Brother's Keeper 6

Brother's Keeper 6 (BK6) is available online now as 'try before you buy' shareware. Once you have paid, you get the current version on CD with a printed manual and an instructional video, and free technical support. The program is under continuous development with minor upgrades available online.

An individual is identified by name, father, mother, and spouse. Clicking on these names takes you to the person's edit screen. Beneath each of seven tabs are listings for events/facts; children; notes; pictures; address (including email and web); other names; and siblings. The data in these views can be edited directly and you can also import any existing GEDCOM files you may already have.

A variety of reports can be displayed or printed. Descendants can be shown on tree or box charts, as well as in listings. There is a 'book' report that generates a narrative report - this is not like Legacy's or Family Tree Maker's, which allow you to add other native or external material. Ancestor reports also embrace charts and lists.

For the enthusiast, BK6 has two exceptional features. Not only does it come in more than ten different laguages but it offers an overall greater capacity for data storage than its competitors - although this can sometimes exceed the bounds of probability. The program allows for the entry of over 100 different events; up to 999 pictures and 999 text files for each person and marriage; up to 100 marriages with 75 children each; and up to 10 million people all together.

Navigating through BK6 is not as easy as most of its competitors, but it's an ideal program for large family trees and those sufficiently familiar with computing to use the help available.

BK needs Windows 95 to XP and 8MB of RAM.

Available for £39.95 including manual from S&N Genealogy Supplies (tel. 01722 716121 or go to www.genealogysupplies.com).