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FileMaker Previews New Database Application Bento

by , 12:30 PM EST, November 13th, 2007

FileMaker announced the immediate availability of a public preview version of Bento, a new database application geared towards personal and small business use, on Tuesday. Bento ties in with data that's already on your Mac, including Address Book and iCal information, lets users build sophisticated database solutions with drag-and-drop objects, and was designed to let users create solutions without having to learn new skills.


Bento

Bento includes over 20 pre-designed templates, imports spreadsheets and CSV files via drag-and-drop, offers an iTunes-like search feature, lets users link or embed documents, and more. Content in a Bento database can be synced with .Mac for Web sharing, and since it links to iCal and Address Book, can also sync with other devices including the iPhone and iPod touch.

The public preview of Bento requires Mac OS X 10.5 or higher, and is available as a free download from the FileMaker Web site, and will expire on February 14, 2008. The completed version is scheduled to ship in January 2008, and will be priced at US$49.

Observer Comments

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Close Name:acdc1174 Posts: 723 Joined: 16 Apr 2004
Tue Nov 13, 2007 2:02 pm Subject: The missing iWork App.

This is a very interesting application. I am looking forward to downloading this and running it through its paces. This COULD be the final component that lets me completely say goodbye to Office.


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Close Name:Guest
Tue Nov 13, 2007 3:16 pm Subject: Direct download link, cause the page is broke
Close Name:Guest
Tue Nov 13, 2007 3:16 pm Subject: woops, forgot link
Close Name:gopher Posts: 291 Joined: 28 Mar 2002
Tue Nov 13, 2007 3:33 pm Subject: So that's where their focus has gone

No wonder they won't release Leopard compatible updates for Filemaker 8.5. Thankfully the features of Filemaker I need work fine in Leopard.


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Close Name:Guest
Tue Nov 13, 2007 4:16 pm Subject: The lost AppleWorks database?

This is definitely a good thing to have, although it should be included in iWork!!


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Close Name:gslusher Posts: 2088 Joined: 13 Nov 2002
Tue Nov 13, 2007 4:47 pm Subject: Re: The lost AppleWorks database?

Quote
Anonymous wrote:
This is definitely a good thing to have, although it should be included in iWork!!


That would be nice, but FileMaker is a separate company from Apple, though Apple owns it. Bento will require Leopard; iWork '08 works in Tiger. You can imagine the howls of protest (and the angry lawsuits) if people had to buy a Leopard-only application in order to get others that work in Tiger.


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Close Name:geoduck Posts: 1921 Joined: 30 Dec 2003
Wed Nov 14, 2007 10:55 am Subject:

From what I read Bento will only import comma deliminated text. That it won't let you import old FileMaker databases strikes me as a bit shortsighted. I have FileMaker-5. I've been hanging on to it because there was no compelling reason for me to upgrade. Bento strikes me as exactly what I was waiting for, simple, clean, and up to date, but why make it difficult?

Bento IS made by FileMaker. I would have thought there would have been some FileMaker compatibility built into it. I will get Bento eventually (that is, when I have 10.5) but I'm not looking forward to exporting, then importing, then going through all the data looking for stuff that got put in the wrong place, or fields that are of the wrong type, or relationships that aren't any longer.

Not all people who will use Bento are going to be starting from nothing. I really think that there are a lot of us that have existing FileMaker databases that we would like to import cleanly.


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Close Name:Guest
Wed Nov 14, 2007 2:59 pm Subject: what

sent two requests for the trial version in the past day and have received no response or download link - what gives??


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Close Name:gslusher Posts: 2088 Joined: 13 Nov 2002
Fri Nov 16, 2007 7:20 am Subject: Mac|Life first look

Mac|Life magazine has a First Look review of Bento.


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Close Name:Guest
Mon Feb 18, 2008 6:06 pm Subject: No FileMaker import

I'm in the same boat as this user. Would love to not have to go into Classic to use Filemaker 5 but its not really an option at this stage. Guess I'll be sticking with my PowerPCs - no point in buying a brand new MacIntel with :Leopard if I cant import my data.
See Apple, your software / hardware upgrade strategy can work against you also.


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