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Wednesday, February 10, 2016

The Fate of Family Tree Maker - Relives at MacKiev


Family Tree Maker, the program abandoned by Ancestry.com has found a new home with MacKiev.com and it looks like a few old standby programs have also. The programs listed on their website include the following:

If you have been around computers and especially Apple computers as long as I have, you will undoubtedly recognize some or all of these programs. 

So, who is MacKiev? According to Wikipedia: Software MacKiev:
Software MacKiev is a company specialized in consumer and educational software development and publishing for Macintosh, Windows, and mobile platforms. Headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, Software MacKiev has its main workshop in Kiev, Ukraine.
The company's products are described as follows:

In addition to developing Macintosh, Windows, iOS, and Android software under contract for other software companies, Software MacKiev publishes its own consumer and education software titles including HyperStudio (Acquired from Sunburst Technologies in 2007) and KID PIX (Acquired from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in 2011). The company also publishes selected titles under license from World Book, Inc. and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 
Additional titles:
  • The Print Shop for Mac - a desktop publishing software package
  • Kid Pix Deluxe 3D - a drawing, painting and presentation program for kids (Mac and Windows editions)
  • Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing - Ultimate Mac Edition - a touch typing tutor for QWERTY and DVORAK keyboards
  • Roger Wagner's HyperStudio 5 - a multimedia authoring tool (Mac and Windows editions)
  • World Book Multimedia Encyclopedia (Mac/Win hybrid)
  • ClueFinders Adventures - math, logic and problem-solving for 3rd-6th grade students, presented like a Saturday morning cartoon adventure series. (Mac/Win hybrid)
  • Edmark Thinkin' Things - logic and music skills for children 4–8 years old
  • Dr. Seuss's ABC
  • Dr. Seuss's Green Eggs and Ham
  • Dr. Seuss's The Cat
In 2016, Software MacKiev acquired the Family Tree Maker brand from Ancestry.com.[
According to Manta.com, the company was established in 1997 and incorporated in Massachusetts. Current estimates show that Software MacKiev has an annual revenue of $1,400,000 and employs a staff of approximately 12.

What is interesting is that Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing Version 18 is in Amazon.com and is listed as being sold by Encore Select Holdings, LLC, a sports collectibles company. Kid Pix 3d is being sold at Amazon.com by MacKiev, but it is also being sold by Encore. Interesting. Apparently, these companies license the software and keep it alive and for sale. Good idea. 

MacKiev.com also has a long list of Frequently Asked Questions about Family Tree Maker. I would strongly suggest that if you have the program, you review this page. It will likely answer most of your concerns.

1 comment:

  1. Also see the interview with Software MacKiev president Jack Minsky by Tamura Jones http://www.tamurajones.net/NewFamilyTreeMakerFuture.xhtml

    ReplyDelete