Ancestry has released the surprising announcement today that they are discontinuing their popular Family Tree Maker software.
…we’ve taken a hard look at the declining desktop software market and the impact this has on being able to continue to provide product enhancements and support that our users need. With that, we’ve made the decision to stop selling Family Tree Maker as of December 31, 2015.
According to the blog post, they will continue to offer support to current customers until Jan 2017.
One of the major selling points for the software in past years has been the availability of Ancestry TreeSync ™, a service that allows users to sync their online Ancestry tree with Family Tree Maker, which is a much more robust program than its online counterpart.
The TreeSync™ feature also allowed for the only easy way to download and back up many Ancestry record sources at one time — something we discussed in the recent article Stop ‘Saving’ Records to Your Ancestry Tree Until You Read This.
Because the online Ancestry tree does not allow access to paid sources added to an individual once a subscription ends, we are left wondering how this change will influence family historians who have counted on Family Tree Maker for continued access to their records.
Many customers are, not surprisingly, quite upset with this announcement. You can read the blog post and all of the feedback here.
Image: Ancestry.com headquarters in Provo, Utah
hi,Ive been with you 15 yrs,,and you are now telling us ,in a month,your,retiring tree,,you had all year planning this and tell us now,maybe we should all retire you spending ,dollor,s for information we will not get..what happens with our trees,on line.mean no moreinformation is added ,,you arenot very clear on your report. what happens with all the photo,s printed.? ever since when you were bought out,,changes where made , liked the old version better ,was trying to get use to the new,,and who are you passing along to our information..I guess this will be my last year.. well good luck ,, your,s Evelyn MacKenzie
You said the standard version is free?? Does the FTM info insert into this Legacy program;; just like the older version of FTM insert its-self into the updated version. I choose FTM in the beginning because the ease-many charts and easy to fill-in and family members already with FTM. Glad to see this post on LegacyFTG software. Thanks and feel free to email about the situation
I meant to add that I also believe you can import all of your information from FTM over into Legacy.
I left Family Tree Maker several years ago and switched to Legacy Family Tree Genealogy Software (www.legacyfamilytree.com). I absolutely love this program….and the standard version is FREE!. If you decided to upgrade to the deluxe version it is a very economical cost…about $30, I think. I would advise anyone looking for a new program to check it out. Support is amazing, and I truly love it. I recommend it to all of my clients, and friends. I hope, since they are discontinuing FTM, that Ancestry does not mind that I have posted this information here.
Explain “over time, without updates, it will become unusable.”
Well that puts us all in a bind, just when we are making progress. I have a least made hard copies-paper trail. I have worked too hard to loose it. Not all of us are computer wizzes either and don’t use smart phones.
Bet you haven’t had any positive comments
I’m not happy with this decision as while I am getting older and will of necessity not be doing as much research in the future, a person in my family who might want to have the work I have done won’t have an easy access to see my work. As with many efforts to improve things, it seems to me that is not always best.
I have used FTM since 2000, making 15 years on building my multiple family sections. Now, I don’t need to hear that I am losing everything, or that FTM is going to slowly disappear. What I do need to hear is “What is the best site to switch to?” “How to switch to it, without losing any of my information?” and, most important of all “How much is it going to cost me?”
What is replacing Family Tree Maker? How do I transfer my Ancestry Tree on to it, why make an announcement if you don’t tell us solution. I am very unhappy the way this is being handled! Please reply with explanation.
This is unbelievable! FTM is the best part of Ancestry. Can’t imagine why they want to get rid of it. There will be a mass migration away from Ancestry. You can count on it. Maybe when their bottom line is a stake, they will rethink their horrible decision. Goodbye Ancestry. Goodbye FTM.
I am upset at the discontinuation of FTM. What program will Ancestry.com be going to? Will we be able to sync our trees like we have been able to with FTM? Will we be able to share our trees like we have been with FTM? How much work will we have to do to make this transition?
How can a program like FTM get a “bug” if one isn’t syncing it with something online? In other words, does a program all of a sudden get a bug when it isn’t connected to the internet? If it does, this is horrible news!
I have invested 15 years using this program. Don’t suggest that we go to another program because it will also become obsolete at some point.
Is there another program we will be able to use?
In your response to Sharon what program will be supported/ I’m with BC this is a lot of time and work entering info and now its gone. Not happy at all. Several of my family member have FTM so we can share info. what program is as in depth as FTM offering easy and intensive interacting pages and additional pages for notes HELP
I would not think that your information would be at risk for loss, Sharon, since FTM will continue to function after Jan 17. No new updates, bug fixes, or support will be offered after that time, but the program will not cease to operate. You may want to consider switching to a program, however, that will be supported and updated moving forward.
Nothing in your online family tree on Ancestry should be affected by this change. If you are currently using Family Tree Maker software on your computer you will stop receiving support and updates for it after the end of 2016. Syncing and some other features will no longer be supported by Ancestry at that time and may cease to function altogether. The Family Tree Maker program itself should continue to function for awhile, but over time, without updates, it will become unusable. Please visit the link in the article for more details from Ancestry. We will add any updates as we hear them.
Will all of my information be saved or lost? I don’t have it transferred to Family Tree Maker.
no no…What does this mean? Will I lose the information I already have in FTM11?
This is totally unacceptable! After spending hours upon hours entering my information, spending a lot of money purchasing the program and upgrades….now they are discontinuing it? I am not a happy customer right now….