Every template can appear in any theme. These professionally designed layouts include complementary colors and fonts, so you can view your information easily. New themes include some creatively named layouts that look great, such as Swimming Pool and Handbag.



Bookworm Theme Sample Record from FileMaker

The best part is that if you don’t like your current theme, you can change it on the fly. When you choose a new theme, it is applied before your eyes, using a water-like transition. It’s fun to watch.



Bento 2 Theme Switch in Progress

Import and Export Data

The addition of the tab-delimited data import and export functions help increase the Bento’s usability. This easy to use feature works well, and the screens are so clear, even a new user should have no problem. You can choose the style report to export in the Preferences dialog, as shown below.



Preferences Screen

When you import data, you can choose which fields in a record to import and what in fields you want the data stored. If you have no database created, the import function can also create a new database. You can choose to import the data from comma and tab delimited, Address Book, iCal, Excel, CSV, and Numbers.



File Import Dialog

I recommend anyone that has Bento 1 to upgrade to Bento 2. The additional features make it well worth the $49.00 price. I was able to replicate a complex FileMaker 9.0 database that took 6 weeks to create, in under 10 minutes in Bento. There is no upgrade path for users of Bento 1, but Bento 2 automatically upgrades your Bento 1 databases and makes a backup copy of them. If, for some reason, you need to go back to your Bento 1 database, FileMaker includes instructions on a web page. Bento 2 supports the English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, and Dutch languages.

If you want to learn more about how Bento works, FileMaker provides a web site with lots of video tutorials, that is also accessible from the opening splash screen. This is truly an easy to use information management tool for everyone.

Note from the Editor: Per request of users, I'd like to note that FileMaker, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Apple Inc.