SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH - Beginning Monday morning June 28 -- just five weeks after the launch of its top-rated new Internet genealogy service -- The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is offering free downloads of Personal Ancestral File™ 4.0, a new Windows-based version of its popular genealogical management program for home computers.

The new software program is available free of charge via the Internet at www.familysearch.org.

PAF 4.0 does not provide genealogical data. Instead, the program helps users organize their family history records. It can produce, in automated or manual form, records for personal family histories or charts and logs to help users in their search for missing ancestors. It also includes new multimedia features and enhances the more popular features of PAF 3.0.

System Requirements:

• Windows 95/98/NT version
• IBM compatible 486/66 processor (Pentium recommended)
• 16-32 MB memory
• 20MB hard disk space
• 256-color display adapter supporting 640x480 screen resolution (but optimized for 800x600)
• Internet access (if downloading from Internet)
• CD-ROM (not available until sometime in early 2000)

Personal Ancestral File 4.0 will also be available on CD ROM for a nominal price in early 2000. Users will be able to purchase it from the Church's distribution centers worldwide.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has been gathering genealogical records across the world for more than a century to help its members and others in family history research. Today, the Church is the world leader in family history, operating more than 3,400 Family History Centers worldwide in addition to the huge collection of records at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City.