Must have software for genealogists

It has been a while since I reviewed the must have list of software I think is either necessary or helpful for a genealogist. Here is the list with the categories of software explained. Please bear in mind that these suggestions are my own personal opinion. I do not have any affiliations with any software companies and my suggestions do not constitute an endorsement of any product or service. I have not received anything (believe me) for giving these opinions and I may change my mind about services or products at anytime. I do not purport to be an expert in any or all of the programs or services listed in this blog post and in reading this post you are proceeding at your own risk. In undertaking this software review you must understand that I am hopelessly opinionated and a dedicated Macintosh user. Anything I might say should be understood in that context and that context alone. I do not use all of the programs I suggest exhaustively, some of them I only use once or twice a day, others are used constantly. If your opinion differs from my own, you are certainly welcome to express your opinion in the comments section of this post. You must also understand that my experience with any one or more of these software programs is hopelessly limited to my own experience and I cannot tell whether you or anyone else would have a similar experience. If for any reason you try one or more of these products and find them to be different than I have represented you can chalk that up to incipient senility and ignore any of my comments. Giving advice about software is liking trying to tell someone who to marry, it is a singularly personal subject and due to the huge selection of possible software choices entirely arbitrary. Any opinions expressed in this review are totally my own since I have been unable to get anyone around me or any of the relatives I am still speaking to, to give me their opinions which were mostly unprintable in any event. If you dare to try any of these programs after I have expressed my opinion, by doing so, you entirely release me, my posterity for six generations and anyone I have ever met in my lifetime from any possible liability associated with following my advice from the creation of the world until the last copyright expires or the end of the world, which ever comes first.

THIS DISCLAIMER IS PRINTED IN CAPITAL LETTERS BECAUSE I ACCIDENTALLY HIT THE CAPS LOCK KEY AND DIDN'T NOTICE IT UNTIL I GOT ALL THE WAY THROUGH THIS PARAGRAPH BUT THEN THE PARAGRAPH LOOKED SO GREAT IN ALL CAPS THAT I LEFT IT THAT WAY ON PURPOSE.

If you or anyone you know, especially any of your near relatives that work for major computer companies or are Internet wizards tell you anything about the programs I review, you should absolutely follow their advice to the letter, because obviously working for a major computer company or being an Internet guru qualifies them completely and compared to my paltry experience they are much more reliable than I am. I am getting sort-of near sighted so the part of this disclaimer that was supposed to be in 6 point type is just going to have to be at the regular normal size because I couldn't tell what I was writing at 6 points.

Further, if you are really interested in any of the products reviewed, I strongly suggest that you try them out extensively before spending the exorbitant purchase prices asked for by the software developers. Some of these programs cost as much as $20 retail and they will not give you refunds or allow you to return the software after you have opened it, so I suggest trying to find a free version or demo version of any of the programs since I know it gives genealogists the hives to actually pay for software. Any and all versions of the software reviewed in this post may also be out-of-date as of the day this post is published due to unannounced updates of the software. I personally disclaim any possible responsibility for reviewing an out-of-date program due to the fact that I am too cheap to buy the upgrade.

I'm sorry I ran out of time to write the reviews. Stay tuned for the next installment of the disclaimer.