A bit of experience and expertise required.

I have always known who I am and where I came from - that is not the problem.

My wife's mother-in-law is now the last of her generation in that side of the family. All the memories and recollections are in her head alone. She has recently discovered that her heart is failing and that she has about a year to live.

I was tasked with gathering all this information (and more) and record it before it is too late. The idea was that I should gather it and, once finished, burn it onto CDs and distribute to all the family members.

This is my problem: What is the best programme to do this? That is to say, which will display it best?

I require something that can be put into a computer and will display without having to install extra programmes onto their computers.

I am using "Simple Family Tree v1.32" to gather all the information. It is OK and does the job, but is very limited. I would like to upgrade to something that is a bit more intuitive and has a few extra features - especially a better display function. The only advantage it has that I can see is that it is stand alone. That is to say that the whole programme and data could be on CD or a memory stick.

I am looking at "Family Tree Legends", but their site is slow to load in the extreme and I can't get their Q & As to work.

Also there is, "Legacy Family Tree v7.5", but the site wants me to buy the deluxe edition.

Both of these are free down loads. I don't mind paying for a programme, but it has to give me the features that I need.

So these are the questions - What is the best programme for data gathering and for display? What do you use? What would you use, if you could afford it? And what would you recommend?

Thanks -

Regards

Chas