A Hands-On Review: Family Tree Maker 2009 Platinum

FAMILY TREE: A research section of Family Tree Maker 2009 Platinum. The genealogy software allows users to gather information from deep in their their family history. (Joshua Philipp/The Epoch Times)

Everyone has some interest in their family tree. By looking into our past we can gain a deeper understanding of our origins, and perhaps a greater insight into ourselves. Now there is a new computer program that helps research your ancestry—Family Tree Maker (FTM) Platinum 2009 from Encore. But just how effective is it?

This is the most popular genealogy software on the market for a reason. Without question, it places a powerful research tool at your fingertips that truly allows users to delve as far back into the past as records will allow.

However, I did have some misconceptions about this program initially. My expectation (which I’m sure is shared by many) was that after simply typing in the names and birth dates of my parents, FTM would automatically compile my family tree.

Yet after using the software the user quickly realizes the complexities of genealogy research. It requires scouring through thousands of records ranging from census forms and birth records to school graduation forms.

What FTM does is place the tools for this research in the user’s hands. It also greatly simplifies the process, making it a bearable endeavor. After using this software I can see how historical research can quickly become a hobby.

In essence, FTM organizes information gathered from ancestry.com—a Web site that offers a vast database of ancestral information. From within the software, the user gains access to the Web site and can merge any family information they find into their family tree.

Using the Software

The Platinum version of FTM comes with a free six month subscription to ancestry.com. During the installation process the user is asked to type in their credit card information to activate this free subscription. Not wanting to do this, I skipped over this process, thinking the subscription would still work.

Afterward, every time I attempted to retrieve documents from ancestry.com, it tried to make me sign up for a costly subscription. Annually, access to the Web site comes to $12.95 a month, while a month-by-month membership goes for $19.95.

It didn’t take long for me to realize that without access to ancestry.com, FTM is little more than a program for compiling information you already have—the Web site contains the bulk of the ancestral research information.

Realizing I had no other choice, I reinstalled the software and went through the registration process again. After grudgingly entering my credit card number, the free subscription was activated and I was given access to a broad source of information.

The program starts with a window where the user enters their name and birth information followed by that of their parents. After beginning the tree you can then enter whatever information you have on grandparents, great grandparents, and so on.

In order to research information on people, you highlight their name box on the family tree, and click a Web research tab on the top of the screen. This brings you to a window that syncs directly with ancestry.com.

Within a few minutes I was able to find my own birth records, as well as those of my parents and grandparents. I was also able to find old housing documents including the phone number and address of my childhood home.

I was impressed.

With a name, birthdate and location, it seems you can quickly find information on anyone with this software. However, this process becomes increasingly difficult when trying to research older generational lines you know nothing about.

FTM does offer a feature that will help automatically search through records and give suggestions if it finds anything viable. After delving through these records yourself, it quickly becomes obvious why this feature was added.

One name search can produce upwards of 7,000 results including spousal information, birth places, and other data of people who all share similar names. It seems FTM does a great job of filtering through this information, as I often found what I was looking for within the first 20 search results.

Once you find a relevant piece of information you can click a “merge” tab to save it into your own family tree, where it acts as a record.

Going Deeper in History

To really get into the deeper roots of your ancestral tree requires a lot of research. FTM gives you the tools to do this research, but it still takes time. To help with this, FTM Platinum comes with a “Reference Library” CD which contains 15 books. These books contain the information needed to go deeper. They offer tutorials on how to search census records, historical address books, as well as sources on states, countries, and towns. Other information includes ways of researching military records, church records, cemetery records, and so on.

The user will need to navigate through this information to retrieve bits of their family’s past. Once you find what you’re looking for, you can then victoriously add it into your family tree and begin your next bit of research.

With time, you can find information on literally thousands of your ancestors. An experienced user can go beyond simple birth data to find, for example, what their great-great grandfather would do as volunteer work.

For each person you can add in pictures, write bios, and you can compile lists of any information or documents you can find. With enough use nearly anyone can gain a deeper understanding of their family members and their history using FTM.

You can also view the exact location of where a person was born using a map system in the program, powered by Bing—Microsoft’s new search engine. It can display addresses and locations even in foreign countries.

From my experience, it would take close to two weeks before someone could gather together a significant amount of information. Other users have explained that it takes about two weeks to get into family history dating back into the 1600s.

One thing to note, in order to research family history in other countries, a “World Deluxe Membership” with ancestry.com is required, which costs double the amount of a normal membership (around $24.95 a month).

Considering that the software itself goes for $29.99 for the basic “Essentials” version, and up to $99.99 for the Platinum version, the price can quickly add up when the ancestry.com subscription is factored in.

FTM is without a doubt a great tool to have on hand, and delving into your historical roots can be an addicting and entertaining process. For anyone wanting to know their roots, the cost of the program is a small price to pay.