I check the FAMILYSEARCH website from time to time to see what's new and recently I checked and (wow!) there was some new databases loaded up that allowed me to continue research on a branch of my own family that has caused me to run into a number of blocks over time. Although I STILL WOULD PREFER TO BE ROLLING MICROFILM, rather than clicking a mouse and moving images across a computer screen, I now have the Declarations of Intent Index and then the Declarations of Intent from a state that is one of the more difficult to access information from.
I encourage you, if you are working on your own family history to check the familysearch.org site from time to time yourself.
The databases you see on Family Search are the result of intensive volunteer projects carried out mostly by Latter Day Saints church members who are dedicated to the idea that genealogy databases should be free. Microfilms are still rentable through interlibrary loans and for a reasonable fee (although I would like to see a system where a person can continue to rent for some time, so long as someone else is not waiting on the film.)
