FileMaker Pro 7 and the Web

[norwood]

Forgive me if this general question has been posted before.

I'm interested in knowing if FileMaker 7's web capabilities are enhanced from previous versions. Specifically, and in a nutshell:

1. Does anyone know what "server capabilities" that Advanced Server 7 will utilize making it more robust than before (utilization of Apache directly, security, etc.)? Is it truly more robust?

2. $2,499 price tag seems steep. Is Advanced Server 7 the only FM product capable of utilizing custom interfaces/HTML/etc. Does the price imply services and security that FileMaker's never produced before?

I'm interested in using PHP for web interfaces and I'd like to utilize a product that uses a GUI rather than command line, like MySQL. Additionally, AS 7's $2,499 price tag seems steep which seems scary to me, in that small businesses which might want to utilize this product as a server might be scared off by it's price tag, not to mention the additional cost of having a consultant come in a develop for it.

Any thoughts on these subjects?

Thanks,

Matt Norwood

FileMaker Version: 5

Platform: Mac OS X Panther