Here are the select set of resources you’ll need to explore your family’s history.
Start with Software
Your genealogy software is the repository for all the information you discover. It’s the main tool in your genealogy toolbox. Which one you choose will likely depend primarily on whether you use a Windows PC or a Mac.
Already Have Software?
Top Free Genealogy Software for Mac Genealogy is a term which is used to refer to family history and deals with tracing family history and lineages. This process has been in practice for many years but these days, people make use of softwares to discover their lineage. Free is good but there are drawbacks though when it comes to such a genealogy software program. Therefore you will need to make up your mind which program is right for you based on these considerations. Operating system that the program will on, either Windows or Mac. Limitations of the free programs, except for Gramps.
Handy indexes of articles and videos by application are linked below for your convenience:
Still Looking for Software?
I’ve also created a couple of buyer’s guides to help you make a choice between software:
See my recommendations in the following sections.
Genealogy Software for Windows
I recommend RootsMagic 7 and Family Historian. There are many good alternatives though.
- Family Historian
- Family Tree Maker 2017
- Legacy Family Tree
- RootsMagic 7
Genealogy Software for Mac
- Family Tree Maker 2017 for Mac
- GEDitCOM II
- iFamily for Leopard
- MacFamilyTree 8 by Synium
- Reunion 12 by Leister Productions
Get Good Books
Setup Folders on Your Computer
You’ll need places to put archival copies of scanned documents, photos, and other files on your computer. This series of video screencasts will walk you, step-by-step, through setting up a folder system and putting files into it. They’re created on a Mac and take advantage of the powerful alias feature in Mac OS X, but most of the system will work well on Windows too.
Get Information About Your Ancestors
Not all of the information about your relatives is online, so you’ll need to do some sleuthing in the real world. But, there is a wealth of information available online. My advice to you is to consider everything, but only trust it after you prove it. That said, these online databases provide a great source of leads! There’s some overlap between the records on these sites and they each have treasured family history that the others won’t. You can search for free to get an idea which holds the most (and most interesting) genealogy data for your ancestors.
- Fold3.com (Military Records)
- Newspapers.com
- NewspaperARCHIVES.com
- Find out how you are related to the rest of humanity at OneGreatFamily
There are tons more sites, but I want to keep this concise so that it’s most useful for you.
Get a DNA Test
Name: GenealogyJ
Current Version: GenealogyJ 3.0 (stable)
Last Updated: 18 February 2010 (2014 build available)
Developer/Publisher:GenJ.SourceForge.net
Type:Mac Genealogy Software
Requires: Mac OS X 10.5 or later and Java VM 1.6
Purchase / Download Options:
Price: Free / Open Source (GNU GPL)
Location:genj.SourceForget.net/wiki/en/download
Mac Os Genealogy Software
iPad / iPhone / iPod touch Mobile Version? No
Mac OS X Lion Support: Runs under Mac OS X 10.7 Lion
Software Requirements: Java Virtual Machine 1.6, Mac OS X 10.5, Windows, Linux, Solaris
Hardware Requirements: See the software requirements
Older Macs: See the software requirements
GEDCOM Support: Yes – ANSEL, ANSI, ASCII, LATIN1, UTF-8, UNICODE
Unicode GEDCOM Support: Yes
LDS Ordinance/TempleReady Support: No
Web Page/HTML Creation and Support: Yes
Supported Languages: English, Possibly German, French, Russian, Spanish, Polish, Hungarian, Norwegian
Developer’s Description
GenealogyJ is a viewer and editor for genealogic data, suitable for hobbyist, family historian and genealogy researcher. GenJ supports the Gedcom standard, is written in Java and offers family tree, table, timeline views and more. GenJ is free software so it can be redistributed and/or be modified under the terms of the GNU General Public Licence as published by the Free Software Foundation.
Features
– GEDCOM validation built-in
– Supports Google Maps
– Date Calculator
Notes
Cross-Platform, Java-based. Supports several OSes.
Other Useful Links
– GenealogyJ Help Wiki
– GenealogyJ Forums at SourceForge
Release History
– Build 6755 – January 2012 – Maybe GenealogyJ 3.1
– Version 3.0 – 18 February 2010
– Version 3.1 Revision 6551 – 18 May 2010 (beta/build development version)
– Older page on GenealogyJ Version 2.4.3 – February 2007
– GenealogyJ 2.4 – 27 Feb 2006
– GenealogyJ 2.3.2 – 5 February 2005
Gallery
Main View – Table
Genealogy Software Mac Download Mac