Customer Rating: 
Summary: Family Tree Maker Essentials 2009
Comment: Some what generic looking in appearance but well thought out. I've been using the version 7 for almost 10 years. I tried to load the old version 7 onto my Laptop containing Microsoft XP and failed the attempt. So, I thought it was time for an upgrade. I'm very happy......Family Tree Maker 2009 Essentials
Customer Rating:
Summary: Lots of stuff, not easy to learn
Comment: I've been doing genealogy on and off for years, and haven't used FTM for a while. I've been rebuilding my family history [...] and decided it was time to get desktop software, and decided to get FTM 2009 because I figured it would make things easier to switch back and forth. Now, I've been using computers since I was a child, and am quite comfortable with them, but I am having a terrible time navigating around this software. It does not recognize sources that I linked to people in Ancestry, and keeps giving me hints for these sources. I am having to go in, person by person, and ignore all these hints so I don't have the little leaf on every single person. The help files have not been useful, and the email I sent has yet to be answered. I am having problems with merging information as well. I still find it difficult to move around the tree to different people and get their information up.
I don't want to scare people off of the software. It has a lot of room for your notes and sources and media and all kinds of fun stuff. It hasn't crashed (I've got Windows XP). It just isn't really intuitive, and it's likely you'll have to sit down with the instructions to figure out how to do some really basic things (no, the 1920 census is not an "alternate fact" to the 1930 census--it's a completely new source! Gah!)I have issues with any software that you end up having to buy another instruction book to really make use of it, but that's what I guess I will have to do here.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Much bettre
Comment: This version is soooooo much better than the prior one. Runs quickly, easy to import pictures and video. I run this on my old junky laptop and it runs really well. I have very little time anymore so when I sit down to work on this I need it to be easy to figure out, easy to manage, and I need it to run quickly. This version does all of that.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Worth Every Cent
Comment: I inherited FTM 2003 from my Dad with thousands of family records. I upgraded to 2005 and took classes but never really got into doing much. This newest version is FANTASTIC! It does so much and makes it easy to find where I need to add/update/correct/research information. I can easily enter source information and media as well as standardize data such as locations. I recommend it highly. Also, by buying it on Amazon I saved over purchasing directly from the FTM site. Thanks!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Family Tree Maker 2009
Comment: Have owned FTM versions since version 1. FTM Version 2008 needed patch to run on Vista - was funky and clunky - version FTM 16 better. This newer version seems to work better - and with pronises of improvements - couldbe a much better product. FTM Version 16 still is better but has compatabilty problems with Windows Vista.
Summary: Family Tree Maker Essentials 2009
Comment: Some what generic looking in appearance but well thought out. I've been using the version 7 for almost 10 years. I tried to load the old version 7 onto my Laptop containing Microsoft XP and failed the attempt. So, I thought it was time for an upgrade. I'm very happy......Family Tree Maker 2009 Essentials
Customer Rating:
Summary: Lots of stuff, not easy to learn
Comment: I've been doing genealogy on and off for years, and haven't used FTM for a while. I've been rebuilding my family history [...] and decided it was time to get desktop software, and decided to get FTM 2009 because I figured it would make things easier to switch back and forth. Now, I've been using computers since I was a child, and am quite comfortable with them, but I am having a terrible time navigating around this software. It does not recognize sources that I linked to people in Ancestry, and keeps giving me hints for these sources. I am having to go in, person by person, and ignore all these hints so I don't have the little leaf on every single person. The help files have not been useful, and the email I sent has yet to be answered. I am having problems with merging information as well. I still find it difficult to move around the tree to different people and get their information up.
I don't want to scare people off of the software. It has a lot of room for your notes and sources and media and all kinds of fun stuff. It hasn't crashed (I've got Windows XP). It just isn't really intuitive, and it's likely you'll have to sit down with the instructions to figure out how to do some really basic things (no, the 1920 census is not an "alternate fact" to the 1930 census--it's a completely new source! Gah!)I have issues with any software that you end up having to buy another instruction book to really make use of it, but that's what I guess I will have to do here.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Much bettre
Comment: This version is soooooo much better than the prior one. Runs quickly, easy to import pictures and video. I run this on my old junky laptop and it runs really well. I have very little time anymore so when I sit down to work on this I need it to be easy to figure out, easy to manage, and I need it to run quickly. This version does all of that.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Worth Every Cent
Comment: I inherited FTM 2003 from my Dad with thousands of family records. I upgraded to 2005 and took classes but never really got into doing much. This newest version is FANTASTIC! It does so much and makes it easy to find where I need to add/update/correct/research information. I can easily enter source information and media as well as standardize data such as locations. I recommend it highly. Also, by buying it on Amazon I saved over purchasing directly from the FTM site. Thanks!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Family Tree Maker 2009
Comment: Have owned FTM versions since version 1. FTM Version 2008 needed patch to run on Vista - was funky and clunky - version FTM 16 better. This newer version seems to work better - and with pronises of improvements - couldbe a much better product. FTM Version 16 still is better but has compatabilty problems with Windows Vista.