Customer Reviews

Family Tree Maker Standard 2005

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Can sombody please tell me why I just spent $45 on the 2005 edition of family tree maker when it appears to be no different then version 9.0 that I've been using for the past 2 years and payed only $2 for on ebay. The only new features I can find are the ability to copy to CD instead of floppy and a few new pedigree styles. I also discovered that features that were once free of charge, like the ability to create a family finder report are now only available if you pay their incredibly high fees. I bought this version hoping it would be an improvment over my old version. instead, I just wasted $45 as I've removed it and gone back to using my old version. Hey FTM when you decide to add some useful updates like maybe the ability to clean up old photos or play a scrapbook of all photos instead of just one person's at a time let me know. until then I won't waste any more of my money on your products.

Family Tree Maker 2005 is little more than the old Ancestry Family Tree software that was available for free download from Ancestry.com. The sales pitch put on be the maker online was misleading. I returned it for refund the same day I bought it. Legacy Family Tree by Millenia Corp. costs less, easier to use, produces better looking reports, and provides frequent free updates and "tweaks".

If you haven't used a previous version or other genealogy program, you will probably love this. If you are a veteran Family Tree Maker user, you might prefer your old version. The new family page allows you to work with more information, but the setup is not as eye-friendly. The page looks too busy. The smaller buttons, especially those to move to a child's page, slow navigation. I know Broderbund no longer does the program, but I think it would have been better if the changes had been incorporated while maintaining more of the look and function longtime users are familiar with. The appearance changes will definately shorten my working sessions.

Product is nice and is quite simple to use, if you know all the information to plug in. Most of us don't have 100's of hours to research every person in their family tree. That is where I thought this product would help in looking up several on-line databases. However, it was unable to find anyone in my family, from my 11 year old son, up to my great grandparents.

Also, the search results were quite staggering in that you got thousands of people that are no where near who you put in. I seemed to be getting many people with the same last name and of different sex than the search I was running.

If you are successful in looking up someone and want to continue using the in-depth on-line tools, the price is quite high. I suggest purchasing any cheaper product as you will spend too much for what you get with this one.

This is my 4th upgrade with this program and I have also had other programs but none that is as easy and fun to use as this program. This program is the best way to research, store and display genealogy. I can't image using any other genealogy package.