Feature Set:  

Family Tree Maker 2010 is a program designed to assist those of any age in doing family research. The workspace is easy to navigate and provides the user with a wide variety of tools to create a detailed family tree. The majority of the work will be done on the People Workspace. From this screen you can do three things: customize an individual’s profile, view a list of all the names currently entered and view the family tree chart. When shared facts are in play, the software will link the information with all of the individuals who are associated with it, such as viewing both spouses in a marriage. To aid the user in entering correct information, Family Tree Maker has an automated system that will alert you of any duplicate records or unlikely dates.

By registering to Ancestry.com, the user will be able to do family research online. This opens up many opportunities to find sources throughout the world. However, there is no guarantee that the information will match the family member exactly. To prevent this problem from occurring, a rating scale from one to five has been installed to give the source credibility. A green leaf is an icon that will appear on the name of people that have more information available through the genealogical sources online. When you find facts of your family members through the web, you can simply click and drag the information on to the workspace and it will automatically link as a source.

As your family tree becomes larger, you may want to use the Places Workspace. This allows you to review all of the locations that are linked to your family members. A simple click on the location will reveal all the facts associated with that site such as marriages, deaths or births. The map is powered by Microsoft Bing. It may be viewed in three different ways; road map, satellite photograph (Bird’s Eye), or a combination of the two.

Bonus Features:

• Significant world events may be added to individual’s timelines that will help you get a glimpse of what may have shaped their lives. To ease this process; wars, natural disasters, and monumental events are organized by year listing the individual’s age at the time of occurrence.
• Merging data will be easier for you by using the Web clipper to retrieve online information concerning your family members.
• To help you get a feel for what the locations really look like, there is a 3D option that allows you to see the height of buildings and other surrounding objects. This will help you feel like you are really there, but will save you the price of a plane ticket.