Family Tree Maker for Mac 2 [OLD VERSION]

3 3 out of 5 stars | 88 ratings

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Last update: 09-16-2024


About this item

Easy! Enter what you know and follow the green leaf icon "hints" to records that may hold answers about your ancestors. Attach records to your tree with 1 click.
New! Keep desktop and online trees in sync with TreeSync. Then update your tree from any Internet connection.
New! Blended family view; see combined families, including step-families and adoptees at a glance.
New! Image Capture Function - insert images from built-in or external iSight camera.

Top reviews from the United States

CBP2
1.0 out of 5 stars Stopped working with El Capitan, poor quality overall
Reviewed in the United States on January 8, 2016
I buy lots of stuff from Amazon, but I don't often write reviews. (Maybe I should do more.) But I feel compelled to write one here. I got on a big family tree kick a few years ago and over the course of this effort I've purchased two revisions of FTM for Mac. First of all, the software is really buggy (and I should know, I'm a software engineer). I've had many times when I couldn't load a tab and had to restart the app. I've had trouble with the built-in Ancestry.com interface not working. I find the interface to be poorly crafted - it's not easy or obvious how to do a lot of things in this app. Granted, some of this is just because genealogy is rather arcane with it's reference systems and all that. But I would expect the software to hide that from you unless you want to see it - it should translate the arcane stuff into something more readily usable by a normal person. (The reviews on FTM 3 for Mac are pretty poor, too.)

But my biggest gripe is that this version has ceased to work - at all - with my Mac OSX El Capitan update. I went to look up some family information yesterday and found that I couldn't access any of my data. It's completely useless. It will launch, but I can't click any tabs or view any data - and I have a lot of it. It appears I can export the raw GEDCOM data, but that won't include all the media files. The manufacturer is unapologetically telling people they need to upgrade (again) to the latest version to regain access to their data. That's another $70, and frankly that's just not right. For what they charge, they should at least be able to post a small update to make the old software compatible. This software is NOT that old - it should still be supported. Oh and now the included free Ancestry membership is only 3 months, not 6. I'm really getting tired of shelling out more money for the same product so I can access all the stuff I've spent years compiling. So I'm on the hunt for better genealogy software for Mac.
istop4books
2.0 out of 5 stars Too many bugs in this software
Reviewed in the United States on January 8, 2014
When I went from a PC to a MAC I had to change my genealogy software from Legacy (which I LOVE) to FTM. I had huge issues installing the program, in fact the gurus at FTM gave up and a senior tech at MAC took over an hour figuring it out. Now it unsyncs my ancestry.com tree automatically - over and over. Not nearly as complete as Legacy and not nearly as intuitive and now I feel like I'm stuck with it.
Bob M
3.0 out of 5 stars I like it but I liked the old versions better
Reviewed in the United States on November 29, 2012
Nice program and it does the job but I liked the format of the old family tree maker programs much better. I think the improvements from my old version has overly complicated the program. From what I've seen, this is the best choice for today. But it disappoints me that program designers do not seem to understand the value of simplicity. I don't want to be dazzled with features and multiple ways to access different information about a single individual from many different directions. I want to be able to surf through the genealogy from person to person without going through columns of names and I want access to all info when viewing that person. sounds simple huh? my old version did that. Oh well, it still looked better than all the other choices.
Bradford Smith
4.0 out of 5 stars Family Tree Maker & Ancestry.com
Reviewed in the United States on January 11, 2013
As I understand it (and I may have this wrong), Ancestry.com owns FTM. Ancestry.com is in the cloud. FTM is on your computer. TreeSync keeps the FTM files on your computer and Ancestry.com files in the cloud in sync. FTM and Ancestry.com are two different ways of accessing the information in your family tree(s). I prefer using Ancestry.com to access my family trees and am blown away by the amount and type of data available on Ancestry.com. Attempting to merge files has been a trial. FTM and Ancestry.com are wonderful products, but, be careful; it can be a time sink. Maybe when I get a better feel of when best to use FTM and Ancestry.com, I'll change my rating to five stars, but for the moment, it remains a bit of a mystery.
carhauler777
5.0 out of 5 stars Family Tree Maker for Mac 2:
Reviewed in the United States on June 14, 2012
The first CD I received was defective and was not recognized by my computer (MacBook Pro, Intel Core 2 Duo, 10.6.8). This is a HIGHLY unusual situation for installing Mac software. After rebooting and trying the installation again, I received the same error message. I requested a replacement from Amazon which arrived within a few days. Installation of the replacement software went smoothly and the application launched immediately.

As to the software, the following is my initial impression of Family Tree Maker for Mac 2.

I already had a family tree set up on the Ancestry.com website. After going through the initial Family Tree set-up procedures and registering for the six month free trial, I downloaded my family tree from Ancestry.com into Family Tree Maker seamlessly. Now, I can do my research and make changes to my tree using the software right on my laptop, or I can log into my Ancestry account online to do so. Additions and changes performed by either method are automatically synced when quitting Family Tree Maker.

As a Mac user for over 20 years, I judge software by its ease of use and how well it integrates with the Mac OS. My initial impression of Family Tree Maker for Mac 2 is good. I'll submit an update later, after I've spent more time working "under the hood."

UPDATE 4-30-2014:

After two years, no issues with my software since installation. I downloaded the Ancestry app onto my iPhone. No matter where I type in new information (desktop, website, or iPhone), the information is automatically synced. Great when my new granddaughter arrived and I updated my family tree via my iPhone while at the hospital. :-)

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