I begin using PAF many years ago. I now use Ancestry Quest and am very happy with it. The programs are very similar in adding data. You do not need to create a gedcom file first. Ancestry Quest will open a PAF file. You can use it as a paf file or Ancestry Quest has an option to convert it to the Ancestry Quest Format. With the AQ format you have more options. I have a paid version. I has a flash screen the gives the latest news and check to see if you version is up to date. I can be set to show each time you open AQ or only once a week. Hope this help. Most updates are free.