A Western Massachusetts Genealogical Conference

Well, things are coming together for the "first" Western Massachusetts Genealogical Conference.  Keep the date, September 9-10, 2016;  I will have more details very soon.

This conference will be themed around the history and genealogy of Western Massachusetts (the four counties - Berkshire, Franklin, Hampshire and Hampden).

Do you have roots in Western Massachusetts?  Keep watching as more details start pouring in.

The Demise of Family Tree Maker

We knew it was coming, but we all hoped it wouldn't be for a long time yet.  Ancestry has made the announcement. "Ancestry to Retire Family Tree Maker Software".  Support is supposed to continue through January 2017, but we'll have to see what happens.

My biggest concern is that the online version just won't be as robust as the desktop version.  I certainly hope that Ancestry will be adding even more features to its online version.  I use FTM2014 on a daily basis, and I had hoped if they were going to nix it, they would have a premium online version for those of us who consider ourselves "Power Users".  The current online version is okay, but doesn't have all the tools available that a "seasoned" genealogist would be looking for in a program.

The advantages to this is that the database and all its inherent maintenance problems will no longer need to be administered by the individual, but maintained by cloud servers.  This will keep it safe from fire, theft, and other issues.  Compatibility will also become less of an issue, no longer Mac vs PC vs Linux, etc. 

For a wonderful discussion about this and other advantages of Cloudware, see Dick Eastman's article, "Are you Using the Cloud?"