Doing genealogical research is becoming more and more popular worldwide. People undertake their projects for various reasons of course, but no matter why you embark on your search, genealogy software is a great tool that saves you a lot of time. There are lots of different brands of software in the same price and features range. This software makes it easier for you to find the data you are looking for organize and analyze them and make documents for your findings. Most programs also have the well established family tree in their package.

You need to do some research first to find the software that is best for you. Go through review websites and magazines. The 2008 Genealogy Software Review reviews ten different packages on several factors such as usability, features, reporting capability, help and support. You can also get a detailed narrative evaluation of each product. The popular product review website ConsumerSearch.com reviews five top packages. Check out reviews of other users as well, this will help you focus on your own interests and demands. Buying genealogy software is an investment of time and money, so you may as well make an educated choice.

Professionals and hobbyists alike, the right software will make your work more fun and give you better results. You will get less frustrated and you will save time when you want to compile and present your findings. There is one special benefit of the software: the products you can create for organizing your work, documenting your research efforts and make a presentation of your history results.

Let’s say you want an organized checklist of steps in your research that you can print. Such a list helps you keeping track of you moving forward and prevents you forgetting one important thing or another. Or you want ancestor charts with the direct lines of individual ancestors. Or you would like narrative reports on forefathers so the story will be told in a way that is more entertaining. Maybe you’d like a pedigree report, or a graphic timeline that points out people and events, or you’d want a family chart depicting family branches and the relationships that come with them.

So it is clear that before you decide what software to buy, you have to carefully think over what you want, what you need and how you want the presentation of the results of your research.

Keep in mind the following criteria while you look at genealogical software to find the best one for yourself:

Easy use.

Of course you want software that is user-friendly. You want clear instructions, a navigation system that is well laid out and practical forms to enter data into so you save time and effort.

Setup and installation.

Your software must be easy to download and install with simple instructions. Your setup options must be logical and right to the point. No frustrations and confusion or errors you are stuck with for months. You must be sure your computer can handle the program, so check out the type of operation system, the speed of the processor and the graphics card.

Features.

How do you use the software? Perhaps you want more features to help your research and data searches, while you don’t care that much about setting up a family tree or graphics at the end of the research. Or you have already a lot of information and data you want to use. Then you need software that assist you in creating attractive and interesting graphics, charts, maps, and narratives to present your findings.

Software support.

If you are not such a computer wizard you might need a good help function with a glossary, instructions for special tasks that are laid out step-by-step and a way to get in touch with the company that sold you the software so you get answers to your personal questions and help with tasks that are hard to perform.

Modern technology has made genealogical research easier and more rewarding. The right software is a valuable tool to get the best results possible.