[AccessD] Access News

I thought the quote "Microsoft is refocusing its efforts on making
Access the no-brainer choice for Excel users who need more power" was
most telling. The rather weak "Meanwhile, the developer features will
allow the continued creation of professional solutions" sounds like it
should mean something, but I don't know what, since professional
solutions aren't inherent in any tool but depend on the knowledge and
experience of the developer.  There really *aren't* any developer
features in Access 2003, they're in the extension tools for Visual
Studio. :-{

Charlotte Foust


-----Original Message-----
From: Jim Hewson [mailto:JHewson at karta.com] 
Sent: Wednesday, October 13, 2004 10:32 AM
To: AccessD
Subject: [AccessD] Access News



Below is from the FMS monthly e-newsletter.
Thought the list would be interested.

Jim H. 

MICROSOFT INVESTING HEAVILY IN ACCESS 
Last week at the Access Advisor conference in Las Vegas, Microsoft
announced their plans for enhancing Access over the next several
versions. In his keynote, Richard McAniff, Corporate Vice President of
Access, Excel and Office Programmability, revealed the future direction
for Access and their renewed commitment to the roots of making databases
easy, along with SharePoint integration for web connectivity. With the
largest Access development team since the early days of Access,
Microsoft is refocusing its efforts on making Access the no-brainer
choice for Excel users who need more power. By simplifying the
development of database applications, information workers will be
empowered to solve more database problems on their own. Meanwhile, the
developer features will allow the continued creation of professional
solutions. Overall, the investment Microsoft is making, the change in
focus and simpler marketing message for Office, is quite tremendous and
bodes well for the future of Access. At FMS we are extremely pleased to
see this new focus. Rather than focusing on SQL Server or .NET,
Microsoft is returning focus to Access' core strength: a rapid
development environment for users that can be extended by experienced
database developers and programmers. The new initiative will result in
even more databases that can be created by information workers, and
gives skilled Access users and developers more opportunities. While
there are tradeoffs between Access and other, more advanced platforms,
making it easier to create Access projects will allow organizations to
build applications they could not cost-justify on more expensive
platforms. We at FMS have always believed there are a wide range of
business and organizational challenges that require database solutions.
Some justify expensive and sophisticated solutions, while others are
best satisfied with the rapid, cost effective solutions Access offers.