[AccessD] Next Version of Access 12 Musings on what might happen

I think Microsoft's intentions are very clear. .NET and XML-based services
are the future. COM is dead. The current Access platform is dead.

Look at the Longhorn Architectural diagram in the 'Pillars of Longhorn'
page:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/Longhorn/understanding/pillars/default.aspx

The .Net CLR is part of the base OS services. You may not feel the .Net
tsunami now in the open ocean, but it will hit with tremendous force when it
arrives.

The momentum behind COM is diminishing, and eventually it will only exist as
legacy support. Marty Connelly's link enforces this critical point. Because
the current Access is COM-based (actually, pre-COM objects in a COM
wrapper), it has no future. It makes no sense to indefinitely extend a
platform that can't directly integrate with the new, and superior, object
architecture.

Further, Access's traditional strength, its report engine, is being
marginalized. SQL Server Reporting Services are being promoted by Microsoft
as filling a gap in its reporting lineup, one once occupied by Access. This
product has met a very warm response from the SQL Server community.

That leaves only smart, data-aware forms as Access's last, best feature. But
Getz is now enthusiastically talking about getting rid of that, too.

It seems clear to me that, whatever it may be called, the next major version
of Access will be a replacement, rather than an evolutionary change.
Microsoft has given us the courtesy of advance notice, along with about two
years to make a smooth transition. I, for one, do not intend to be caught
with outdated skills when the current Access becomes obsolete.

-Ken