The Mad Genealogist

I just received an email like many of you probably have, about the new Family Tree Maker 2010.

Build your family tree. Preserve your family legacy. Millions of people have used Family Tree Maker, the #1 selling genealogy software, to discover and share their family stories. Now, with dozens of new features the latest version makes it easier than ever to explore your roots.

Whether you’re a seasoned pro or just starting on your family tree, Family Tree Maker 2010 can help you create a family tree faster, easier, and better than ever before. The end result is a family history that you and your family will treasure for years to come.

Family Tree Maker 2010, the #1 selling family history software, can help you easily discover, organize and preserve your family history on your personal computer and share it in many creative ways. Once you’ve started your tree, you can add photos, video, audio and more. You can also create and print a variety of interactive maps, timelines, charts and reports. Family Tree Maker 2010 includes a one-month subscription to Ancestry.com the world’s largest online collection of family history resources, featuring over 7 billion historical records. Search for your ancestors and use what you discover in your tree.

Family Tree Maker makes it easy to discover your story, preserve your legacy and share your unique heritage as you explore your family tree on your personal computer. Family Tree Maker 2010 introduces even more rich storytelling and organization tools that can add new life to your family history.

Once you’ve started your tree, you can add photos, video, audio and more. You can also create and print a variety of interactive maps, timelines, charts and reports. Family Tree Maker 2010 also includes a subscription to Ancestry.com–the world’s largest online collection of family history resources, featuring more than 4 billion historical records. Search for your ancestors and use what you discover on Ancestry.com in your tree.

How can you make the most of Ancestry.com?

• Your software works seamlessly with Ancestry.com so you can easily search for your ancestors and add the information you discover to your tree.
• You could find missing facts about your family in census records, draft cards, passenger lists, image collections and other historical resources.

Use Ancestry.com and Family Tree Maker together. Get the most from both.

• Search the extensive record collections at Ancestry.com without ever leaving your family tree. Quickly merge new records you find into your tree.
• Take advantage of Ancestry Hints. Family Tree Maker automatically suggests records that may match people in your tree.
• Share heirloom-quality books and attractive posters that you create with the self-publishing tool at Ancestry.com.

ORDER Family Tree Maker 2010 Now!

Upgrade to Family Tree Maker 2010 – Current users of Family Tree Maker qualify to get the latest version at the best possible upgrade price (30% discount). Family Tree Maker 2010 can help you create a family tree faster, easier, and better than ever before. The end result is a family history that you and your family will treasure for years to come.

UPGRADE Family Tree Maker 2010 Now!

See What’s in Family Tree Maker 2010:

General Features

• Enhanced integration with Ancestry.com – Import your Ancestry.com family tree, along with attached photos.
• Improved organization – Enjoy new ways to organize photos and other media.
• Slideshows – Create slideshows from photos in your tree.
• Family books – Publish beautiful keepsakes and books to share with friends and family.
• Standard source templates – Cite the right information every time.
• A new person view – View relationships within the context of your entire family tree.
• Scanner support – Add photos directly from your scanner.
• Family migration paths – View timelines and interactive maps highlighting events and places in your ancestors’ lives.
• Better Performance – Experience faster load times and navigation.
• See a detailed product feature list

Product Highlights:

• A dynamic user interface that lets you quickly switch between important features.
• The ability to import data from other genealogy programs, including Personal Ancestral File, The Master Genealogist, and Legacy Family Tree.
• A Web Search that is integrated with Ancestry.com so you can easily add records and images from the millions of available historical records.
• Attractive charts and reports in a variety of formats.
• The ability to add photos and audio and video files to your tree.
• Timelines and interactive maps.
• Powerful sourcing tools that let you document—and rate—each citation.

Bonus Features:

• Significant world events may be added to individual’s timelines that will help you get a glimpse of what may have shaped their lives. To ease this process; wars, natural disasters, and monumental events are organized by year listing the individual’s age at the time of occurrence.
• Merging data will be easier for you by using the Web clipper to retrieve online information concerning your family members.
• To help you get a feel for what the locations really look like, there is a 3D option that allows you to see the height of buildings and other surrounding objects. This will help you feel like you are really there, but will save you the price of a plane ticket.

Family Tree Maker 2010 lets you easily:

• Organize your family story privately and conveniently on your personal computer.
• Create charts and reports in a variety of formats to share with friends and family.
• Discover new information anywhere on the web and add it to your tree instantly.
• Integrate with the 4 billion names in historical records on Ancestry.com. Even receive hints linking you to matching records.
• Incorporate photos, documents and audio, video and other files into your tree.
• View timelines and interactive maps.

What’s new in Family Tree maker 2010?

• New tools and charts that help you tell a richer story
• Better ways to organize photos and other media
• Create slideshows from the images in your tree
• Family books made from your tree
• Standard source templates that help you reference the right information
• A view of your relation to everyone in your tree
• Extended family birthday calendars
• Images scanned directly into your tree
• Family migration paths over time
• Easy family tree download from Ancestry.com

The features you’ve come to rely on:

• Dynamic user interface that lets you quickly switch between important features
• The ability to import data from other genealogy programs, including Personal Ancestral File
• Powerful sourcing tools that let you document AND rate each of your citations
• Interactive maps and lists that give you a bird’s-eye view of where members of your family come from
• Place authority database of more than 3 million names that helps you standardize your place entries
• Photo AND file management features so you can easily incorporate all types of media files into your charts and reports
• Timelines that highlight personal, family and world events
• Easy-to-use tools for merging duplicate individuals, calculating dates, creating to-do lists and more

FTM2010 Review

Family Tree Maker 2010 is a program designed to assist those of any age in doing family research. The workspace is easy to navigate and provides the user with a wide variety of tools to create a detailed family tree. The majority of the work will be done on the People Workspace. From this screen you can do three things: customize an individual’s profile, view a list of all the names currently entered and view the family tree chart. When shared facts are in play, the software will link the information with all of the individuals who are associated with it, such as viewing both spouses in a marriage. To aid the user in entering correct information, Family Tree Maker has an automated system that will alert you of any duplicate records or unlikely dates.

By registering to Ancestry.com, the user will be able to do family research online. This opens up many opportunities to find sources throughout the world. However, there is no guarantee that the information will match the family member exactly. To prevent this problem from occurring, a rating scale from one to five has been installed to give the source credibility. A green leaf is an icon that will appear on the name of people that have more information available through the genealogical sources online. When you find facts of your family members through the web, you can simply click and drag the information on to the workspace and it will automatically link as a source.

As your family tree becomes larger, you may want to use the Places Workspace. This allows you to review all of the locations that are linked to your family members. A simple click on the location will reveal all the facts associated with that site such as marriages, deaths or births. The map is powered by Microsoft Bing. It may be viewed in three different ways; road map, satellite photograph (Bird’s Eye), or a combination of the two.

Ease of Use

With help boxes at every step, Family Tree Maker has a layout and design that will aid any person through their genealogy research no matter how much experience they may or may not have. Already have a family tree set up with another program? No problem. You can import it into Family Tree Maker. The people workspace is a unique feature that is not found with other genealogy software that allows you to have a combined view of the family and pedigree. Even beginning genealogists will find themselves very comfortable in using Family Tree Maker.

Reporting & Publishing

There are a wide variety of charts and reports to choose from when printing. Some of the charts to choose from are these:

1. Pedigree
2. Descendant
3. Relationship

To create a personalized chart there are a variety of backgrounds to choose from. For example you may choose a mountain meadow scene, an image of old-town England or you can use your own photo. A picture of your family member may be placed next to their name that will create a meaningful display of your ancestors. Within minutes, you will have an artistic family chart that will be enjoyed by all ages.

Reports can be created for people, relationships, places, media and sources. You may also publish books. Doing so will require that you visit Ancestry Press, the online publishing site.

Help/Documentation

By visiting FamilyTreeMaker.com, you will have access to a number of tutorials that can walk you through all of the latest features. You will receive a full length DVD with your software. Built-in prompts will aid you along your path as you create your family history. Online, you can search through the knowledge base for helpful hints of any subject and if that doesn’t help you, there is customer service contact information provided.

Summary:

Family Tree Maker 2010 is a wonderfully designed program with a database that will inspire any genealogist. The cost is not in the software, but in the membership to Ancestry.com. Whether you are just beginning or have plenty of experience, you will find this software far superior to the other programs. It is fast and easy. Its unique design will get you well on your way to a better understanding of your heritage, and you will find that there are no limits when it comes to ancestry, especially when you are working with Family Tree Maker 2010. Check out our top ranked genealogy software packages for more options.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will FTM 2010 run on my computer?

Your computer must meet the minimum system requirements in order to run the program. A list of system requirements can be found here. By going to the Start menu and selecting the Help option, you can search for “About this computer” to find your system information to compare to the list on the Web site.

Will FTM 2010 replace my old version?

No. Family Tree Maker 2010 will install as a completely separate program and will not affect your old program. If you do not want to keep your old version you will need to uninstall it.

Do I need to install FTM 2009 before I can upgrade to FTM 2010?

No. Because FTM 2010 installs as a separate program you can upgrade to 2010 directly, without having to install any older software.

Will FTM 2010 automatically open my files from the old version?

This depends on which version you’re upgrading from. If you’re upgrading from version 2008 or 2009, your old file names will appear in your list of trees. Then opening the files will convert them to the new format. If you’re upgrading from an older version (Version 16 or older) you will need to import your files into the new program. Here are the instructions on how to upload your files from an older version, or how to import files from other programs to your new Family Tree Maker.

When I import my file will it get ALL of the data?

Family Tree Maker 2010 will import all of the data contained in the file you are importing. If you have multiple files in the old program to represent different families, you will have to import each one separately.

I can’t find my files from the old version to import them. Where are they?

You can use either your old version’s Find file utility or use Windows Search to locate the files on your computer. The details can be found here.

FTM 2010 won’t import my file from version 4 or earlier, or won’t open a compressed backup file from a floppy disk or CD. What can I do?

Use the FTM 2005 Starter Edition as a go-between: This download will open the older files and then be able to save them in a format that is compatible with the new program.

My old version is on a different computer. How can I transfer the file to my new computer?

By exporting your old files to an external drive, you can transfer your files from one computer to another. Detailed instructions for this can be found here.

Do I need to keep my old version on the computer after upgrading?

No. Once you have imported your data files into FTM 2010 you can uninstall your old version, it is not required for FTM 2010 to operate. Removing your older version is optional, but doing so will leave more memory available for use on your computer. Even if you remove your old program, you can keep your old data files for safekeeping.

I imported my files, but I don’t know where they are now. Where does FTM 2010 store the data files?

The default save location is in a Family Tree Maker folder in your Documents folder. Any imported files will be here unless you changed the File Location on the import screen. If your files are not in your Documents folder and you don’t remember if you changed the File Location or what you changed it to, you can use Windows Search to locate the files. The search tool can be found under the Start menu on your computer.

How can I make FTM 2010 look like my old program?

Family Tree Maker 2010 is built on our new platform, which has many similarities to the older versions but looks quite different. The People workspace, Family tab is a combined Pedigree View and Family View from the old programs.

I need help working in the new format. Are there any tutorials available?

There are Training Tutorials available in the Help menu and a Getting Started Guide available on our website to help you get started working in the new format.

SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS

Minimum system requirements:

• Operating system: Windows XP / Vista
• Processor: 500 MHz Intel Pentium II (or equivalent)
• Hard disk space: 460 MB for installation
• Memory: 512 MB of RAM
• 2X CD-ROM (required for installation)
• Display: 800 x 600 resolution for monitor

Recommended system requirements:

• Operating system: Windows XP SP2/Vista
• Processor: 1GHz Intel Pentium III (or equivalent)
• Hard disk space: 460 MB for installation
• Memory: 1 GB of RAM
• Display: 1024 x 768 resolution for monitor
• 32X CD/CD-R (required for installation)
• All online features require Internet access

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