[AccessD] Access development on the wane?

Hi Mark

I had the same feeling. Felt really stupid - which is a big no-no for any application - until I found out that the tiny quick access toolbar top-left is the most important one and it can be expanded, and that many of the well known topics are buried somewhere under the big non-button aimed at stupidos, the Office button. And at left all the useless options mock up the choice from and grouping of the well known objects from the good old database window, now gone.

Now, who feel tempted to develop in an environment that makes you feel stupid and obviously is targeted at others than developers?
Shamil, William, Charlotte and other fellow listers had no hard time convincing me to turn to Visual Studio ...

/gustav


>>> markamatte at hotmail.com 01-08-2008 14:52 >>>


I really hate to tell this story...but......this weekend I had a look at Office07, Access specifically.  I had just proudly told my girlfriend's father..."No problem, I can just pull that spreadsheet right into Access, Build a form, build a report, and you will be done." (should have taken thess than 5 minutes)  Well I opened up and found A2007...I have heard a number of people here complaining...but I mean what the hell did they do?!?!?!?!?  I was completely lost.  It felt like a really bad job interview...as I'm trying to explain..."No really I get paid to do this stuff, I promise."  

As I poked around I started to find things...but I can tell this is going to take some time.  Anyone thought of writing a translation book?  MENU-FILE-SAVE AS now lives "where ever that is".(that might have been an EXCEL issue)...anyway just kidding about the book???

I finally got done what I was attempting...kinda...enough to get my point across...I skated through a potentially very embarrassing moment.  

Just my opinion...but If you claim to "know access"...make sure you have seen A2007 or they are not talking about it...It was confusing enough to look at...much less discovering the differences with someone watching/judging.

Mark A. Matte




> Date: Thu, 31 Jul 2008 17:44:22 -0700
> From: cfoust at infostatsystems.com 
> To: accessd at databaseadvisors.com 
> Subject: Re: [AccessD] Access development on the wane?
>
> Your glass is half full, Dan. To me, A2007 was the biggest horse laugh
> MS has had at our expense. They mostly added UI stuff that does nothing
> but frustrate developers like me who have worked with the thing since
> 1.0 was released and aren't looking for cosmetic improvements. Frankly,
> I can't be bothered with anything but the most lightweight usage of ANY
> PART of Office 2007, most especially Access, which I avoid completely.
>
> Charlotte Foust
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com 
> [mailto:accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of Dan Waters
> Sent: Thursday, July 31, 2008 12:21 PM
> To: 'Access Developers discussion and problem solving'
> Subject: Re: [AccessD] Access development on the wane?
>
> Well . . . . ,
>
> Access 2007 was the largest change between revisions that Access has
> seen.
> I read that the reason for this was that the Access group within MS had
> been taken out from under the SQL Server group.
>
> In reading between the lines, the SQL Server group believed that without
> Access their market would be larger, and so they minimized support
> internally and also had their strong marketing arm denigrate Access
> whenever they had a chance. This often 'stuck' on IT departments who
> often want the latest, best, etc. Thus Access wasn't given the respect
> it does deserve, and we all know how IT folks often feel about using
> Access.
>
> I do believe that developers who know both SQL Server and Access can
> make a pretty clear recommendation as to which should be used in a
> specific situation. Now if we could just get the SQL Server group to
> stay in their own pond, Access would have clear sailing!
>
> So, I believe that the tide turned a few years ago, symbolized by the
> release of Access 2007. At least I'm hopeful . . . :-)
>
> Dan
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com 
> [mailto:accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of Charlotte
> Foust
> Sent: Thursday, July 31, 2008 1:23 PM
> To: Access Developers discussion and problem solving
> Subject: Re: [AccessD] Access development on the wane?
>
>>>This isn't what MS wants.
>
> Well, at least it isn't what they SAY they want. From a developer's
> perspective, I'd say the handwriting has been on the wall in very large
> letters for years. MS has never given Access any respect as a
> development tool themselves, just patted the developers on the head with
> a "bless your hearts" attitude and kept pitching the product to end
> users and trying to steer developers to sexier development products with
> a higher MS profit margin and to SQL Server for everything.
>
> IMO they've been in total denial about the need for basic relational
> understanding because they've been competing with products that appealed
> to the DYI end user who wouldn't know relational if it bit him,
> basically the same market as for Excel but with a prettier interface.
> They've shot themselves in the foot and Access, much as we might love
> it, is going to continue to compete with FileMaker, et al for the
> foreseeable future. I think it will continue to be diminished in
> importance and real meat, regardless of what MS may promise.
>
> Charlotte Foust
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com 
> [mailto:accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of Dan Waters
> Sent: Thursday, July 31, 2008 10:50 AM
> To: 'Access Developers discussion and problem solving'
> Subject: Re: [AccessD] Access development on the wane?
>
> This isn't what MS wants. VBA will be used in Access 14. And they seem
> to be trying hard to make significant improvements from a typical user
> perspective.
>
> Dan
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com 
> [mailto:accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of Susan Harkins
> Sent: Thursday, July 31, 2008 9:23 AM
> To: AccessD at databaseadvisors.com 
> Subject: [AccessD] Access development on the wane?
>
> Although I think Access is still healthy and will be around for a long
> time,
>
> readers are contacting me privately with concerns. Some of them aren't
> getting as much Access work as they use to.
>
> I'm just curious -- what are the contractors on this list experiencing
> -- have you noticed a slow down in Access development?
>
> Susan H.