Rating: 
Summary: Filemaker needs a kick in the pants!
Review: FMP 6 is an interesting product. If you take away the buggy ODBC, restricted script language and the thousands of workarounds, which have been created by a loyal usergroup, in order to compensate for a very old and outdated base product, you have a pretty poor means of managing your valuable data. I found FMP 6 to be cumbersome and very limited in how you can represent your data. Try to change a field appearance based on a condition (dollar amount exceeds $...) and you need to create hidden fields, duplicate formulas, etc. It took 3 times longer than MS Access to get some pretty basic functionality out of this dog! Yeah, they say they are faster, easier and more user friendly than MS Access. And, for applications predesigned in the included template, they are. Now, try to do what Access can do. "Forget about it!"Filemaker needs a complete overhaul. They keep adding things like XML support (restricted) while the core program is so outdated that it makes a flatfile database look extremely hightech! If you have valuable data, a need to manage it, report on it, update it and automate it... AVOID FILEMAKER! They compare themselves with MS Access, because MS Access does it right. Filemake is still designed for the Mac user. It's a drawing program for spreadsheets. They have no upgrades for other products, and what they offer to existing users is pretty poor. Filemaker is milking whatever money it can before going out of business. Spend the extra $... and get a real relational database (Access, Alpha Five, etc.). Heck, you will get more functionality and a better dela for your dollar by using MS Excel. And, your data will be stable and safe, and look better. The days of the Mac database known as Filemaker are coming to an end. Their product is poor, at best. Their marketing programs are for MAc users. Their user community is so old they are afraid to move to a true RDBM.
Rating: 
Summary: Outstanding product that empowers users and designers alike!
Review: Greetings Amazon reviewers.. Now that you've read the Microsoft commercial below from:
"Reviewer: A software user from Stratford, CT USA"
Who probably, "needs a kick in the pants!" Here's the truth, this product has the capabilities for implementing a client / server database network easier than anything currently on the market! And the client / server capabilities are built in! And it doesn't matter if it's based on the PC OR the MAC. Further, once designed and implemented, will work seamlessly with both platforms on the network. Additionally, after extensive research for an insurance client that I just completed designing a Relational Database Management System (RDBMS) for, it was BY FAR the least expensive alternative, ESPECIALLY relative to Microsoft. In addition, it has the lowest overhead (computing hardware/software requirements) relative to anything of its capabilities on the market. You can reference these system requirements (along with features) at their web site that really gives a good deal of information. Note these minimum requirements below that most systems/owners can easily handle these days:
(compare these minimum requirements to the latest version of Microsoft's Access or any other database for that matter) PC
· Intel Compatible 90 MHz Pentium or higher
· 32 MB of RAM (or more)
· Windows 98, Me, NT4 (SP6), 2000, XP Mac
· Power Mac or higher
· 32 MB of RAM
· OS 8.6 - 9.22 Mac OS X
· Apple G3 or higher
· 128 MB of RAM
· OS X 10.1 The client I was designing for had older PCs using Windows 98SE. Obviously, I used the PC version of the software, which is very similar to the Mac version. If I had decided to implement a Microsoft "solution" it would have involved upgrading not only the hardware but the operating systems too. Then, the cost of the Access copies (licenses) certainly doesn't come cheap either if you haven't compared lately. FoxPro didn't fair any better, SQL Server worse. Especially in a client <==> server design paradigm! Bottom line, a fully customized relational database designed, developed and deployed on a network in record time with minimal cost to the owner (no new hardware or operating systems) and working from initial installation to this day with minimal database administration. FULLY compatible with either PC or MACs on the network and future operating system upgrades on either platform. Personally, I'm pleased and I know a business that is extremely happy. Win-win situation.. One thing I found rather nice is you can download a 30-day free trial of the basic Filemaker Pro software at their web site to see if it meets your needs - certainly a nice gesture. (filemaker.com)
Rating:
Summary: Forget the Access Guy
Review: I have used both MS Access and three different versions of FileMaker Pro, including this one. FileMaker Pro is much easier to work with and very reliable (unlike Access, which constantly crashes and loses or garbles most of your valuable information each time it crashes). FileMaker Pro is very versatile, and I have no problem creating custom designs. I have worked with some of the best software engineers in the country, and they are the ones who recommended FileMaker Pro to me.
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding. More than most people need.
Review: I have worked with very large databses (greater than 500 tables in Oracle and SyBase) and very small ones. If you are looking for a db implementation for less than $50,000, your first product to evaluate should be Filemaker. It will probably do all (and more) than you need. Anyone who says that MS Access is easier or more reliable than Filemaker either works for Microsoft or has some other unhelpful bias. Ask users and/or developers to show you databases built in the two products and you will see an enormous difference. The Access ones are likely to be crude and require frequent redevelopment work. The Filemaker ones are likely to be clean, reliable and flexible. If you don't need the huge power of the big guns (Oracle, SyBase, IBM), ignore Filemaker at your own risk.
Rating:
Summary: Forget the Access Guy
Review: I've been using FileMaker Pro software since version 1.0, when it was originated by Claris, and was only for Macintosh. I've since switched to PCs, and FileMaker Pro is now its own company. But the quality of the software remains excellent, the upgrades are always worthwhile, and this is still the most user-friendly database I've ever used. Especially if you're an Access user (which is impossible software!), you will love the ease and versatility of this program.
Rating:
Summary: Great, as usual
Review: I've been using FileMaker Pro software since version 1.0, when it was originated by Claris, and was only for Macintosh. I've since switched to PCs, and FileMaker Pro is now its own company. But the quality of the software remains excellent, the upgrades are always worthwhile, and this is still the most user-friendly database I've ever used. Especially if you're an Access user (which is impossible software!), you will love the ease and versatility of this program.
Rating:
Summary: Filemaker Pro 6 is great!
Review: This versatile program is easy to use and yet makes the tech types happy. For the price there is no comparison! Tanya Milligan
Rating:
Summary: Filemaker Pro 6 is great!
Review: This versatile program is easy to use and yet makes the tech types happy. For the price there is no comparison! Tanya Milligan
Rating:
Summary: Fantastically Versatile Program!
Review: To even compare FileMaker Pro with Access is absurd. While FileMaker is not on the order of MySQL or Oracle in terms of speed and power, it is far more flexible and far less expensive than anything else available in this workgroup class of applications for any Windows or Mac environment. You can start small, with just one or two computers and grow your solution into a fully server-based and remotely managed application. And if you should happen to need to migrate to a "big iron" type Database someday, such as MySql, conversion tools are available that will automate large parts of such a migration - including scripting. There are also a large number of third-party plugins should any other functionality be required down the road. Importing and exporting data is a snap in just about any format. As for sharing data, FileMaker is unmatched and even includes a small-scale web server function in addition to the "instant web publishing" function. It's an absolutely wonderful tool for any serious IT person that isn't threatened by a program that most non-IT people can understand.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastically Versatile Program!
Review: To even compare FileMaker Pro with Access is absurd. While FileMaker is not on the order of MySQL or Oracle in terms of speed and power, it is far more flexible and far less expensive than anything else available in this workgroup class of applications for any Windows or Mac environment. You can start small, with just one or two computers and grow your solution into a fully server-based and remotely managed application. And if you should happen to need to migrate to a "big iron" type Database someday, such as MySql, conversion tools are available that will automate large parts of such a migration - including scripting. There are also a large number of third-party plugins should any other functionality be required down the road. Importing and exporting data is a snap in just about any format. As for sharing data, FileMaker is unmatched and even includes a small-scale web server function in addition to the "instant web publishing" function. It's an absolutely wonderful tool for any serious IT person that isn't threatened by a program that most non-IT people can understand.
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