Being only a few steps above computer literate, I hadn't planned to enter this discussion. BUT I will say that my old DOS FTM was a lot less anal retentive than the confounded Windows version. No doubt I will hear from all the technogeeks(of which my son is one!), but I see the FTM files as a more readliy accessible version of what I started out doing with paper files. I pursue the venture as family history, "making the skeleton dance," as one source puts it. These are people whom I want to bring to life. Oh yeah, and BTW they do have a pedigree. Once the story is told, descendants are ready to look at the charts and outlines. Peg