Clive, I use Family Tree Maker and I am more than happy with this. I did try a few others but I find FTM has all I want for the family details. Genie

Most of the commercial programs have grown a bit long in the tooth, and are scratching around with trifling "improvements" to try to keep the cashflow moving. FTM is probably the worst example of this - the past 4 or 5 "models" have been rather similar. The worst aspect of FTM is that, if you crash the data, there is no way of recovering it. Yes, there are backup files in there, but they are not always reliable. Legacy is free (don't bother with the deluxe version - the extras are not a lot of use) and is based on Microsoft Access, the database in Microsoft Office. This is usually recoverable after a crash, and (if you know a little bit about databases) you can derive lots of additional info - eg, we did a table of "longest marriages" and a comparison of who had the most multiple marriages (the ladies won, as you might expect - men tend to die earlier than women). If you can see the data, you can use it. RootsMagic is very fast and very capable. Its a program that you might not like at first, but after a while, the strong sensibility of it wins you over, and you are hooked. About US$30, quite reasonable. The Master Genealogist is considered the Rolls Royce of programs, but a real b****** for newbies/first timers. A steep learning curve - give yourself a couple of years using one of the others before going this route. Keep a weather eye open for web-based programs - The Next Generation, PhpGedView spring to mind. These use a database on your ISP's server, and allow users (that you approve) to post collaborative data - work with you, as it were. If you don't approve users making changes, they can at least read the data. A relatively simple way of keeping web sites up to date with not a lot of work. My 2c worth... Paul