What are the advantages of having the software for my tree, is it necessary ? At this time I only use the ancestry.com site

First you should look at other threads on this board and other boards that ask the same exact question for a lot of opinions.

http://boards.ancestry.com/topics.software.general/2311/mb.a...

For me I think that if all you have is an online tree you run the risk of loosing your data if the company goes belly up. You data may be less secure on the internet.

Most online trees don't have very good reports so if you want paper or books you may not get them online.

If you have stuff online, only put people that are 100 years old or older. Some people that are alive may not want their data placed on someones database where potentially anyone could see it.

FTM can literally do 100s of things that the online AMT cannot do, eg charts, reports, books, places, sources, media, etc.

I regard the AMT as an excellent extension of the Publish capability in FTM

IMO you get the best out of your family history by using both in combination

John D

Sorry to be so terce before.

One of my most important reasons for having a desktop application is that I can take it with me everywhere. When I travel to various library stacks, history centers and foreign countries, (I travel every year to some place my family has been or reports to have lived). Internet access can be expensive via moble phone, so plugging in for 8 or 10 hrs at a library to record and retrieve information is important. Also when I show off my information to potential family or helpers they like seeing it on my laptop rather than the internet.

ok - think I have this correct, FTM is Family Tree Maker but what is AMT & IMO ? If I purchase FTM it cam be downloaded from Ancestry .com ? Does it take up a lot of room on one's computer? I do agree if something happened to this site all would be lost. Does FTM also download all of the pictures I have ?

What software do you use ?

Do you mean information from this site that others may obtain ?