Family Tree Maker 2011 – Pre-Orders

Family Tree Maker 2011 is now available for pre-order from Ancestry.com for $39.95. I’m not sure what version this is – whether they are going to have deluxe, etc. versions or a standard version for $39.95.

More than 100+ enhancements and additions including:
* Smart Stories™ – Just drag and drop facts from your tree to the new Smart Stories page. Each time you edit your tree, stories update automatically.
* New and improved charts – Enhance your charts with new backgrounds, borders, and embellishments. Create four new designs, including a 360 degree fan chart.
* Refined reports – Save and reuse report settings and use 5 new report styles.
* Media management tools – Locate missing media items with the click of the mouse.
* More Ancestry integration – Find out which Ancestry members are searching for your ancestors in the expanded Web Dashboard.
* Better performance – Upload and download trees from the Internet with increased speed.
* Numbering – Automatically number every person in your tree for quick reference.
* Timelines – View more events that occurred during your ancestors’ lives. Even edit, delete or add your own historical events.

One thing that really interests me is the “Smart Stories” feature. Many of us have hand-assembled stories about ancestors and relatives using information we’ve compiled, and I’m guessing this is something similar (but easier).

Still waiting to see what Family Tree Maker 2010 for Mac (MacGenealogy.org) will be. I’m assuming it will be based on 2011 and not 2010 like they had originally announced. It also remains to be seen what, if anything, will be done with Ancestry.com Tree-to-Go (MobileGenealogy.com). Right now, Ancestry.com Tree-to-Go is a free stand-alone program meant to be a front-end to Ancestry.com. Stand-alone meaning that it’s not tied to a desktop genealogy program. There is an iPhone/iPad application for syncing up with Legacy Family Tree data – Families (MobileGenealogy.com).

There is also a book up on Amazon.com available for pre-order – Beyond the Basics: A Guide for Advanced Users of Family Tree Maker 2011 in paperback format, by Tana Pederson. it’s from Ancestry.com Publishing, and will be available October 28, 2010 and nothing else is mentioned other than the ISBN numbers:
# ISBN-10: 1593313357
# ISBN-13: 978-1593313357

Pederson has published other related books – The Official Guide to Family Tree Maker 2010 (2009), The Official Guide to Rootsweb.com (2007, with Myra Vanderpool Gormley), as well as older official guides to Family Tree Maker.

For system requirements and more information about Family Tree Maker 11, please see the Family Tree Maker 11 page.