Let me repeat the most recent issue:
Before you migrate from Mobile Me to iCloud or otherwise turn on on iCloud,
do this:
Make sure you have Bento 4.06
Launch it.
Quit Bento.

After that, you should be ready to surf the new Clouds.

Since Mobile Me will be available until June 30, 2012, I personally am not in a hurry to get OSX Lion and iCloud. But since there are very few issues which have been reported in the Bento forums, I have to assume that Bento is generally ready for the transition. That doesn’t mean that the problems reported here on BentoUsers are not real. But they are not the norm, but rather horrible bad luck.
Still, let’s all keep our eyes and ears open…

Bento 4.0.5 is supposed provide full Lion compatibility. You can download it through the in-app update feature (Bento Menu).

Good luck…

TS Gal, the main tech person on the Bento forum, confirmed that we have an unsolved problem. Here’s a direct quote (response to user report):
“I am able to replicate the problem (=frequent crashes) under Bento 4.0.4 and Lion, as it works properly under Bento 4.0.4 and Snow Leopard. During the time the beach ball was spinning, I ran Activity Monitor and captured a sample. I sent this file along with your data file to our Development and Testing departments for review…” So now we wait.

Simple recommendation:
If you haven’t adopted Lion yet, hold off until Bento 4.0.5 is released.

P.S.: BTW, I had failed to report that Bento 4.0.4 under Snow Leopard seems to be more stable than 4.0.3 – I don’t experience any more crashes.

With Bento 4.0.2, I had absolutely no crashes, and I worked with it extensively almost daily. But 4.0.3 quit unexpectedly several times. And the strange thing is that it quits over night, while I’m not working on it at all. That same problem existed with an earlier version of Bento, but had been fixed. Now it’s back!
There are no indications that the datafile gets corrupted, thank God. Bento always works fine after I reopen it. And I used two independent datafiles: both trigger overnight crashes, but both work fine afterwards. And Bento 4.0.3 hasn’t crashed on me while I’m working on a database. Only while I’m actually sleeping…

Sorry Bento 4.0.3, but you’re not a sleeping beauty!

I can only hope that the next update comes soon and that it will fix this problem!!

Additional observation: at least Bento has learned to bow out gracefully. When the buggy 4.0.1 version crashed it didn’t even quit. Now the program quits and the little pop-up even has a “reopen” button. Nice. Thanks, Filemaker, Inc., that you gave Bento 4.0.3 a nice funeral. It still counts as an improvement.

Patrick, one of our BentoUsers contributor had told me yesterday about the world-wide Bento 4 crashes which were piling up in the forums, so it was only a matter of time until it reached me as well. Now it did.

Two things would be real nice: to fix the actual crash routine which never worked correctly; at least bow out gracefully, Bento 4! Second, a faster fix than with Bento 3. Good luck, Filemaker, Inc.

First I’m giving you a list of the new features, in three categories: main feature, smaller features/improvements, and convenience features.

Sorry to burst your bubble right away, but when it comes down to it, there is really only one main feature:
Comprehensive and flexible Label Printing: you can print any kind of label (countless Avery and Dymo label sizes provided; custom sizes), from any Bento library, with images, custom text, and any font/styling/size.

Smaller features/improvements:
One new interesting field type: Location field (pin-points and maps your current location, or you set it). Note: using the Location field on the iPhone requires Bento 4 for Mac for initial syncing.
Simple List field now accepts many field types (previously just text)
Export data with templates (previously template and data files were separate)
Improved form printing (two new clean templates, hide field labels and borders)
iCal Tasks support (iPad & iPhone)
Integrated voice memos
(iPad & iPhone – can then be synced back to Bento 4 for Mac)

Convenience features:
Directly post templates to Bento Template Exchange
(Bento even creates a screenshot)
Locking/unlocking forms (to prevent accidental editing)
Four new handy date searching options (Is today, not, before, and after today)
Auto-create media fields and file lists (by dragging files onto a form)
Auto-create first record in newly created library
Auto-add newly created fields to form

Double-click to move from tables to forms
Six additional languages for iPhone/iPad
Improved overall performance (speed boost)

That’s it!

Features still sorely missed (please add your own in the comments):
Report creation of any kind
More options for Calculation field, especially IF – THEN
Styling of fonts (this should have been part of Bento 1!!)
Single-line related data (briefly appeared in Bento 3 beta version)

Reviewer’s comments:
I only got the Bento 4 review-copy yesterday, so I couldn’t do extensive testing, but I noticed one little important fix: “Check spelling while typing” now finally works as expected for the first time! I also noticed that when you quit Bento it says “saving database changes.” This seems to be another fix, because Bento 3 only completely updated the database file the next time you launched Bento. What would be nice is a “revert to saved” File Menu item, so you can undo extensive “playing around.”
Bento 4 was not able to set my location for some reason (all preferences were set correctly), so I couldn’t play with the new Location field. But I’m mostly using a desktop computer now, and the Location field makes more sense for laptops and iPhones/iPads anyway. It’s potentially a fun and very useful feature.
I’m scared of the new feature “include data with templates” on export. I still have to do extensive testing on that. The problem is Related Libraries. First I’ll test if they fixed the iCal and Address Book mess of the past (as I reported earlier), and I can’t imagine what exactly will happen if you include your iPhoto library as related data; we’ll see.

The label printing has been requested by many users and it’s a jewel. You can include up to five lines of text/fields and any image on your computer. Besides address labels, you can make any kind of label imaginable, like inventory tags, name tags, invitations, you name it. The feature is also fun to use and very intuitive.
I always liked the Simple List field, introduced in Bento 3. I’m using it a lot. And now it’s really useful, with all the different field options.

My bottom line: it’s not a sensational upgrade, but if you can put your anger aside that your own feature requests have not been granted (again), and you can find two or three of the new features really useful, you will take the (discounted) plunge. For new users, it’s always a good point in time to give Bento a whirl, especially since everyone has a free 30-day trial!

Besides unspecified bug fixes, the update adds compatibility with the new iPhoto 11 and the new Mobile Me calendar. If you synch iCal with Mobile Me, you should read the release notes on the Filemaker website.
Otherwise, you can just update Bento from within the application.

New Addendum: the description of the Update on the Filemaker website suggests to download the update from the site and NOT from within the Bento application. I don’t know why, but I’ll try to find out.

Nov. 4: Filemaker assured me that the in-program update is a valid way; they still recommend to download the update from the website.

Recently I learned about a somewhat hidden (and rarely talked about) feature in the iCal application: in the general preferences just click the checkbox entitled:
“Add a default alarm to all new events…” and specify other detailed options. Once you’ve done that, you never have to open iCal again. Whenever you create a new iCal event from within Bento, an alarm will be added automatically and transparently.

This takes care of one of the many strange and basic shortcomings of Bento.

Have fun!

Otherwise, there is a lack of new developments, except for two template kits Filemaker released, the most recent one is a “survival kit” for students. In general, the template exchange is the only place with constant activity.
There is no known progress on Bento 4 to report, which is slightly disconcerting. I was really hoping on a similar schedule as last year – didn’t happen. We users are waiting for some simple features that are years overdue – notably styling of fonts. So the wait continues…

I do have one bit of positive news: I’m using Bento almost daily again, mainly to update my various tennis adventures. I added and edited lots of form elements, and I didn’t have a single crash in recent months. Filemaker didn’t eleborate ever on this, and there was no news about it in the forums – but somehow those few little updates to Bento 3 didn’t just fix bugs but also added program stability. Knock on wood…

Now, all iCal events with an End Date on or after 1/1/2008 will never be removed by Bento. In case you didn’t know, Bento had a four year window for events, based on the current date. Any event which was older than 2 years was automatically deleted from Bento (not from iCal). In case you had added custom information, that data was instantly gone for good, even from back-ups!

Good job, Ryan!

Bento 3.02 info and download page

Only two specific fixes are listed (both had been reported here on BentoUsers.com), for the rest it just says “other user-reported issues.” It would have been very helpful to get a complete list of bug fixes, or if it would have said something like: “Bento 3 is now more stable.” The latter would be the most important fix.

Well, let’s try to be positive: this update is a step in the right direction, since it shows the willingness of the Bento team to keep testing the program and at least address SOME of the inconsistencies. I will report any specific bug fixes I might find by chance…

I tried it out and it displayed some strange behavior. Luckily, I had copied the database file I tested the feature with. Bento moved the file (removing it from my back-up folder where it resided). Since I didn’t specify that file as the default database, it later automatically reverted to the previous file, and the other file was gone, I couldn’t find it anywhere! I had to move the copy back into its old location by hand. Sounds a bit dangerous and complicated, right?

I recommend to use this hidden feature with big caution! So far, the documentation never mentioned the possible use of more than one database file, even though many users are using them, including myself. This would be another reason for the release of an updated version of Bento 3 that includes a new users guide! The users guide would need to include instructions on how to create additional database files.