This question was directed to me in an email but thought it should be on the board...
Question:
Bill,
I had played with Alpha Five V4 quite a while ago and even bought V5 but since it really didn't do Client/Server that worked for me, I stopped using it.
I'm now ready to get back into it. However, I've noticed some info on FM7 and am confused which the best tool to use would be.
You've used both, so I'll ask you.
One thing I'm really confused about that might sway me to A5V6 is runtime.. It sounds like FM7 Pro would allow a 5 user limit so basically I think it would function as a five user system?? Don't know if this is true or not.. And would that be unlimited 5 users like A5 is??
Secondly, if you go past 5 users, it sounds like Server is needed. Can I create multiple 20 user runtimes and distribute them, or would I have to buy each time?
I don't need to go any further in comparing the products if the above statements can't be done in FM7, as A5 has that ability, and I really, really want something that will allow me to distribute my app many times for no additional cost, or create many apps and distribute them.
Any information you can give me would be appreciated.
My Answer:
Alan,
If you want to distribute multiuser applications, Alpha is the way to go. With FMP you need to buy a complete program for each seat and for each site. The "runtime" you can build with FMP is not multiuser. For example, 1 database and 5 users and you want to deploy it to 10 sites;
Alpha...Buy a full version and a 5 user runtime bundle for about $900, deploy it to 10 sites or 100 or 1,000, same price.
FMP, buy 5 full versions at $300 each, $1500. With 5 you don't need server unless it sees intense usage, go beyond 5 users then add $1,000 for the server program and still pay $300 per seat for the clients. Deploy it to site #2 and pay that all again, site 3, pay again. So 10 sites would cost $15,000 or $25,000 if you need the server program. If you want Filemaker to execute a script upon leaving a field, buy a plug-in for each site, another $300. There are many plug-ins to buy if you want to come close to Alpha's functionality.
FMP is fine for a single user environment. You can buy FMP developer and sell single user runtimes for about $500. Multiuser? Fugetaboutit...
Updates are another reason to use Alpha. If you need to send your FMP clients an update, they will have to dump all their data and import it into the new version. You can script it all, but it is still time consuming. With Alpha, send them some new files to install and they're up and running. I'm working with a new customer now and have been sending updates daily and with Alpha it's a breeze, with Filemaker, it was a nightmare.
Having said that, Alpha has a steeper learning curve because it has a richer feature set. I used both for a time because Alpha was harder for me to learn, I kept FMP as a crutch. Now that I've gone beyond the extreme novice phase, I've dumped Filemaker and am not looking back.
If you need something that runs on a Mac and PC, you have to use Filemaker.
Happy to answer any more questions you might have.
Bill Belanger
Question:
Bill,
I had played with Alpha Five V4 quite a while ago and even bought V5 but since it really didn't do Client/Server that worked for me, I stopped using it.
I'm now ready to get back into it. However, I've noticed some info on FM7 and am confused which the best tool to use would be.
You've used both, so I'll ask you.
One thing I'm really confused about that might sway me to A5V6 is runtime.. It sounds like FM7 Pro would allow a 5 user limit so basically I think it would function as a five user system?? Don't know if this is true or not.. And would that be unlimited 5 users like A5 is??
Secondly, if you go past 5 users, it sounds like Server is needed. Can I create multiple 20 user runtimes and distribute them, or would I have to buy each time?
I don't need to go any further in comparing the products if the above statements can't be done in FM7, as A5 has that ability, and I really, really want something that will allow me to distribute my app many times for no additional cost, or create many apps and distribute them.
Any information you can give me would be appreciated.
My Answer:
Alan,
If you want to distribute multiuser applications, Alpha is the way to go. With FMP you need to buy a complete program for each seat and for each site. The "runtime" you can build with FMP is not multiuser. For example, 1 database and 5 users and you want to deploy it to 10 sites;
Alpha...Buy a full version and a 5 user runtime bundle for about $900, deploy it to 10 sites or 100 or 1,000, same price.
FMP, buy 5 full versions at $300 each, $1500. With 5 you don't need server unless it sees intense usage, go beyond 5 users then add $1,000 for the server program and still pay $300 per seat for the clients. Deploy it to site #2 and pay that all again, site 3, pay again. So 10 sites would cost $15,000 or $25,000 if you need the server program. If you want Filemaker to execute a script upon leaving a field, buy a plug-in for each site, another $300. There are many plug-ins to buy if you want to come close to Alpha's functionality.
FMP is fine for a single user environment. You can buy FMP developer and sell single user runtimes for about $500. Multiuser? Fugetaboutit...
Updates are another reason to use Alpha. If you need to send your FMP clients an update, they will have to dump all their data and import it into the new version. You can script it all, but it is still time consuming. With Alpha, send them some new files to install and they're up and running. I'm working with a new customer now and have been sending updates daily and with Alpha it's a breeze, with Filemaker, it was a nightmare.
Having said that, Alpha has a steeper learning curve because it has a richer feature set. I used both for a time because Alpha was harder for me to learn, I kept FMP as a crutch. Now that I've gone beyond the extreme novice phase, I've dumped Filemaker and am not looking back.
If you need something that runs on a Mac and PC, you have to use Filemaker.
Happy to answer any more questions you might have.
Bill Belanger
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