despite it's serious limitations from the technical perspective, FileMaker developers can very rapidly build applications; that is what keeps its large developer community growing; many of those developers do not have depth in software development outside FileMaker, so there is not as much pressure as one might assume to add features that are old hat elsewhere (this is to the continual dismay of more worldly FileMaker developers)

for those who want to know more than this fairly shallow review, try here:

http://sixfriedrice.com/wp/introducing-filemaker-10/

PoetCSW, an unbiased roundup would be great indeed.
I'm no database expert. My needs are simple and I got into databases out of curiosity a few years ago. After getting FileMaker Pro 7 I've seen no reason to pay for an upgrade, given my needs and the expensive upgrades.

Last month I purchased Panorama and I've transferred most of my FM databases into it.
Since FM 10 came out I decided to check the upgrade price. There's no upgrade path for me, but the full $299. I'm glad I switched to something else.

Before purchasing Panorama I tried to find comparisons with 4D and FileMaker, and there is some information out there but it's not recent. For example:

http://www.mail-archive.com/emailer-talk@eskimo.com/msg00799.html

http://www.macintouch.com/databases02.html

In Panorama they're created using a feature called Cross Tabs which include multiple tools and aids for their creation.They've been there long enough that most of us using Panorama forget they're anything special - but of course they are. I use them heavily in my checkbook and general ledger reports.

I was just looking on their site for more info on CrossTabs. There's a little bit at http://www.provue.com/Panorama/Features/index.html

In our office we use Panorama as a very fast sharing system and its running our web sites.

I do look at other products periodically to see if we're where we're best served. They all have their strengths and weaknesses. FileMaker is considerably better in a cross platform situation; Panorama is years behind on a Windows update. If you're a Mac shop, Panorama is considerably faster and has a much more extensive programming capability.

@rjpott: I couldn't have said it better! I knew I wasn't the only one seeking more features for the price!

It's not surprising that FileMaker's site has such testimonials. That doesn't make it a great product.
For some people the lack of features is a big deal. For some people alternative programs are a better choice.
Is FileMaker easy to use? Sure.
Does it have great marketing. Absolutely.
Is it popular? No doubt.

rjpotts was very clear in mentioning why he uses other applications and why in some cases he can't use FileMaker.

PoetCSW's suggestion of a "desktop database" roundup seems very reasonable. Preferably this should be done by an independent reviewer or better yet reviewers, and not by a FileMaker developer.

For my simpler needs, for example, FileMaker could suffice, but I dislike their upgrade practices so I moved on to a different application (Panorama). It turns out that it has excellent support, and so far:

I exported a database from FileMaker into a 70 MB Tab Delimited text file.
1. Importing the Tab Delimited file took 2 seconds in Panorama, and I stopped counting after 35 seconds in FileMaker.
2. Databases are smaller. 30,000 emails in FileMaker occupy 104 MB but only 72 MB in Panorama. After indexing took place, FileMaker's database was 123 MB.
3. Searching within this FileMaker database typically yields less results than searching within Panorama. I'm really glad I can now compare both applications. In this case FileMaker found 21 records, while Panorama more accurately found 131.
4. Searching took 2 seconds in Panorama. FileMaker was still "Updating index for field" after 5 minutes and then found the 21 records. The second time I ran the search, FileMaker took about one second, but still found only 21 records.

This was just a very simple test. Fortunately there are demos for these and other database programs. People can try them, compare them, and make an informed purchase. Even if people don't want to download and test the programs, there are screencasts available:

http://www.provue.com/Screencasts/index.html

http://www.filemaker.com/products/fmp/video_tutorials.html

http://www.4d.com/support/corners/filemaker/fm_quickstart.html (No video)

FileMaker 10 does have a prettier interface