FTM - money saving tip

[Tearose]

Ok I'm going to ask the obvious, what are you all talking about ?

[Braindead]

Ok I'm going to ask the obvious, what are you all talking about ?

There are a couple of main points in this thread, firstly, what the program does and how different it is to previous versions. The answer to that is "it depends". Family Tree Maker 2012 is very similar to last year's version except that it now allows you to keep your Ancestry Family Tree updated from your computer automatically. It is less like version 2006 and before, which some people prefer.

The other main point of this thread is how getting Family Tree maker can save you money at Ancestry.co.uk.
If you buy a boxed version of the Family Tree Maker program it comes with a subscription to Ancestry.

There are different editions of the program:
1. Family Tree Maker 2012 Upgrade Edition - comes with a 1 month Ancestry Essentials Membership
2. Family Tree Maker 2012 Deluxe Edition - Comes with a 3 months Ancestry Essentials Membership
3. Family Tree Maker 2012 Platinum Edition - Comes with a 6 months Ancestry Premium Membership
4. Family Tree Maker 2012 World Edition - Comes with a 6 months Ancestry Worldwide Membership.

If you get them for the right price - I paid £51.74 for the World Edition, it can be a very cost effective way of subscribing to Ancestry. e.g. the Annual Worldwide subscription is £155.40, half of that is £77.20 so it represents a considerable saving if you can get it that cheap.
And of course you get the latest edition of the Family Tree Maker Software thrown in. It's the way I've financed my membership of Ancestry for the last couple of years. Even if you don't like the program, it can save you money.

[smudwhisk]

As far as the interface goes, it looks very similar to the interface from FTM 2011 / 2010 / 2009. However, in the guide it says that if, when installing the program, it detects you are using version 16 or earlier, it will display a simplified interface which looks more like the old version.
As I haven't got the old version, I can't tell you whether this works, and I can't see any way of changing the interface from within the program. Nor can I tell what differences there are in the program itself between the latest and 2006 versions. There's certainly not a lot of difference between the 2012 and 2011 versions. I manged to get the world edition for £51.74 on Amazon, which I thought was a bargain for 6 months access.

Well I finally got around to installing FTM2012 yesterday with 2006 version still installed.  Whether it noticed that I had previously had 2009 installed or not I'm not sure (having previously uninstalled it), but from the pictures I've seen of the interface I would suggest it just installed the normal 2012 interface.  That said, I actually quite like it, having the details for each individual more accessible is useful and I am probably going to move forward using this version.  I'm still not sure the charts are as good as the old version, haven't had much time to play with them, but I can always export back to good old 2006 version and print off from there when I want.  To anyone else holding onto 2006, if you get the chance of purchasing it cheaply, it's well worth a look now.  Far better than 2009 which I did get a copy of the other year.

[stonechat]

Yes I bought the upgrade edition from Amazon

It has moved on a fair way since FTM2005 the last version I have

And you're right I don't think the reports are as flexible

However there are lots of bonuses and have synched my tree to ancestry

[millymcb]

This sounds good.... I just cancelled my FindMyPast renewal and was planning to switch back to Ancestry for a while but Premium sub is £107 for a year.

Are you saying that if I buy the FTM Platinum for £39.49 I get 6 months of Ancestry Premium included? (ie £53.50 worth)

 That does sound like a bargain. Especially as I would actually quite like FTM (I lost my old version a couple of years ago on my other computer).   Do they give you a code to enter on Ancestry or something?  Is it easy?

Does anyone know - can I use it and still keep my old username?  Or would I need to register from scratch.

Milly

[Braindead]

You can use the ancestry username you already have - as long as it's still registered - the program shouldn't have any problems picking up your membership. You do need to input credit card details on subscription activation, but it's not debited & you can cancel before the renewal is due if you want to.

[millymcb]

thanks - I'm going to order it then

Milly

[Gr8scot227]

Hi,

I am in Canada but all my family history is in the UK and Ireland. Can I buy Family Tree Maker World from the UK and use it here? An Ancestry.uk membership is much more useful to me than an Ancestry.ca (which is what I will get if I buy it here). I just wondered if there were likely to be any blocks on it etc?