There are many new features in FileMaker 17, but most of these are "under the hood" and not immediately visible to users. Some will allow the development team to introduce new features down the line, while others may increase speed and stability. However, the following changes will be visible immediately upon completion of the upgrade (ALL FILEMAKER USERS SHOULD TAKE NOTE OF #1, #2, #3, & #4 BELOW):
1) The FileMaker icon and the icon for shortcuts will soon change. It will be a blue and white folder icon instead of purple and white. EX:
2) If prompted to update FileMaker 17 upon launching, you may perform the update at your convenience. Make sure no databases are open, just the FIleMaker App itself. You may initiate an update manually by using Help -> Check for Updates.
3) When connecting to a database for the first time after the upgrade, you may encounter the following message:
You should check the box for "Always permit connection to this host" and then click connect.
4) Upon first use of FileMaker 17, you will not have any recent connections listed (as you haven't recently used anything yet). Please use filemaker shortcuts to connect to your required databases. Most of us keep them on our desktops. They should look like the phonemanager shortcut pictured in #1, and you may see them .fmp(and a number, such as 12) for a file extension. Once you have connected to each database once, it will show in your recent connections in the base filemaker application.
5) Windows users now have a feature previously available only on a Mac, namely: All document windows are now independent of one another, all can be positioned in any available monitor, and each window has its own menu bar. Try it by choosing the menu option Window > New Window and positioning the new window anywhere you like.
6) The zoom control area, which included the zoom controls, status toolbar control, and Mode pop-up menu, has been removed from the bottom left of the document window. To zoom in and out, use the View menu option or the keyboard shortcuts F3 (zoom in) and Shift-F3 (zoom out).