Family Tree Maker is genealogy software for Windows and Mac that allows the researcher to keep track of information collected during research and to create reports, charts, and books containing that information. The software was originally developed by Kenneth Hess of Banner Blue Software, which was purchased by Broderbund in 1995. It passed through the hands of The Learning Company, SoftKey, Mattel, and others before coming under its current ownership. A redesigned Family Tree Maker 2008 was released on August 14, 2007.Ancestry.com Releases Completely Redesigned Family Tree Maker 2008, No. 1 Selling Family Tree Software , Aug 14, 2007, Press Releases, Ancestry.com The 2009 version of the program corrected some of the errors and omissions of its predecessor, and introduced a few new features. Family Tree Maker 2010 claimed to further enhance the radical redesign and be more powerful and feature-packed with faster navigation and quicker load times.
A version for the Mac was released in 1997; due to low market demand, for over a decade it was discontinued. A new version of Family Tree Maker for Mac was released on November 4, 2010. Family Tree Maker Version 16 was awarded a Codie award in the "Best Consumer Productivity Solution" category in 2006. On December 8, 2015, Ancestry.com announced that it would discontinue Family Tree Maker. The announcement was met by fierce protest from Family Tree Maker users. On February 2, 2016, Ancestry.com announced that Software MacKiev, the company that had developed the Mac version of the software for more than six years, would acquire the Family Tree Maker brand, and take over the development and publishing of Mac and Windows editions.
The core functionality and user interface of Family Tree Maker 2017 have changed little since 2010. Software MacKiev touted four major improvements: FamilySearch integration, FamilySync, Color Coding, and Photo Darkroom. FamilySearch integration provides potential matches to the FamilySearch.org Family Tree, and their record collections. FamilySync is a replacement for Ancestry.com's TreeSync feature; it provides potential matches to family trees, indexes, and records at Ancestry.com. It was necessitated by Ancestry.com retiring their TreeSync application programming interface (API). While the old API was used exclusively by Ancestry.com, since they also owned Family Tree Maker, the new API is open to other software developers to use. Color Coding allows users to assign up to four different colors to a person and their ancestors. Photo Darkroom can darken faded black and white photos.
FTM version history
Meaning Red Not supported Yellow Still supported (update to the last patch for that version) Green Current version
Version Release date Released by Edition/s Notes 1.0 1989Family Tree Maker: 20-Year Anniversary!, Posted by Michelle Pfister on 11 December 2009 in Family Tree Maker Banner Blue Software MS-DOS Supplied on 3.5 and 5.25 floppy disks. Data file used .FTM as a file extension. No GEDCOM support. 1.01 1990 Banner Blue Software MS-DOS No GEDCOM support. 2.0 January 1994 Banner Blue Software Windows 3.1 / MS-DOS Data file used .FTW as a file extension on Windows. Supplied on two 3½ inch floppy disks. Supported GEDCOM import/export.Re: FTM and GEDCOM:, From: <skpjan@...>, Date: Fri, Jul 14, 1995, RootsWeb: GENCMP-L 2.?? October 1994 Banner Blue Software Windows 3.1 / DOS Second version (patch?) 3.0 24 October 1995 Broderbund Software Windows 3.1 and 95 (16-bit) / MS-DOS Supplied on three floppy disks. 16 bit application compatible with Windows 95. DOS version shipped with the DEU (Data Exchange Utility)Discover and Preserve Your Family History With New Version 3.0 of Family Tree Maker. , Oct 24, 1995, Publication: Business Wire – Free Online LibraryRe: Improvements from 3.0 – 3.02, From: Paul Burchfield, Date:Aug 15, 1996, RootsWeb: GENCMP-LUpgrade for FTM 3.0, 16 bit application compatible with Win95, From:John McGarvey, Date: 1996/02/09, alt.genealogyGEDCOM from Family Tree Maker, From:Paul Burchfield, Date: 1996/10/07, "Exporting from Family Tree Maker for DOS uses the Data Exchange Utility. The DEU ships with Family Tree Maker version 3 and 4 for DOS. It had to be purchased separately for earlier versions.", alt.genealogy 3.01 February 1996 Broderbund Software Windows 3.1 and 95 (16 bit and 32 bit) / MS-DOS Beginning with this version every copy of Family Tree Maker for Windows came with both a Windows 95 (32-bit) and Windows 3.1x (16-bit) version.Liste des applications testées sous Windows 95 – F et G - "Family Tree Maker 2.0 (Windows floppies) Banner Blue Software← REMARQUE(S): Version 2.0 may not run correctly if taskbar setting is Always On Top. Windows 95 Help contains information for obtaining an update from the manufacturer.
Family Tree Maker 3.0 (DOS) Banner Blue Software REMARQUE(S): The installation program may appear to stall after the first screen, but it is checking drives for previous copies of FTM.EXE, including network drives, and will resume after the check is complete.
Family Tree Maker Deluxe 2.0 (Windows CD) Banner Blue Software REMARQUE(S): Program won't run when taskbar set to Always On Top. Windows 95