I have an old version of Family Tree Maker that we have been using for years.  It is 5.0 with a copyright date of 1998.  I have been hesitant to get a new version, as I didn't know how easily my information would transfer.  It has been working well for me, but I have not tried to upload information.  Instead, I have been gradually adding people to my tree at Ancestry.com as I obtain records to back up the information. 

I have a cousin that also uses FTM, but it is a newer version, and he sent his tree as an attachment to an email, and mine read it just fine. I was really afraid it wouldn't.

I find mine easy to use; I have gone back and corrected information that records proved to be wrong; it did take me a while to print off just the pages I wanted, and not a whole bunch that I didn't need, but it was in what I told my printer to do, not in the FTM program.  I have been able to add pictures, and scanned documents, once I figured out how to use my scanner.  That was harder than figuring out how to insert them into the scrapbooks.   lol

Hello Everyone - My wife is the family genealogist and she uses Family Tree Maker 2006 - this is what my wife had to say about the software -

I bought the 2009 edition and hated it.  Family Tree Maker 2006 is very easy to use and user-friendly.  You can create so many different reports that can be copied and e-mailed and you can also create GEDCOM files so you can share your family files with others as well as post it on the internet.  I have used other family and genealogy software programs but so far I like Family Tree Maker.

I was very disappointed recently, when I saved a report from Family Tree Maker the way someone suggested, so you could read it without the FTM software .. and it didn't work! A distant cousin's daughter e-mailed me, asking about the family tree, and since I'm in the middle of moving, I thought I'd e-mail it to her .. but it didn't work. Now I've got a 27 page report waiting for me to scotch-tape it together & mail it to her .. ugh! 

I have Family Tree Maker Version 4.4 for Windows 95. I never heard of GEDCOM files, until the recent conversation here. I checked it out on my FTM, thinking perhaps it was too old for that, but I found directions on how to do it. It still means, I assume, that a recipient needs to have some sort of genealogy software .. or is it like a "flat file" anyone can read?

A woman I know from one organization to which I belong, is president of my county's genealogy society, and the neighboring county's historic society .. I should get more involved with that!

I know that you can also add pictures on FTM, so that would make for an interesting printout. If you can generate a GENCOM file, does that mean you might be able to send it to a professional copy center like Kinkos, so they could print it out on a single large sheet of paper? I hate having to trip & tape 28 sheets together! (LOL)

I'm a little late tot he game on this topic.  But, I also use Family Treemaker.  I use v16, or the 2006 edition because I really don't like the new one (Family Treemaker 2008).  I've had really good luck with it and like being able to share files with other researchers by creating a GEDCOM file that most other software packages can read. 

Astrea, if you've not discovered how to create a GEDCOM file, its pretty easy.  You just save your file and click on the file type down arrow and choose file type for GEDCOM.  Even those that use the software from the LDS site can import a GEDCOM file into their software.

I'm playing around with the ability to make a book with Family Treemaker.  I"m finding if you fill in the blanks with stories, etc.  you can make a pretty cool little gift for the family.

Cindy

We were actually pleasantly surprised to find that information out. 

On my mother's side, I came across information on some of her ancestors that had fought in the Revolution.  Back in Tennessee that was a point of pride when she was growing up, and to find that there were more than several made her feel real proud.  I actually pushed harder to gather her family history before she died.

I have no doubt that you might be able to find information on your grandparents thru the Mormon's site even with the destruction of the wars.

I've always enjoyed history and genealogy fits right in with that.

It must have been something, to find out about the property your family owned in Md; God, I wish I could trace my family back 250 years!

My grandparents owned a farm along the Delaware River, either in NYS or PA, when they first got married. I think it was several hundred acres. When my first uncle was born crippled, my grandmother wanted to live in NYC, rather than in the boondocks, so that medical facilities would be nearby. My grandfather's family had been farmers or landowners in Poland, and I think he liked having the land. Later on, they bought a smaller "gentleman's farm" in the Catskill Mtns of NYS, and spent summers up there.