There were 4 or 5 items in each row of Goodies on offer, and the same number of pages and each had to be endured and rejected before passing on. Having passed that hurdle I was taken to the ' Goodies' counter and there followed endless (I kid you not) entreaties to buy this or that item to enhance use of FTM (and Mackiev the more richer as each had a price tag). That passed, the next step was an interrogation of my device to ensure FTM 2017 was present. Step-by-step instructions abound in the email for the faint hearted, but I merely headed for the 'Update Center' (sic) to be confronted with an ' Are you authorised notice' that required details to be entered to check on my bonafide. I read through all its advisory articles and decided to proceed and followed mackiev advice to backup and compact before moving on to the next step - which is when the fun began. To be fair to Mackiev they set out in great detail that it is by no means an essential upgrade, but is likely to be so for those who use the Ancestry sync feature (and who doesn't) and the FamilySearch features in FTM 2017. Earlier today I received an email offering a 'FREE' upgrade of my 2017 edition (Build 343) to Build 540. I have over the last year grown to like FTM but use it mainly to sync with Ancestry - when the Ancestry 'Sync' climate permits (which users of FTM will understand), and for its exceedingly useful 'Places' feature.
