Genea tech tips do not come less technical than this one. Ancestry.com has
announced that FTM 2009 will be released soon, and that it will be a
free upgrade for registered users of FTM 2008.
In other words: if you do not register FTM 2008, you will not receive further
service packs. The next bunch of fixes will not be known as FTM 2008 Service
Pack 4, but as FTM 2009. To continue to receive service packs for another year,
register FTM 2008.
To register, start FTM 2008, and then choose "Register Family Tree Maker..." from the Help menu. This will pop-up a registration window. If you get a box telling you FTM could not connect to the registration server instead, you may need to temporarily change your firewall settings for FTM 2008.
The registration box tells you that you will become a registered Ancestry.com member, and demands that you agree to the Ancestry.com terms and conditions. If you do not check the Ancestry.com box and immediately click "Register Program" instead, a red text stating "(required to continue)" will appear.
The next dialog box asks for first name, last name and email address. This is followed by a box requesting your postal code. Do not simply click continue, but have a look at the checkboxes on that dialog. Ancestry.com has checked these, but you may want to opt out.
Luckily, the FTM registration does not automatically sign you up for the Ancestry.com trial and its infamous opt-out policy. The next dialog confirms that you’ve registered Family Tree Maker and merely has a button to start a 14-day trial subscription. That is a pretty large button. Next to it, in unusually small type, is a "No, thanks" link. That’s the one you need to click to end the dialog box parade.
When you click it, you get another screen confirming that you’ve registered FTM 2008, which again reminds you that you it is possible to start an ancestry.com subscription. Choose the Finish button. You can always choose "Activate Ancestry Subscription..." from the Help menu later.
Check your email. You should have received an email titled "Registration Confirmation" almost immediately. If you do not receive it, you’ve probably made an typo in your email address - remember that the dialog box did ask you to enter it twice to guard against that - and should simply register again.
One last tip. The email includes a username and password for ancestry.com,
and a most amazing "Special Offer", 20 % of the price of "The Official Guide to
Family Tree Maker 2008", for US$ 19.95 instead of US$ 24.95. You’ll probably
have the email with download instructions for FTM 2009 before the package
containing the FTM 2008 guide arrives in your mail box.
Besides, you can already buy "The Official Guide to Family Tree Maker 2009" for
the regular price of US$ 24.95 from the Ancestry store or for US$18.21 from
Buy.com, for $US 16.47 from Amazon.com, or US$16.21 from Tower Books, to
mention just a few current prices. The Ancestry store does not necessarily offer
the best price, so shop around. Do not forget to consider shipping & handling
charges.
Copyright © Tamura Jones. All Rights reserved.