I’m still evaluating DEVONsphere.
I opened a PDF in one of my main working folders and DEVONsphere came up with a whole lot of possibly related files (which is great).
I closed the PDF then opened one of my FileMaker databases, but DEVONsphere still showed the result of its previous search. It didn’t seem to recognise FileMaker, nor bring up a search result.
FileMaker is an Apple-owned company. Shouldn’t DEVONsphere have it in its list of recognised apps? (FM Pro is my #1 app).
There’s currently no dedicated support for FileMaker.
Oh dear. That IS a pity. As FMP is my #1 app, that has made up my mind for me - I won’t be buying DEVONsphere as I would need it to work with FileMaker Pro.
Shame really. There’s a lot to like about this app but it needs some extension(s) to become truly useful. (But then, perhaps it’s aimed more at people used to iOS and 10.7 & 10.8 and all their media obsessions, than to us ‘old school’ techie types with our databases?)
The problem is that Apple itself hasn’t provided a plugin for FileMaker to allow indexing. Apple is using a proprietary filetype that other apps are not allowed to read easily. That has nothing to do the whether the users are techie types, or not. Many of us are. 
Could Apple provide a FileMaker plugin? Of course.
Oh, that makes sense. It’s not even as if DEVONsphere is a competitor to anything Apple offers 
But I suppose they are too busy making money to remember what they - and we - were like in the days when they didn’t make (much) money.
FileMaker Pro is great for numerical data. I used it to track the transactions and status of a revolving loan fund with hundreds of millions of dollars in assets, that I oversaw.
But it’s generally pretty primitive as a document manager/information manager database. If you need to do that sort of thing, give DEVONthink a trial.
Actually I use FM Pro as a complete application builder, with all kinds of linked data types, related tables, complex calculations, and so forth. You’d be amazed what it can do. I ran a small business using it, with different tables (all linked) for customers, invoices, stock, sales, purchases, etc. I also have all my music media catalogued with it, involving the kind of additional data that iTunes simply doesn’t have the metadata tags to cope with.
But I know what you mean - you’re talking about a place you can dump all kinds of items: text, pictures, movies, music, emails, contacts, etc, and have it as a kind of ‘life database’ to hold all kinds of projects, and organise it all in various ways that make sense. Um, how can I say this? I already an app which does all that - it’s called Journler and I’ve been using it for years! (I’m sure that if I hadn’t, DEVONthink would make perfect sense).
Ahh, Journler… one of the great (and saddest) examples of good software dying away (no offense to Phil Dow). I always wished someone would have pick up the baton from the open-source code and run with it.
I never realised it had died away? I’m quite happy with the version I’m using (2.5.5) but as it’s a 32-bit Universal app I assume it runs under Mountain Lion. Not that it concerns me - Photoshop CS2 and Elements 6 are two good reasons why I stay with Snow Leopard and Rosetta. (Apart from Autosave - which TextEdit already has, and AppleWorks 6 always had - I’m not really tempted by anything in the Lions.)
In late 2009 the dev announced development had ended. In early 2011 the dev announced development was restrarted, and a few betas of 2.6 were posted, the last one in August 2011. No releases or news (on the product’s page) since then. So, it’s “deadish”. It is (was) a great product.
Smart Families sound like nested smart groups. Internally DEVONthink is already using nested smart groups to implement compound predicates, therefore smart families might be an option for future releases 
That would be a welcome addition!