Benjamin Nettesheim, Ancestry.com’s official Family Tree Maker spokesperson
(FTM Brand Manager
), is inviting beta testers for the next patch to Family
Tree Maker 2008.
To apply, fill in the survey. The first question the Survey asks is whether you own Family Tree Maker 2008. A comment by Athena rightly remarks that Ancestry.com has limited testing to current owners before, and that such a restriction virtually ensures an inadequate test pool.
Athena is right. One feature that will surely remain under-tested when you select testers this way is import capability. That is strange, because FTM 2008’s import capabilities are decidedly below par (see Early Look of FTM 2008 Beta).
Then again, the Family Tree Maker 2008 Beta was open to all, and Ancestry.com chose to ignore the flood of complaints about all the FTM defects it received, and to start selling it anyway. The selection of the test pool may be short-sighted, but proper selection only matters when Ancestry.com actually listens to the complaints.
Apparently, many people have been asking where to report defects, and Nettesheim directs them to the Family Tree Maker Feedback Form.
Copyright © Tamura Jones. All Rights reserved.