Apple Mac Corner        Genealogy programs - Spoiled for Choice!

In his September 2008 Online Genealogy Newsletter, Dick Eastman discussed Genealogy Programs for the Macintosh. 
His full article is here

In his opening remarks he wrote "Macintosh users can feel smug about using the best operating system available today" before reviewing what's available.   Unsurprisingly, he covered:

ReUnion by    Leister Productions       
    (US$90, rather expensive, can export data to an iPod Touch)

Personal Ancestry Writer II            (free, basic)

iFamily for Leopard by Keith Wilson   
    (excellent, US$30, can export data to an iPhone or iPod Touch)

MacFamilyTree    by Synium       
    (US$49, popular in Europe, can export data to an iPhone or iPod Touch)

All of these support GEDCOM import/export.
Comments from Dick's readers added that GEDitCOM, OSK, GenerationX and Heredis and TNG all run on a Mac.
You can find out more about these by using links from our web page
 http://www.gencom.org.nz/programs.htm
Also listed are  Genealogy Pro and Gene.

Dick Eastman went on to point out that you can also run most any Windows program on your Macintosh?
That includes The Master Genealogist, RootsMagic, Legacy Family Tree, Family Tree Maker, and other Windows programs.
That is if you have an Intel Macintosh running Mac OS X Tiger or Leopard.
(I can't imagine why would do that, unless migrating from Windows to Mac)

With so much choice, what are the important features?  They are likely to be influenced by your hardware, screen size, preferred method of working and of sharing your tree, etc..  I suggest that modern genealogy programs will be built around an efficient database, with a excellent user interface/experience.

In my case using an iMac with a 24 inch screen, iFamilyForLeopard stands out.
I like the the large graphical display that allows to see as much of the tree as I want, to have my web browser open alongside, entering and updating data directly onto the display, instantaneous updating of the database.

A good way of sharing your tree is to export it as web pages.  This can uploaded as a web site, but can also be written to a CD or DVD which can be used on any computer.  Some programs allow upload to iPod or iPhone. All of these provide for users to navigate around the tree.

Most of the listed programs offer a free trial (without export options). 
If you discover something that should be mentioned on our Gencom web site, please let us know.

Neville Thomas