I'm worried for future versions of Access (1 Viewer)

I'm just about turning the corner with my Access abilities. It's been a couple of years on and off and I'm now pretty comfortable getting things done from within the GUI. - VBA & Raw SQL is another matter.

But with all this time invested in Access I'm now worried that Microsoft is going to abandon it in future iterations of office. I know Access is not exactly a sexy product (like Power BI or Excel Power Pivot DAX etc etc), but it's a bloody handy tool for day to day work stuff.

Most of my DB's have minimal gui and are just driven through simple forms. They are a bit rough round the edges but the data is properly normalised and it works as intended.

What do you guys feel about the future? I personally think that Access could have a big part to play in the future of Small Business/Personal BI/Analytics, but I dont think that Microsoft shares those sentiments. It's been ages since we had a lovely new feature to play with and Excel seems to be getting all the love at the moment.

EDIT: Also I thought that we could do with a complete overhaul of the forms tool. I can't seem to get anything looking like it was created this century. (Vanity I Know)

eddix99 said:

with all this time invested in Access I'm now worried that Microsoft is going to abandon it in future iterations of office.

Click to expand...

The same question has bothered me periodically over the years. At one stage I was actively looking at moving over to everything Google. I was deceived by their "Do No Harm" message but it turned out to be just a sales pitch, they are just the same as all the other big boys, dropping features, dropping products, substantially changing the programming. Everything which really throws off anyone who is trying to learn something. Really, it's not Microsoft or Access specific, it's just a fact of life.

I'd recommend you have more strings to your bow, think about Python, JavaScript, in particular I understand that JavaScript underlies the new Microsoft 360 system and Goofle. I have dabbled with "Microsoft 360" it but it's still very new and green. I think "Microsoft 360" has got potential, in that I mean, potential for developers. It's similar to Microsoft Access in that it's very easy for amateurs to build with, and that will lead to problems that will need experts to sort them out.

"Goofle" a typo but I think it looks good! I shall try and incorporate that in more of my blogs!

If you can get by with what you already have, I would not be that concerned.?
Short sightedness perhaps, but I am still using Quicken 2004, the last version in the UK.
It handles mine and a charity finances easily and is all I need.

As you can see from my signature Access 2007. It was 2003.

eddix99 said:

I'm just about turning the corner with my Access abilities. It's been a couple of years on and off and I'm now pretty comfortable getting things done from within the GUI. - VBA & Raw SQL is another matter.

But with all this time invested in Access I'm now worried that Microsoft is going to abandon it in future iterations of office. I know Access is not exactly a sexy product (like Power BI or Excel Power Pivot DAX etc etc), but it's a bloody handy tool for day to day work stuff.

Most of my DB's have minimal gui and are just driven through simple forms. They are a bit rough round the edges but the data is properly normalised and it works as intended.

What do you guys feel about the future? I personally think that Access could have a big part to play in the future of Small Business/Personal BI/Analytics, but I dont think that Microsoft shares those sentiments. It's been ages since we had a lovely new feature to play with and Excel seems to be getting all the love at the moment.

EDIT: Also I thought that we could do with a complete overhaul of the forms tool. I can't seem to get anything looking like it was created this century. (Vanity I Know)

Click to expand...

My own belief is the future is a toss up between client based systems and web based systems but there is a need for both.

Each have their advantages and disadvantages and it very much depends on the business requirements as to which way they go.

By their nature, web based products need a broad appeal so are designed to meet perhaps 80% of client needs.

Compare Office with Google Suite. At present, Google Suite does not have an access equivalent, the excel equivalent is limited to perhaps 1000 rows, the word equivalent only has popular functionality implemented (similar to Office 360), the powerpoint equivalent is very basic. So if you don't use mailmerge, only have small spreadsheets and not too bothered about powerpoint then GS is probably the way to go.

The other problem with web based solutions is they don't integrate with client based systems and if that system is core to the business and cannot be replaced with a web based solution that GS can integrate with then GS is probably not the way to go.

My final point is differentiation. To be successful, you need to be able to differentiate yourself from your competitors - and if you are all using the same system, you have removed one of the opportunities to do so.

Firstly I would recommend looking at SQL Azure databases which is the first step into experimenting with web databases.

I am essentially echoing Gizmo - experiment with Web but I wouldn't deprecate Access. At the end of the day if you have any form of LAN then it is likely to be cheaper to develop using Access. Complicated applications are better really done in Access at the moment as well. You will take half the time to develop in Access than web if not more.

Web are great if you can get them up and running but typically this will cost you money although that cost is coming down. Additional applications in Access are usually free.

I run Access 2003 in win 10 and there are no issues - it even connects to SQL Azure databases no problem.

My preferred route is getting backend into SQL Server then you can develop both desktop and web against the same backend - this way you have the best of both worlds. LAN for the complicated admin stuff / heavy duty VBA ETL and management stuff and web for the pretty got to be over the entire world stuff responsive mobile etc.... There can be speed issues connecting to SQL Azure but if you are doing simple stuff shouldn't be a deal breaker.

I don't see the future as binary / either or - Electric vehicles won't kill push bikes and I don't think the web will kill desktop applications.

I'd recommend you have more strings to your bow

Click to expand...

Y’know I’m constantly adding new skills and learning new things, but now that I’m in my forties I realise that I don’t have enough time to get good at all the things that take my interest. At the moment I’m juggling new learning experiences like Adobe Illustrator, Statistics, Data Analytics, Excel & Power Pivot etc etc. I’ve set myself the goal of getting good (in an operational sense) at all of these. If I was a younger man I would certainly pickup Python and maybe even Java Script. As it stands though my time is finite and I have to decide which skill gives me the most bang for buck.
To me, Access is a solid workhorse that really does fit in with where I’m trying to go. I hope that MS doesn’t forget that trailblazers need tools like Access to rapidly iterate and create a ‘Data Skeleton’. Proper developers can follow up behind and use the ‘map’ to add meat to the bones, so to speak.

My final point is differentiation. To be successful, you need to be able to differentiate yourself from your competitors - and if you are all using the same system, you have removed one of the opportunities to do so.

Click to expand...

I think that this is a key point and one that often gets overlooked by ‘management’. I work in the Commercial Real Estate Industry and we’re a bunch who are notoriously slow to adapt to changing forces. Part of the problem is that it’s so relationship based (here in Adelaide anyway), that people can get ahead by who they know and not necessarily what they know. The impetus to change from within is simply not there.
As an English migrant of 4 years I don’t have the luxury of a wide network, and although my reputation is increasing I would still find it very difficult to get ahead if I just fell into line with everybody else, especially being mid-career.
I’ve been in 3 positions since I came over and all three have required me to do plain and simple drudgery with MS Office and Windows. Copy this, Paste that, Attach this, rename that. Navigate here etc.. All of this takes time and is extremely inefficient.
Cut waste, streamline and automate where possible, then use the time saved to expand the business and deliver better knowledge and service to customers.
Access, VBA and a good dose of Analytics prowess will push me in the right direction. I’m sure of it.

I took my first programming job in 1968 and then spent 25+ years working with various IBM mainframe programming languages (mostly COBOL) and various data bases such as IMS/DB, ADABASE, and DB2 as well as flat files such as ISAM and VSAM. In those years, "on line" was the cool technology (think web pages in an 80 x 24 character matrix) using IMS/DC and CICS. In the early 90's, I discovered that Access could "access" DB2 tables on the mainframe and free me from the tedium of working with a third generation computer language and I was hooked. Access is far and away the most productive environment I have ever worked in. I've dabbled with web tools (hate them) and looked at offerings from other vendors. Nothing comes close. You only have to decide that you are OK not being on the bleeding edge of technology. Access is old (and sadly, looks it) but nothing on the market touches its functionality for the desktop/LAN. My clients are much more interested in value than bright shiny things.

Microsoft could do so much to make my life easier and allow me to expand my client base but they don't because the PTB at Microsoft are fixated on bright, shiny things, rather than value. They have no clue what a gem they have in Access. To this day, the SQL Server team thinks of Access as a competitor rather than a complementary front end because they can't tell the difference between Jet/ACE and Access the RAD tool. So they constantly berate Access but if you read any of the articles, you (because you know what Access actually is), can tell that they are talking about Jet/ACE rather than Access. The SQL Server people should be SELLING Access as a useful adjunct to SQL Server, not berating it.

You only have to decide that you are OK not being on the bleeding edge of technology

Click to expand...

.

I've loved technology all my life but I see little point in mindlessly chasing the latest trend. I'd happily trade the shiny new features for a solid productivity boost.
On a separate note, I guess the Access feature I'd be most happy with now is a Rise/Removal of the 2GB limit.

That isn't necessary. If you must keep your data in a Jet/ACE BE, you can split the data into multiple BE's. The downside is that you cannot enforce RI across multiple physical BE files. So if you store tblCustomer in BE1.acceb and tblOrders in BE2.accdb, there is no way to establish declarative RI between the two tables. You would need to implement RI via code.

However, when people get to the point of Jet/ACE being a size constraint, they typically move the BE to SQL Server to eliminate the problem. There are different techniques you need to understand to use SQL Server (or other RDBMS) effectively as a BE, but luckily, those same techniques work just as well with Jet/ACE. So, even though most of my apps ultimately end up with SQL Server, Oracle, or DB2 BE's, I always start them as Jet/ACE. I just use correct client/server techniques so that when I have to upsize, it rarely takes more than half a day and it only takes that long because I have to do extensive testing to make sure I haven't been sloppy with my DAO and form code.