Friday, March 4, 2016

More Family Tree Maker Information From Software MacKiev

I wrote Family Tree Maker is Updated and Shipping Now on 2 March 2016, including the Frequently Asked Questions on the Software MacKiev website.

Software MacKiev sent out this email this morning to their newsletter email list (you should sign up for the newsletter in order to stay up to date):


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It’s here! Family Tree Maker is BACK.

All of us here at Software MacKiev are happy to be taking up where Ancestry left off with Family Tree Maker, the most widely used family history software of all time. We have completed a small update to get the product back on the market and are pleased to let you know its available RIGHT NOW.



About our new FTM updates
We have started with Ancestry’s FTM 2014 and FTM Mac 3 and, as a company of engineers, we set our focus on stability and performance improvements. So we swatted down some bugs. And we made the application more responsive – you will find some actions that previously took minutes now take seconds.

New features
We managed to sneak in just a few surprises, like 100 beautiful new backgrounds you can use to make professional looking charts and reports. And we’ve integrated a service for printing high resolution genealogy charts through the good folks at Family ChartMasters. It’s a modest start, but we hope you will be happy with our new updates.

Compatibility
We made sure that our new updates are completely compatible with the latest operating systems (Windows 10 and El Capitan). We’ve also made sure that your old trees will open seamlessly. That there is nothing to move. That your Ancestry account if you have one will continue to work with the new versions. And that TreeSync and all the other things you have come to like about FTM are still there for you.

Where to Buy... and more
See below how to get the updated editions, and some other information you may find useful.
Thanks to all of you who have welcomed us so warmly. It means a lot to us. A new chapter in Family Tree Maker’s long and proud history begins today!

JACK
Jack Minsky
President
Software MacKiev
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FAMILY TREE MAKER
New FTM 2014.1 and Mac 3.1

How to get the updated editions
What you will get and when depends on what FTM version you currently have:

1. Users of FTM 2014 and Mac 3: Hang in there! FREE updates are coming. They will be available in about a week or so through the built-in update feature. We will send you an email to let you know as soon as they are available.

2. Users of older FTM editions: No matter how old your copy of FTM is, or whether its running on Windows or Mac, you can download an upgrade for $29.95 (vs. $69.95 regular price). Click here to take advantage of this limited-time upgrade offer today.

3. New users: If you have never owned a copy of Family Tree Maker before, for a limited time, you can download a full edition from our online store for $49.95 by clicking here (vs. $69.95 regular price).

 Additional Offers:
  • Family Tree Maker users who do not currently have an Ancestry.comsubscription, will be offered a 14-day free trial.
  • If you would like a backup disc, you can purchase a CD in a jewel case for an extra $10 including shipping and handling.
***
Family Tree Maker®
HELPFUL LINKS

1. FTM Home Page
Most everything you will need to know can be found on our Family Tree Maker home page:
There you can:
  • Read our FAQ
  • Provide Feedback
  • Report a Bug
  • Suggest a Feature
  • Sign up to be a Beta Tester
  • Learn about FTM
  • Check the System Requirements
2. Technical Support
To get technical support for any version of FTM, please start here:
We are sharing responsibility for the rest of this year with Ancestry.com but the Software MacKiev support site is the best place to start. We’ll direct you from there to the right place to get the help you need.

3. Any Questions?
If you have questions for us, please first read our FAQ as we’ve tried to answer the most common ones there. If you don’t find the answer you are looking for in the FAQ, please send your question through our Feedback Form which you’ll find on our FTM Home Page (see #1 above). Thanks!


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The bottom line here is:  You can buy the updated version if you want NOW, or upgrade your old pre-2014 versions NOW, but you will have to wait about a week for the FREE Upgrade to existing FTM Mac 3.1 and FTM 2014 versions.  


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Copyright (c) 2016, Randall J. Seaver

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4 comments:

Jan said...

Thanks for the good news, Randy. It looks like MacKiev has hit the ground running with FTM. I think Ancestry missed a big public relations opportunity. Just think if the FTM 2014.1 release had been made at RootsTech jointly by Ancestry and MacKiev. I don't think you would have all the negativity associated with first dropping FTM followed by a a slow dribble of information. A cynic might say that Ancestry recognized that most of their customer base could care less about FTM and the future was in cultivating new users looking for the little "shaky leaves."

MacKiev may be the best thing to happen to FTM since Ancestry acquired it. Old time users hated the look and feel makeover Ancestry gave it. The underlying database technology didn't scale very well and large databases brought it to its knees. Tree synchronizing took three releases to work out most of the bugs. MacKiev, from their website appears to be in the software business so I am hopeful for FTM in 2016.

MidwestAncestree said...

I went to the MacKiev site today (31 March 2016) but did not see an update on when current FTM users will get the upgrade. I've been away this past month - did I miss something in my email?

Randy Seaver said...

No, you didn't miss a thing. Software MacKiev has not announced an update is available to my knowledge. They did release FTM 2014.1 for new users, both Mac and Windows.

Perhaps Russ Worthington knows more. He may see this and provide more counsel.

Michael Giallella said...

I do hope that MacKiev issues their free FTM2014.1 update before I and others lose our enthusiasm.