Major genealogy software releases and news by year. Note: This is very much a work-in-progress as events are expanded upon, additional information is added, and dates are clarified. If you have any suggestions, please contact us!
| Year | Event / News | |
|---|---|---|
| 1979-Sept | John J. Armstrong publishes Genealogy: Compiling Roots and Branches, in the September issue of Personal Computing Magazine. The program sold for $250, and the source code was listed in the magazine. | |
| 1980 | COMMSOFT founded, would later create genealogy programs. | |
| 1980 |  | ROOTS89, a genealogy program for the Heath Disk Operating System, started development by Herb Drake / COMMSOFT |
| 1981-July |  | Genealogical Computing Magazine first published by Paul Andereck |
| 1981-April | | ROOTS89 demonstrated and released at the West Coast Computer Faire in San Francisco |
| 1981 | ROOTS/M released for CP/M systems. | |
| 1983 | Fox Research (original developers of FoxBASE and later FoxPro) was founded | |
| 1983 | Ancestry, Inc. founded (aka Ancestry.com) | |
| 1983 |  | AnArkiv (Swedish) released for Commodore 64, DOS (Windows version in 1992) |
| 1983 |  | Personal Ancestral File 1.0 (PAF) Released for IBM PC. Written in BASIC |
| 1984 |  | Leister Productions, Inc. founded by Frank Leiser (produced Reunion) |
| 1984 | 1st Edition of The Source: A Guidebook of American Genealogy, published by Ancestry, Inc. | |
| 1984-May |  | Roots II released by Commsoft, introduced at the 1984 National Genealogical Society Conference in San Francisco. |
| 1984 |  | GEDCOM 1.0 proposed. |
| 1984 | Paul Andereck proposed the concept of a Tiny Tale in Genealogical Computing Magazine. | |
| 1984-Dec | FoxBASE’s first version was released. FoxBASE was a programming language/Database Management System (DBMS) that would form the basis of later databases (FoxPro) and of many early genealogy programs and its influence/platform would last through the 2010s | |
| 1985-Dec | | GEDCOM 2.0 standard released. |
| 1986 | | Personal Ancestral File 2.0 (PAF 2.0) Released for DOS, Apple II, CP/M, 1st with GEDCOM (2.0) support. |
| 1986-Oct-14 |  | The FormalWare Co. founded, later FormalSoft, and then RootsMagic, Inc. |
| 1987-Feb | | GEDCOM 2.1 Standard (matched PAF 2.1) |
| 1987 |  | Pedigree released for DOS |
| 1987-June | National Genealogical Conference (NGC) of bulletin board systems (BBS) was founded to run the Tafel Matching System (TMS) on a BBS. | |
| 1987-Oct-09 | | GEDCOM 3.0 Standard, lineage-linked forms |
| 1988 |  | Andata (Swedish) released for DOS |
| 1988 |  | Brother’s Keeper 1.0 released for DOS |
| 1988 | | Reunion released for Apple Macs running HyperCard |
| 1988 | PERsi published (Periodical Source Index) | |
| 1988 | | ROOTS III Announced/introduced at the NGS Conference in Biloxi, Mississippi, it was the last genealogy program written by Herb Drake (Howard Nurse took over). |
| 1989 |  | Family Tree Maker 1.0 for DOS Released (Banner Blue Software) |
| 1989-Aug-4 | | GEDCOM 4.0 Standard |
| 1990 |  | LifeLines 1.0 initially created (privately) |
| 1991 |  | The Master Genealogist released. |
| 1991 |  | Cumberland Family Tree released for DOS |
| 1991-Sep-25 | | GEDCOM 5.0 lineage-linked structures |
| 1991 | AncestraLink Genealogy Software released by FormalSoft (later RootsMagic) | |
| 1992-March | COMMSOFT granted a patent for a ROOTS III process to automatically manage footnote references in printed reports. | |
| 1992 | Family Origins released, developed by FormalSoft, published by Parsons Technology. | |
| 1992 | | LifeLines 2.0 Released – First Public Release of LifeLines, Cross-Platform |
| 1992-Sep-18 | | GEDCOM 5.1 drafted |
| 1993 |  | The Master Genealogist v1 – First official release (DOS) |
| 1993 | GenBox appeared as a DOS-based chart-printing utility, developed by William T. Flight, President of Thoughtful Creations | |
| 1993 |  | HTML (Hyper-Text Markup Language) invented/released (the web as we know it!) |
| 1993 |  | Kith and Kin/Of That Ilk – First release for Windows 3.1 |
| 1993-Oct | | ROOTS IV released, based on an event model. Demonstrated at the National Genealogical Society Conference in June, 1994. |
| 1993-Nov-04 | | GEDCOM 5.3 drafted, Unicode, multimedia, schema (abandoned) |
| 1994 | Banner Blue Software purchased Automated Archives and gets into the genealogical data CD business alongside its Family Tree Maker business. | |
| 1994 |  | Ancestral Quest released for Windows 3.x |
| 1994 |  | Heredis, a Windows and Mac genealogy program was released. |
| 1994-Sep-30 | | Personal Ancestral File 2.31 (PAF 2.31) released for DOS and Macintosh- last version for Macintosh (OS 8.5 – IS 9.2.2) |
| 1994-Oct | Event GEDCOM 1.0 released by COMMSOFT, allows lineage- and event-linked genealogy programs to communicate with one another. | |
| 1994-Oct-12 | | LifeLines 3.0 Released – Cross-Platform (Linux/Windows/Mac) |
| 1995 | | Broderbund Software purchases Banner Blue Software (Family Tree Maker, Automated Archives) |
| 1995 |  | Progeny Software (later Progeny Genealogy Inc.) Founded by Pierre Clouthier and Robert P. “Bob” Thomas in Nova Scotia, Canada. Focuses on genealogy charting software. |
| 1995-Aug | Visual ROOTS released by COMMSOFT for Windows | |
| 1995-Aug-21 | | GEDCOM 5.4 draft, citation-source-repository model |
| 1995-Dec-11 | | GEDCOM 5.5 standard released, structured addresses |
| 1996-Jan-02 | | GEDCOM 5.5 with errata standard released, errata sheet on Jan 10. |
| 1996 | A little genealogical index on the internet, Cyndi’s List, is started. | |
| 1996 | RootsWeb was founded. | |
| 1996 |  | LifeLog Corporation founded by Alden Gray to develop Genelines. |
| 1996-Nov-11 |  | Personal Ancestral File Companion (PAF Companion) Released. Later replaced by/became Charting Companion. |
| 1996-Dec | ROOTS V, released by COMMSOFT | |
| 1997-May | COMMSOFT sold Roots genealogy software line to Palladium, and ROOTS V became Ultimate Family Tree. Ultimately sold to Genealogy.com, LLC | |
| 1997-May | | Personal Ancestral File 3.0 (PAF 3.0) released for DOS, first PAF to support GEDCOM 5.5 |
| 1997 |  | Legacy Family Tree 1.0 released for Windows |
| 1997 | PBS’s Ancestors airs on public television in the US. One of the first widespread genealogical-related TV shows seen in the US (arguably the series Roots started it all) | |
| 1998 |  | GenoPro released for Windows |
| 1998-Aug-10 |  | MacStammBaum / MacFamilyTree released by OnlyMac Software (later Synium Software) for 68k Macs (1.6 would see PowerMac support) |
| 1998-April | The Learning Company, Inc. (subsidiary Mindscape) purchased the “Family Heritage” software line from IMSI (International Microcomputer Software, Inc.) | |
| 1998 |  | GEDitCOM 1.0 Released for Mac |
| 1998 | | The Learning Company purchases Broderbund (Family Tree Maker) |
| 1998-Dec-01 | The Learning Company acquires Palladium Interactive, owner of Ultimate Family Tree (UFT) genealogy software, and now owns UFT and FTM. | |
| 1998-Dec-11 | | Genelines – Genealogy Charting Software for Windows 95/98/NT, Works with PAF 3.0, Family Tree Maker 4.x, and Family Tree Maker 5.0 |
| 1999 |  | HuMo-genealogy, an online genealogy platform, first released. |
| 1999 | Mattel, Inc. (the toy company) purchases The Learning Company. | |
| 1999 | Genealogy.com, LLC, based upon the Broderbund and Palladium genealogy software acquisitions, is founded by Mattel, Inc. with Thomas H. Lee Partners, Weston Presidio Capital, A&E Television Networks and Hearst Interactive Media | |
| 1999-Jun-28 | | Personal Ancestral File 4.0 (PAF 4.0) Released, based upon Ancestral Quest 3.0, supported GEDCOM 5.5, first Windows version of PAF |
| 1999-Oct-02 | | GEDCOM 5.5.1 standard released, UTF-8, email, URLs, geographic coordinates |
| 2000-Nov | | Personal Ancestral File 5.0 (PAF 5.0) released – first Unicode version |
| 2000-Dec-18 | | GEDCOM 5.5.2 unpublished draft, GEDXML |
| 2001 |  | GRAMPS, the open-source, cross-platform (Linux, Mac, Windows) genealogy app is launched. |
| 2001 |  | The Next Generation of Genealogy Sitebuilding 1.0 Released, TNG is an online genealogy platform. |
| 2002 – July 23 | | Personal Ancestral File 5.2.18.0 (PAF 5.2.18.0) released (last update to PAF) |
| 2001 |  | Ahnenblatt first released. |
| 2001-Feb-01 | | A&E Television Network (formerly an investor in Genealogy.com) acquired Genealogy.com, the producer of Family Tree Maker. This was the sixth administrative transfer of the company since the early 1980s. (Source: Genealogical Computing, Spring 2001) |
| 2002 |  | Family Historian first released (Windows) |
| 2007-Mar | Visual FoxPro discontinued by Microsoft. This hurt quite a few genealogy programs that had been using FoxPro as their database system. | |
| 2009-June-7 |  | GEDitCOM II 1.0 released for Mac OS X |
| 2010-Dec-02 |  | Family Tree Builder 5.0 Released – Added “Tree Consistency Checker”, To-Do lists, improved privacy controls, DNA marker entry + many more |
| 2011-June-1 | | Family Tree Builder 5.1 – Improved/Added importing from other genealogy programs |
| 2014 |  | Family Tree Legends Discontinued by MyHeritage |
| 2013-July-15 | | PAF Companion 6 replaced by Charting Companion |
| 2013-July-15 | | Personal Ancestral File 5.2 (PAF 5.2) formally discontinued. |
| 2014-Dec-31 |  | The Master Genealogist Discontinued – TMG 9.0.5, released 2014-12-03, is the last version. |
| 2015-Sep |  | Robin Lamacraft works to start the History Research Environment (HRE), which is an open source history and genealogy research platform to be used as a path forward by The Master Genealogist users. Wholly Genes (Bob Velke) has given them permission to use non-source code aspects of TMG. |
| 2018-May-10 | | GEDCOM 5.5.1 AE Special Release, Annotated Edition, annotations & corrections |
| 2019-Oct-02 | | GEDCOM 5.5.5 Standard released, Maintenance release. |
| 2020-Mar-02 | RootsWeb – the Mailing Lists functionality was discontinued. Users can no longer send outgoing emails or accept incoming emails. Mailing lists were put into an archival state, and mailing list archives will remain available and searchable on RootsWeb. (sort of) | |
| 2021-Feb | | GEDCOM 7.0.0-rc1 Draft, revealed at RootsTech 2021. Info, specifications, web site removed on 25 February 2021 |
| 2021-May-27 | | GEDCOM 7.0 released, Modernized character encoding, symantic versioning, improved multimedia handling. |
| 2021-Aug-09 | WorldConnect family trees (RootsWeb) – last updated. | |
| 2023-Apr-15 | WorldConnect family trees (RootsWeb) are retired and moved to Ancestry.com as a free-access collection. | |
| 2023-May-01 | RootsWeb Mailing List/Archives are retired and supposed to bemigrated to an alternative, free platform, with a link provided by RootsWeb. | |
| 2023-Aug-04 | | GEDCOM 7.0.13 released. |