Family tree maker 2006 or 2008?

Question

I have got family tree maker 2006, is it worth upgrading to the 2008 version?

Answer 1

I have been worried about this, having tried some of the alternatives, in the inevitable event that I will have to migrate my system to Vista. There is a patch available for FTM2006 & Vista, supposedly.

I'm big on the report, chart and functionality of FTM2006. I know people who have both: they like FTM2008's net connection capabilities, but they download the info and process it through their FTM2006.

If I have to migrate away from 2006 when the XP OS or my computers die, I will probably check out The Master Genealogist again, since I do respect report capabilities and prefer to be independent of The Generations Network, which now owns Rootsweb,com,  Genealogy.com, and Ancestry.com.

I have decided to hold off on the upgrade to 2008 until they give us what we want. We have that right as customers. If they won't do it, we're free to go somewhere else.

For now, I'm quite happy with 2006.

(All the competitors have free trials: check 'em out. You might like 'em.)

http://www.rootsmagic.com/demo.htm

http://www.legacyfamilytree.com/Index.as...

http://www.whollygenes.com/Merchant2/mer...

Answer 2

I have worked on both versions, and I prefer the 2006 layout because it's easier to work with the family groups.  However the 2006 version is no longer being updated.

Answer 3

unfortunately 2008 is the way forward - you will not be able to update your 2006 software

personally I think that 2008 is rubbish, but I have it on my machine.  I still update and view on 2006, then every couple of months back up onto 2008.

Upgrade, but keep 2006.

Answer 4

Family Tree Maker 2008 has had a succession of bad crits from independent sources .Once you upgrade you cannot go back the way to ther older  version . I use Family Tree Maker 16 together with Roots Magiic .RM accepts FTW files directly instead of using a gedcom .  

Answer 5

Do yourself a favor and save your money.  2006 is superior hands  down.  In fact, 2008 is a downgrade.  There are charts available on 2006 that are no longer available on 2008- not to mention that 2008 takes an eternity to open if you have a large file.  

EDIT: If you try 2008, you can go back to the 2006 version if you made a backup of your file.  This should be standard operating procedure ANYTIME you upgrade versions of any program.