.  Legacy allows you to made all of your direct ancestors show in bold 
print in any name list or listing of children, so you can easily 
navigate up and down your pedigree in the family view.

12.  Legacy allows you to see any location you enter on a map, and also 
allows you to enter the coordinates for that location so that there is 
no question which village you are using in your data. Very useful in 
Poland and any other location where the same village name DOES appear 
many times, even in the same county.

13.  Legacy allows you to color code each gender to a different color, 
including a color for unknown gender.   Very useful when looking at 
lists of names and you see that a male name shows up with a female color.

14.  Legacy is fully coordinated with the Family Search Internet 
program, and allows you to upload data to that website, and also to 
download data directly into your Legacy database without any typing of 
the data exchanged.   This site was once only for members of The Church 
of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons), but is now open to the 
public, and all are encouraged to use it.   It contains data on millions 
and millions of persons.  As in all databases, you need to review any 
data downloaded to make sure it makes sense.

15.  Forgot to mention earlier that all updates for any given version of 
Legacy (currently version 8) are free.   This is true for both the 
standard free version, and the Deluxe version.   A new version comes out 
every few years, but the updates come out as often as needed to enhance 
or debug the software.   Most other genealogy programs require you to 
pay for each update, no matter how small the change from the previous 
version.

16.  Legacy runs in a window that is continuously scalable.   Thus, if 
the font is too small for your eyes, you can make the window larger, and 
the font will also get bigger.

There is lots more that Legacy does, and I probably forgot some 
important features, but this is what came to mind in the last few minutes.

Gary Warner
SGGEE Databases Manager- currently using Legacy for the SGGEE database 
of more than 527,000 names.


On 12/29/2014 9:37 AM, Richard Boltz wrote:
> Looking for suggestions for software.  I have been using Ancestry.com for
> research and entering data, photos, comments , etc.  I now realize that I
> am tied to Ancestry forever for access to my work.  Their Family Tree Maker
> looked like a great option because it said it syncs your software, say on
> my PC, with the online information. I assume that all the information is
> downloaded to my PC.  Looking at some reviews of the latest version were
> not so positive.   Thanks for any help.
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