Then you can use whatever Windows genealogy program you want, as long as you have a licensed copy of Windows and the program. Lastly, you have the option of running Windows on your Mac, either using Boot Camp (if you have an Intel-based Mac) or something like VirtualBox (which is what I use). Be sure also to try importing your entire file, just to make sure it can do so without crashing or having any serious problems. But any decent program will produce a report telling you what problems it found in the GEDCOM. Unfortunately, the GEDCOM file standard isn’t followed very well by many programs, and they will either ignore some of your GEDCOM file that FTMM produces or they will mishandle it. Use records that are representative of your tree, but also use records that represent unusual cases, like having lots of spouses, adoptions, alternate names, alternate events, Evidence Explained source templates, or anything else that’s important to you. If you try out something else, I recommend importing a small subset of your data to see how well it imports. At least Gramps tells you what will happen when you export to GEDCOM. It also includes many nice features that are not supported by GEDCOM. But since it was built to run on Linux, its interface is not Mac-like. It imported a 33,000-record GEDCOM from FTMM2 without losing any data, despite FTMM’s failure to adhere to the GEDCOM standard. I also like Gramps, which is free and Open Source, which means it’s developed by users. At least it has a demo version, albeit very limited, so you can try it out and see if it has the features you need. It doesn’t integrate with any of the online databases like Ancestry or FamilySearch.

However, Reunion is pricey-$99, and it’s getting a bit dated. I still like Reunion and use it for some tasks like searching in my tree because it’s easier and more powerful than FTMM. But see Tamura Jones’ article, The Most Important Genealogy Software Feature. lists lots of genealogy programs, although not all of them have reviews. You can use Ben’s Feature Comparison Table or to find the features you need (but take the Smart Ratings on the latter with a grain of salt). Then you can check on the web to see which programs meet your requirements. You must first decide what your priorities are.

But I really can’t recommend a genealogy program for other people without knowing what their requirements are. When I tell people I don’t recommend Family Tree Maker for Mac 2, they often ask what I do recommend, which is understandable.

Free gedcom software for mac