The software company Ancestry announced that it would be discontinuing its Family Tree Maker software on December 31, 2015. The company stated that it would no longer support the software and that it would be available for purchase for a limited time. After the announcement, many users of the software took to social media to express their disappointment with the decision. Some users had been using the software for over 20 years and were reluctant to switch to another program. Others were concerned about what would happen to their data if they did not continue to use Family Tree Maker.
Ancestry later announced that it would be working with Software MacKiev to create a new version of Family Tree Maker. This new version is expected to be released in 2017.