Coming as a two-CD International Edition that will upgrade all previous versions, Family Tree Maker (FTM) v16 is the latest version of the tree-making software.

Already feature-packed, the list of new features in this edition is fairly short. There's a FastFill feature, the ability to filter source usage reports to show only the sources for selected individuals and it's possible to directly copy and paste an image from a web search.

These are not earth-shattering, must-have essentials and will mostly benefit those with large numbers of entries in their family trees.

Also included with v16 is a companion program, GenSmarts, which analyses the FTM genealogy file, then suggests suitable avenues of further research, including promising web pages. It’s a full program worth around £16 on its own.

The box also includes a 14-day trial membership of Ancestry’s online databases, although this involves giving a credit card number – just remember to cancel it before the trial period ends. There’s another CD as well: Our History in Images (where ‘Our’ refers to American history) with over 3,000 historical photos and maps that can be saved to FTM’s Scrapbook.

Otherwise, FTM retains the same features as the previous v2006 edition. The default Family View shows husband and wife with their children and parents, plus buttons to summon up the editing screen, extra spouses, media scrapbook (with graphics, sound, video, and text files), and an web search for ancestors, in addition to the GenSmarts facility. Almost every field allows the user to edit it.

There’s no provision for photographs in this view, which is something that some of Family Tree Maker's competitors can do. Unfortunately the spell checker for text notes is American, but it's possible also to buy the FTM UK 2006 UK Del uxe Edition (including spellchecking using British English and searching of UK databases), which, although it's older, comes complete with a free download upgrade to v16.

Family Tree Maker pioneered the creation of Family Books, where various reports are combined into a single 'book’ complete with a table of contents and an index, and to which it's possible to add charts, photographs, maps, timelines and paginated, cross-referenced, drop-line trees of descendants. Users can output all reports as PDF files, complete with photos, maps, and graphics.

To use FTM to the full you’ll need an Internet connection, without which you will be unable to register the program or use the web search facility. Users can share their family trees with others by uploading them to MyFamily.com’s collection of user-submitted trees.

However, this comes with certain caveats such as relinquishing control of your tree to the website and allowing it to do with it what it likes.

Overall, although the new version doesn't add much, version 16 of Family Tree Maker remains a good buy.

Also consider:
Legacy v6 Deluxe
£39
More reports including the innovative lines of multiple descent, full printed manual
5/5