Bento 2 is the best solution for easily creating templates and designing a beautiful database. It is very visually attractive. It works with pictures far better than Filemaker 10, but still needs some improvements like being able to see a larger version of the placed picture. Undo's after typing data into a field are possible, unlike Filemaker 10 that has no undos after pressing enter and is awkward and slow for design. It is a lot easier to work with data in the new spreadsheet view.

I really wish Bento was the solution for me, especially now that there is an iPhone version, but the lack of files and passwords are a dealbreaker. It stores all data in a package somewhere on the hard drive. Not having individual files prevents me from sharing databases with family and friends, or sharing between my desktop and laptop. Yes, I can export the data as an unformatted text file, reimport and reformat every time I want to share every database file. This however is not an ideal or easy solution. Or, you can backup all of your Bento libraries as one file and completely overwrite the second computer's Bento data. Thus, no data can easily be shared without both computers being identical. Not very practical for families or friends who need to share data, or if you have a laptop and want to copy one database to it.

Speaking with Filemaker representatives, I was told the reason Bento doesn't use files is make it easy for home users, as if the concept of files is too complicated for the average person. That and because it ties into your Home folder, would make it challenging to have files and they want to differentiate it from Filemaker. Challenging or not, files are essential.

Filemaker developers also shared hopes that the ease of use in Bento would come to Filemaker. Maybe someday we’ll all have a database that is both powerful and easy to use.