By now you’ve likely heard that Apple released a new operating system in July called OSX Lion. It’s a new approach to operating systems that borrows a lot of what Apple learned in developing the iOS for portable devices. A new operating system has an effect on the FileMaker ecosystem for a couple of reasons:
- If you have to purchase a new Macintosh, it’s going to have Lion already loaded.
- The current version of FileMaker is not necessarily compatible with a new operating system (even though FileMaker Inc. is a subsidiary of Apple).
FileMaker Inc. did release an update for Mac versions of FileMaker Pro and FileMaker Pro Advanced bringing those applications to version 11.0v4, fixing a number of issues but still outstanding are the ability to export to the early excel .xls format and compatibility with Lion’s Resume feature. (The lack of .xls Excel format is due to code that relied on compatibility with PowerPC processors; this compatibility has been eliminated in Lion.)
FileMaker Server, currently at version 11.0v3, also has some issues with Lion and no update has been made available yet although one is expected in October 2011. The important issue on server is that web publishing (custom or instant) does not work. Exporting to the .xls format also doesn’t work from Server.
As with any new release of operating system or software in general, we recommend not upgrading until there has been plenty of time for updates to fix bugs other people have discovered.
