Microsoft Word 2007

Genealogy Software

Name of Genealogy Software Program: 

Date of purchase: 

Your Experience Level 

Other Genealogy Software I've Used or Tried 

Family Tree Maker

Biggest Pro 

You can write whatever you want and show many names in one document.

Biggest Con 

You have to sort of "format" it yourself.

My Review 

MS Word (or other word processor) allows you to set up a family history the way you want. There are no "blanks" when you don't know a date, etc.

It is also much easier to deal with mediaeval names such as "Robert the Strong" (d. 866) Instead of having to enter:

First Name: Robert

Last Name: TheStrong

and then having the result appear somewhere else as "TheStrong, Robert" and so on. Instead, you are in charge! You type "Robert The Strong" and that is how it stays.

Typing up your own family record allows you to show a long line on one document. Most genealogy programmes seem to be a database which involves moving from record to record.

I like the general format used by Sir James Balfour Paul in "The Scots Peerage." To see this format, try downloading "The Scots Peerage" at the bottom of this page:

http://www.electricscotland.com/books/pdf/scots_peerage.htm

To see my pages, try a PDF document from:

http://www.robertsewell.ca/pdf/

Formatting with MS Word isn't a problem. Once you have one generation in a format you like, simply use the "format painter" to apply the same format to the rest of your work.

Would you recommend this to a friend?