FM 5.5 / FM 6

[jamesooooo]

Whats the difference between Filemaker pro 5.5 and 6? is it worth upgrading? or just wait for the next version? just wondering if i could be making my life easier now. hehe

James

[Vaughan]

Keep an eye out for FM Inc announcements, you may in fact be able to have you cake and eat it... FMP 7 is due real soon now, so you might be able to buy FMP 6 and get a free upgrade to 7 later.

FMP 6 is supposed to be the last version that'll run in MacOS Classic (OS 8 & 9) so if you plan on developing for older Macs then it'll be probably worth getting.

[kenneth2k1]

you might be able to buy FMP 6 and get a free upgrade to 7 later

That would be cool! What about us that bought 6 like a couple of months ago?

The one thing that I think makes 6 better is because you can import from folders (and directly from digital cameras on OS10). Plugins offer this capability too, but I think it just shows that FMI will continue to add functions that only plugins would.

Ken

[Fenton]

Another thing 6 does, which may or may not matter to you (probably doesn't, yet) is import and export of XML.

And a built-in Custom Dialog. But I've used that very little, because it requires 6, which many clients do not have (Catch 22),

It can be handy however to overcome the problem of entry into a global field while in List view, say for a Find.

[Kurt Knippel]

Last I heard was that FMI was pushing thier yearly maintainence contract. Buying it would essentially get you FM7, however this is not such a good deal unless you have not yet bought FM6.

If thinking about upgrading, now is a good time to do so.

[jamesooooo]

So, it seems like 6 isn't much of an improvement over 5.5 it sounds. at least for a windows machine. but you think if i get 6 now i may be able to get a free upgrade to 7 when it comes out? that wouldn't be bad. anyone know what the cost to upgrade from 5.5 to 6 is? and is it possible to upgrade from pro 5.5 to 6 developer?

James

[kenneth2k1]

Nope. You can only upgrade within your product. So if you have pro, you can only upgrade to pro. If you have developer, you can only upgrade to developer.

[jamesooooo]

So if i want to go to filemaker developer I should just wait for the new version to come out? seeing as how i will have to pay full price anyways ? i went on the filemaker website and it lists filemaker developer 6 as $499 i would hate to but it then 7 comes out and i have to shell out another $200 or so a month or so later to get 7.

James

[SteveB]

I don't think you'll save anything by upgrading now. FM 7.0 is supposed to be a BIG change with internal Tables instead of multiple files. If you do go ahead and purchase 6.0 now, I'd suggest you get something in writing from those clowns about what it will cost you to upgrade...don't just take their word for it!

Steve

[jamesooooo]

Ok, thanks for the suggestion!

James