1. Mary Ann Barrett September 30, 2005 6:42 am

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   I have used Family Tree Maker for about 16 years. I am always amazed at the things FTM develops to better help us. I would recommend this item to anyone who just getting started in Genealogy or to anyone who has been into charting their past for a long time.

2. rrs January 3, 2006 7:47 pm

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   I’ve used Family Tree Maker for over 7 years – I’ve been through about 4 upgrades and just ordered 2006. It’s reliable and very easy to use; however, I hate the way that it’s incorporated into the web. I give FTM 5-stars for use “off line use” only. I do like the way that FTM interacts with my ancestry.com primary resource information – but, I would hesitate to recommend using this function for non-expert users of FTM. Make sure you do backups of data on a regular basis to be able to revert to an earlier restoration if your data becomes inaccurate/unstable.

   I like the way that FTM handles GEDCOM imports & exports and the fact that many of my fellow serious genealogy researchers use FTM. Beware of using FTM published disks and any online information. Data is only as good as the person that originated the data.

   One cavaet – don’t EVER upload information from your FTM files onto any FTM related site. They will use the information to publish their “world tree” cd’s.

   I do like having the scrapbook, notes, address feature on FTM. I can keep jpgs of my ancestors in the file with their individual records.

   FTM is a workhorse genealogy program. I have over 5000 names in my database and FTM accesses my data file with no hesitation.

   Cons: Newer FTM files can never be used on an outdated version of FTM (which continuously is upgraded). There’s a viewer available for any FTM files, but it severely restricts what you can do with the information. E.g., if a relative sends you a FTM file produced by a newer version of FTM (than you have on your computer) you won’t be able to import the info into your data file. You’ll end up inputting all the information by hand and will need to use the free viewer.

   These days, I do not publish my family tree to the Internet and rely on genealogy forums to connect with individuals with similar research interests.

   Always privatize information before sharing it. It can easily be used by identity thieves. The rule of thumb is don’t ever send out any information that’s less than 70 years old. That’s why the 1930 census was not released until after 2000.

3. Robert C. Haff March 7, 2006 6:07 pm

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   This software is a great value, it works wll, saves info automatically, and it really does come with a one year deluxe subscription to Ancestry.com.

4. Lois A. Schultz March 19, 2006 11:21 pm

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   I really like this version of Family Tree Maker. It is user friendly, and really helps to organize your genealogy files. I also very much appreciate the free one year subscription to Ancestry.com. This has made it much more convenient to review census records and other records available through Ancestry.com

5. Lilyan January 9, 2007 1:13 pm

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   This is the ultimate program for keeping family records and building your family tree. It works in conjunction with an excellent website, [...], which enables even beginners to accomplish the task of keeping all family records in one place while building a family tree at the same time. I had a very old version of the program, which was good, but the updated 2006 Family TreeMaker program is the best.

6. Addie August 5, 2007 8:59 pm

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   This is a very easy to use family tree data base. I was an unwilling participant in family tree gathering information, but the program just drew me in. I have connected with family members I haven’t talked to in years just to gather more data to put into the program. The help I received on the phone was wonderful.

7. jacynda November 10, 2007 10:46 am

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   With this program I was able in just a few months, to develop a huge database of information. The program is easy to use and I never had any problems accessing (for free) the Ancestry website for a year as others have mentioned. I would just suggest that it is a good idea to regularly make back-up discs of your information. I am so happy I did that because my computer crashed and I would have lost all my data, had I not done that. I have not upgraded to the newer version as of yet, so I cannot speak to that one. I am very happy with this product!!

8. Jeanine Eaves February 10, 2008 1:14 pm

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   I hadn’t updated my Family Tree Maker program since number 6 and this version (2006) loaded easy, fast and was simple to use. I love all the new features and the changes make so much sense! Glad I waited so long to upgrade this time. All the other upgrades never seemed to add much, so I had stopped getting them. I highly reccomend this version!Family Tree Maker 2006 Deluxe [Old Version]

9. N. Marple July 26, 2008 3:27 am

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   This is my first Family Tree Program I’ve bought. I will wait abit yet to upgrade. So far it has been great loading all the information on my family.

10. David R. Mcneely November 30, 2008 3:35 am

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    This product performs very well and I have had few problems with it. I like the layouts for viewing family members and siblings. I have sinced purchase the FM2008 version, which looks almost like the [...]website layout, and I actually prefer the FM2006 version better.

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