FM Applications: Another piece clicks into place

Posted:
in Mac Software edited January 2014
Linkage: http://maccentral.macworld.com/news/.../02/filemaker/



FileMaker is rolling out a line of applications which (astonishingly!) require an installation of FileMaker 6 to run. They're business apps, pre-cooked and slickly done up so that they require no knowledge of the underlying database to use.



Voila. Apple shows off the power of one of their business software RAD platforms (seriously!) by using it to efficiently solve lots of basic problems in business where there is no Mac solution.



I can only imagine where this will go when FM 7 appears - whatever they end up calling it. But even before then, this is a crucial step in the attempt to gain a foothold in business. The apps are reasonably priced, and if they're half as good as FM claims in the MacCentral article they'll be leaps and bounds better than the crap that most businesses have to use a distressing amount of the time.



FileMaker is planning a steady stream of releases.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 4
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Amorph

    Linkage: http://maccentral.macworld.com/news/.../02/filemaker/



    FileMaker is rolling out a line of applications which (astonishingly!) require an installation of FileMaker 6 to run. They're business apps, pre-cooked and slickly done up so that they require no knowledge of the underlying database to use.



    Voila. Apple shows off the power of one of their business software RAD platforms (seriously!) by using it to efficiently solve lots of basic problems in business where there is no Mac solution.



    I can only imagine where this will go when FM 7 appears - whatever they end up calling it. But even before then, this is a crucial step in the attempt to gain a foothold in business. The apps are reasonably priced, and if they're half as good as FM claims in the MacCentral article they'll be leaps and bounds better than the crap that most businesses have to use a distressing amount of the time.



    FileMaker is planning a steady stream of releases.




    8)
  • Reply 2 of 4
    frank777frank777 Posts: 5,839member
    Amen to that!



    One of the reasons I've been looking forward to Filemaker 7 is that I was about to build a new personal database app for my company sales. Nice to hear Filemaker's doing it for me by the end of the year.



    One concern I have is whether I'll need to keep contacts in Address Book or Filemaker, and whether I'll be able to sync between the two.



    I purchased Marketcircle's DayLite, and the features are there but the learning curve seems incredibly steep. Filemaker is my friend.



    In the AppleOffice thread I said Apple should come out with a trio of business apps: Keynote, Filemaker and Timeline (my name for project management software.) Looks as though Apple will be going many times past that.



    One final thought: Intuit had better bring Quickbooks up to par with the Windows version very, very fast. Enough said.
  • Reply 3 of 4
    Very smart of them to leverage their platform like this. Wonder if they're as good at building a user experience as Apple is.
  • Reply 4 of 4
    frank777frank777 Posts: 5,839member
    Quote:

    Oringinally posted by BuonRotto:

    Very smart of them to leverage their platform like this. Wonder if they're as good at building a user experience as Apple is.



    Filemaker IS an Apple subsidiary. With the secrecy veil that's been thrown over Filemaker 7, nobody will be able to convince me that Jobs doesn't have a direct hand in this.



    I perused the various sites and stories, but seem to be coming up empty with my biggest concern: If I want to use the Meetings, Task Manager, Project Management and Sales Prospecting modules, is my contact information all kept in a central database?



    Re-entering the data would be silly, but using Apple's Address Book would break Windows compatibility. (Interestingly, Apple's now directly taking on Microsoft in the presentation, project management and CRM arenas - the latter two on BOTH Mac and Windows platforms.)



    If it's a central database, does it sync with Address Book and iSync?

    Inquiring minds want to know.
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