Recently Ancestry announced they would stop selling Family Tree Maker (FTM) desktop software as of December 31, 2015 and will cease support and sync functions as of January 1, 2017. Needless to say this left die hard FTM users reeling. Ancestry stated that it’s subscription business and website will continue to grow and they are making efforts to make the experience better. For thousands it now means making the decision to switch to another desktop software or completely moving to web-only genealogy software solutions. This move by the software industry to move away from desktop-based software is not new, the cloud is the new desktop.

While the decision to shelf the desktop version of FTM strikes a chord with many, there are valid reasons Ancestry has come to this decision. Desktop software is difficult and costly to maintain. First the vendor must maintain separate copies of the software for each platform (Windows and Mac typically). This means two separate development teams. Next these teams must keep up with patching vulnerabilities to keep the software, and your data, safe. The software will have many dependencies on third party applications and software packages that will ask be changing and updating independently of each other and sporadically. Thus it’s a monumental task to keep this practice going, and very expensive.

The desktop as we know it is a dying artifact of yesterday. Computing is largely moving to mobile platforms and cloud apps. People don’t want to be tethered to a laptop, and frankly who owns a desktop anymore? People want things on their tablets, their phones, and some even on their watches. Companies and software vendors are moving toward always-available cloud-based services that let people access what they want when they want. This move drastically simplifies things for software vendors who now only have to maintain one code base, for one platform, with one team (likely offshore for the cost of a few cups of coffee).

Ancestry’s move is in lock step with the software industry. By providing only a web app they reduce their expenses while gaining more control over the quality of the product they are selling. With desktop software the experience a user has is tied to how good their hardware is, how up to date their software is, and if they are infected with malware that’s slowing everything down. Is their hard drive ready to be put out to pasture because it’s running abysmally slow? All of these variables are outside of ancestry’s control but they still receive all of the complaints, service requests, and bad reviews because aunt Doris’ twenty-year-old desktop doesn’t deliver a satisfying experience while she manages her 10,000-member family tree with insufficient memory.

Any software faces its challenges for both Mac and PC users and truth be told, FTM has had a rocky road. The last major updates were in 2008 and then again in 2012 when FTM added the TreeSync feature. Personally, the TreeSync feature is one of the major reasons I stuck with FTM through all the bugs, crashes, and updates. The release of Version 3 for Mac finally saw a smooth road, and since I am a Mac user I felt like FTM was finally settling into its skin…and then the BIG announcement.

So now what? Like many of you, I’ve been reading all the reviews and hype for the Windows alternatives like RootsMagic and Family Historian, but running Windows apps on a Mac, while possible, is like putting lipstick on a pig. It works ok but it’s not really all that attractive and it’s not a native Mac application. While these other apps can sync with FamilySearch.org or MyHeritage.com they currently can’t sync with Ancestry.com. Or will they?

Ancestry has stated, “We are exploring possible relationships with other desktop software solutions that would make it possible for their products to integrate with Ancestry.” This would be the most ideal next step for Ancestry and would open them up to thousands of family trees in RootsMagic, Family Tree Builder, and Legacy Family Tree users. This of course would open the possibility of more subscribers for them as well. Not only would Ancestry increase its subscribers but possibility add thousands of additional family trees.

So the question remains, what will I do? Will I switch to another software program or go all virtual? Truth is, I haven’t decided. There are a few things that are important to me, the sync function being a primary one. But I also want a true Mac environment, stability, ease of use, robust searching, maps, source citation tools, charts, and reports.

Ancestry and FTM will still be functional until the end of the year, so I will take my time and explore all of the options. In addition I will continue to clean up my FTM, use the sync function with Ancestry and wait for another announcement about a possible sync function with other software programs.

If you’re an FTM user, what desktop app (Windows or Mac) do you plan to switch to and why?