MacUser/UK reviewed the new low-end database from FileMaker, Bento, in its latest edition and found it exemplary with little to grumble about. While there were some minor gotchas, the new database for casual users allows them to organize data in a fashion similar to the comfortable interface of iTunes and iPhoto.
The review described how Bento fits in comfortably with other Leopard applications in its screen layout. More importantly, when creating data types and storing data, "Whatever Bento is asked to store, thought has gone into ensuring the user isnit left frustrated by an unintuitive application," reviewer Alan Stonebridge wrote.
Other modern Mac OS X technologies were incorporated, such as iWeb-like position guides and Spotlight searches. The reviewer had no problems importing spreadsheet data.
Mr. Stonebridge was left very impressed. "For the market itis aimed at, Bento is an exemplary product. Much of this stems from the re-use of familiar concepts from Mac OS X and other Apple applications. A few minor issues leave room for improvement but overall Bento makes a good debut and at such a low price that only a die-hard open source advocate can grumble about," he concluded and gave it four rating out of five.
Note: Bento requires Mac OS X 10.5/Leopard and is still in "pre-release" preview mode by Filemaker. When released, it will sell for US$49 or US$99 for a five user family pack.
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