Family Tree Maker 2011 Deluxe
Australian and New Zealand Version
Family Tree Maker 2011 is the latest and
dare I saw greatest genealogy package of 2010 which once again provides
users with one of the most definitive ways of keeping track of your family
history plus some awesome research tools. From creating family books to
charts and sharing your story, Family Tree Maker 2011 Deluxe has all the
tools you need and then some.
Family Tree Maker 2011 lets you easily:
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Research and
preserve your family story on your computer
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Create charts and
reports to share with family and friends
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Integrate with the
920 million records on Ancestry.com.au and download new information
directly into your tree
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Receive hints
linking you to matching records on Ancestry.com.au
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Add photos,
documents, audio and video into your tree
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View timelines and
interactive maps highlighting events and places in your ancestors
lives
Another interesting
facet of this program is that the system specifications are relatively
quite low which ensures that this can be run on a wide variety of
computers. Even better is that that this version targets the Australian market which means when
you're researching, it will give you access to a whole wealth of
information from Australia and aboard such as ship manifesto, births, deaths,
marriages and what not in order to assist with your research thanks to
online integration. Let's just say that it has over 920 million records
online!
So where do we all start? That's the easy part and after a relatively
pain free installation process (around 500MB installed), we were ready to start our search into a
new part of our family history, more importantly, my wives family from
England. The program does contain a subscription to Ancestry.com.au
which prompts you during the installation process for both new and old
users. This allows for up to 3-months free access and then unfortunately
you need to pay.
What's new in Ancestry.com.au Family
Tree Maker 2011?
-
3 Months UK Heritage
Membership to Ancestry.com.au* - Worth over $65!
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Printed Quick Start
Guide
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Follow simple
instructions to begin a project
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Electronic Version
of the Companion
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Guide to Family Tree
Maker 2011
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Learn Family Tree
Makers most popular features with quick lessons that make research
fast and fun
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Interactive Training
Tutorials
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Step-by-step hints
and tips to help you grow your family tree.
Once installed, we were treated to a familiar user interface that
was easy to navigate and well designed. Kudos to the developers for
allowing all different levels of computers users the ability to navigate
this program. If you do get stuck, there is a manual, online help and
some great forums who can assist you or point you in the right
direction. Before we go and in terms of the interface, the more in-depth
you get, the more difficult the program becomes but thankfully you can
start small and there are enough wizards to help you out. Another
interesting feature is the tutorials that come with the program and is
definitely a great place to start if you're a newcomer.
At its core, Family Tree Maker 2011 is a genealogical program that not
only allows you to create family trees but allows you to import
documents and photos of your ancestors and relatives that does create a
comprehensive listing. It's up to the user as to how much of this they
wish to use but for us, more detail is preferred and this program allows
just that.
For example, my partner's grand father had written a diary
while he was in World War II and once it was scanned, this was attached
to his record. We even discovered more information about her side of the
family, thanks to the Ancestry website that did link us to second cousin
who immigrated to Australia with her parents. The program even comes
with a free iPhone app that allows you research while you're out and
about and although this program is a little simple, it does the job.
If you already own another family three program, Family Tree Maker 2011
does offer the ability to import from other programs (including previous
version of Family Tree Maker) and some other formats. With that said,
Family Tree Maker 2011 can sometimes be quite daunting due to the amount
of information available to the user which may deter some people but
practice does help. But if you join the forums and speak to the users,
you'll soon understand why this is one of the world's best selling
family tree makers.
To create a new family tree, you simply select the "People" tab and it
will create a basic family tree and then the hard work is filling in all
the information from names, births, deaths, photos, marriage
certificates and all that cool family tree information. It also checks
your information with online information that can sometimes help fill
the blanks thanks to its web interaction. Attaching documents is also a
breeze and this is done through the "Media" tab which allows you to link
files into the database and is quite intuitive to use. Once again if you
do get stuck, just ask for help. You are not just limited to photos or
documents, it also allows for audio and video files as well with a drag
and drop interface.
Although the navigation of Family Tree Maker 2011 is reminiscent of the
previous edition, it does look more streamlined and slicker. There is
even the ability to add "post-it" type notes to the program and a great
news feature called the Ancestry Web Dashboard which monitors your
subscription and keeps you up to date with the software package and the
world of genealogy.
At the end of the day, Family Tree Maker 2011
Deluxe is a very powerful and
informative family tree maker that offers some wonderful options in
tracing your family history. With a well made interface, easy
installation, genealogy has never been easier nd compared to other
versions, it runs faster and does offer a few more options. If you do
own the previous version, you may wait until the 2012 version but
compared to some of the other family tree programs that I've used, this
is by far, the most superior to date.
The only issue is the subscription!
Recommended! |