FAMILY TREE MAKER NEWS – release of Version 2017 this Weekend

In a recent new release, MacKiev, makers of FTM, warn that the discounted preorder price ($29.99) for their new version is good only through July 14 and they will release FT2017 this weekend. This is good news for those who were waiting anxiously for the new syncing software and bad news for those that were planning on continuing to use their older versions.

It is bad news for users who were not planning to upgrade because the announcement states clearly that the search and merge function in the older versions will no longer work. This function will only work in FTM2017.

MacKiev gives these six reasons to upgrade:

1. To sync with an Ancestry tree. (No other FTM editions will).
   2. To sync two or more FTM trees with one Ancestry tree with FamilySync™.
   3. To discover the crossed lines of your ancestors with color coding.
   4. To fix faded old photos with our new Photo Darkroom™ tools.
   5. To add a new free data source with FamilySearch integration.
   6. To keep using Ancestry search and merge. (Older editions no longer will).

My plans have changed due to this announcement. I had preordered FTM2017 but I was planning on delaying its installation until I was sure there were no comments from users about any bugs. Now I will install FTM2107 and only convert old trees to the new format as needed. I will convert the remaining trees after the dust settles for the rollout of FT2017.