ftm-2014-1-australian-editionAs most of you would know, it was the end of 2015 when Ancestry announced that they were discontinuing Family Tree Maker.

Rather than being dead for good, Family Tree Maker was subsequently given a new lease of life when it was revealed that the program had been sold to Software MacKiev.

Since then users have been wondering what is happening with the program.

The first thing that MacKiev did, was fix a whole lot of bugs that were in the FTM 2014 and FTM Mac 3 versions. They have since released Family Tree Maker 2014.1 and Family Tree Maker for Mac 3.1, which are both updates of Ancestry’s last versions.  Until recently this was only available to purchase direct from MacKiev.

Now after being unavailable for the greater part of a year, I’m pleased to say that Family Tree Maker is once again available in Australia.

family-tree-maker-2014-1-usbWhere can I buy it?
VicGUM are the Australian distributors and sellers of this version, and you can purchase the new Family Tree Maker 2014.1/FTM Mac 3.1 on CD through their website. They also have an Upgrade version available, and for those who don’t want to download the program, but don’t have a CD-ROM drive, MacKiev have also released a USB version, and VicGUM expect to have this available soon. Visit their website for details: www.vicgum.asn.au

The single user licence CD comes with both PC and Mac versions on the disc, and you simply install the relevant one for your computer. The Australian version comes with 14 days free access to Ancestry.com.au. And just as a note, the UK, US and Canadian versions each come with a 14 day free Ancestry subscription relevant to their country.

FAQs
We know that you have LOTS of queries about the program, and MacKiev do to, and that’s why they are keeping Family Tree Maker users in the loop by addressing many of these queries in their long FAQ list. So if you have queries, please take a moment to look through this list here.

Introducing the Replacement Center
MacKiev have said that they get requests just about every day from FTM users for replacement copies. Sometimes it’s because they’ve had a hard drive crash and need to reinstall. Or they’re just moving to a new computer and have lost their installation disc. Whatever the reason, their new Replacement Center is there to help. It’s entirely online and open 24/7 so FTM 2014 and Mac 3 users can get a new link emailed to them day or night, 365 days a year. Without having to beg. Or even explain why they want it. And isn’t that really how it ought to work anyway?

Getting to the Replacement Center
1. Go to support.familytreemaker.com
2. Click “for additional assistance” at the bottom of the page
3. Click the Replacement Center tile

System Requirements
Win: Windows 7 or later, including Windows 10, 675MB hard disk space, 2GB of RAM, 1024×768 resolution.
Mac: OS X 10.8 or later, including macOS Sierra 10.12, 500MB hard disk space, 2GB of RAM.