Microsoft Access 2003 review:3 stars (Review from an Office developer) - I've had the pleasure of developing and maintaining a new database in Access 2003 over the past 6 months. The previous 3 years before that I had developed in Access 97 and migrated to Access XP. So, what are my impressions of 2003?
Overall, 2003 is the same great product that XP was with minimal additional features and some new annoying ones. Here is everything from the help file under the "what's new" section for your viewing pleasure:
* View information on object dependencies
* Error checking in forms and reports
* Propagating field properties
* Smart tags
* Back up a database or project
* Windows XP theme support
* Improved sorting in controls
* Autocorrect options
* Enhanced font capabilities in SQL views
* Context-based Help in SQL view
* Importing, exporting, and linking
* XML support
* Security enhancements
More new features...
* New look for Office
* Tablet PC support
* Microsoft Office Online
* Improving quality for the customer (This is a system tray icon that flashes a tool tip asking for feedback much like beta test software)
From this list, the only notable development improvement is the improved XML support, but unless this support is critical to your application development, I would stay far away from this version and stick with XP (which I rate as 5 stars).
I haven't found any improvements to the Visual Basic editor. There are a few new objects you can reference in VBA: dependency collections, smart tag collections, auto-correct, and sub form objects. Form design is mostly unchanged with no new controls to add to forms. They did improve the design interface with smart tags which helps messing around with controls a little. Propagating field properties sounds nice, but has limited use since it only propagates from table design view to all controls that are bound to it. That sounds dangerous. Are you sure you want to push that button not knowing exactly everything it will change?
The feature that I absolutely abhor in 2003 is the security enhancement. Unless you buy a digital certificate from an online authority like Verisign, the end user will be presented with THREE security warnings every time they open the database. This is absolutely ridiculous. There is a small utility that you can run to create a temporary "development" signature, but this only adds to the user confusion as installing this certificate on their machines will only present them with another security warning. Optionally, you can install a jet service pack and set each user's install to run in "sandbox" mode, but then you are limited in the code you can run on their machines which removes the entire purpose of running Access in the first place.
5 stars (Nice) - It was easy to set up and works great. Consider getting it as part of the full office set, instead of seperately.2 stars (Caveat Emptor) - If you're thinking of buying MS Access 2003 there are a few things you need to consider:
1) Microsoft's new licensing/activation requirement for Office products. Office is a serious cash cow and Microsoft are tired of letting people copy it and use it illegally/for free. Access 2003 has a few new features that Access 2000 and 2002 didn't offer, but for most of us they are not worth it - unless web services, xml, smart tags and wizards turn your crank. If you're anything but a developer, most of Access 2003's new features will not be relevant to you.
2) Access is in some respects a powerful database and client-server front-end program and it may be too much for your needs. Using Access can be as simple or complicated as you let it - and it can get very complicated. If you are a small-business owner trying to get organized, you should probably consider another tool like Filemaker. If, on the other hand, you really want to get a handle on things and are prepared to invest some significant time to learn Access and your business and your database needs are growing, then Access might be for you. It is not an easy tool to use, but it is pretty powerful and a lot more usable than middle-market desktop database development tools like FoxPro and Paradox.
3) If you are a small/mid business user and have heard that Access is a great front-end for the free MySQL server-based database engine, also caveat emptor. Access uses ODBC (Open Database Connectivity) to work with MySQL and the implementation is not great so you'll quickly run into some (though solvable) strange problems... and though you could never argue with the price, MySQL itself is a bit on the not-user-friendly side - and finding support when you have a problem is tough.
4) If you are a SQLServer user, or plan to be at some point and intend to use Access as a starter database that you'll eventually migrate to SQLServer (2000 or 2005) or SQLServer Express (2005), then caveat emptor. Microsoft is punting SQLServer Express as their new low-end database - a free version of the bigger SQLServer to compete with MySQL and replace the somewhat clunkily-named and clunkily-implemented MSDE (Microsoft Desktop Database Engine). The new versions of SQLServer are fully committed to Microsoft's .Net platform - essentially a new common platform for new Microsoft products and development tools - which Access/Office is not a part of. Traditionally, many have used Access as a front-end for SQLServer or MSDE databases. Access has provided a great front-end capability for the more grown-up and complicated back-end database servers. The only doubt on the horizon is whether Microsoft are committed to supporting Access properly with future versions of SQLServer. Access Data Projects (an access database front-end for SQLServer 2000) appear to be on the chopping block. You may still be able to use Access files with "linked tables" to access newer SQLServer versions but they can be more difficult to develop and are less than optimal for anything but small database applications. And if you do fit in this category, why would you consider developing a database application at considerable expense when it might not be completely supported by Microsoft in future?
My very personal feeling is that Access is not long for this world. Access as a database application is caught between trying to be a serious database development tool with support for upstream Microsoft products and being a usable database application for small businesses. It appears that increasingly it is not effectively addressing either role. It started life as a serious database tool and then was opted into the Office product lineup where it has pretty much floundered ever since, while SQLServer has been the focus of Microsoft's attention. Sadly, Microsoft seem to have missed the opportunity to develop Access as the stand-alone database and front-end to SQLServer that it could have been.
Ironically, I have been using Access since the first version came out about 10 years ago and, having taken the time to learn it, find it to be an incredible tool for databse front-end development. But it appears that this product is nearing the end of its useful life mostly because Microsoft seem content to not invest much in the product. I certainly hope that Microsoft are just keeping their plans for an Access .Net version that will again integrate with SQLServer quiet, but indications are that there are no such plans.
|
