Access 2007 vs. Visual Studio Windows Application

[Brian]

We have a database with Access 2003 front and back ends. We are in the very
early stages of planning a migration of the back end to SQL Server 2005 and
also rewriting the front end. My question...are there any major differences
between writing the front-end in Access 2007 vs. creating a Windows
application through Visual Studio 2005? I guess what I am looking for is
someone to tell me that either one will work fine, or this is the reason not
to do it this way.

I should point out that I am very well versed in creating databases in
Access and as of now I have a whopping 4 hours experience in the world of
Visual Studio's Visual Basic. I am so far very frustrated with VS, but also
recognize that I have had no training, although my employer is holding this
option open.

Any opinions would be welcome and help me make my final decision.

 

[Norman Yuan]

There is a quite extensive discussion on the topic on the NG:

microsoft.public.access.adp.sqlserver

posted by "PMK" on 2007-06-02 21:10, and the subject is "dotnet windows
forms vs. Access".

 

[Larry Linson]

My summation is short:

(1) If you are creating a client-server application on a LAN or WAN, with a
user audience not exceeding the low hundreds, Access will be far and away
easier and faster. When Visual Studio codename Orcas goes public, they MAY
(note that's not a probability, only a possibility) finally live up to the
minimun claims they made for how wonderful DotNet Windows apps were going to
be -- but they aren't there yet.

(2) If you are creating a Web-based application, a simple one that can be
done with ASP.NET or a humungous distributed enterprise application that
will require multitier architecture separating database and business
functions into Web Services, then DotNet is just the ticket. There are
those who are still doing some of that with pre-DotNet technology... COM and
classic VB, but Redmond isn't improving those.

In fact, since the intro of DotNet 'way back when, Microsoft's emphasis has
shifted more and more to the humungous enterprise customer, so improvements
to Windows apps in the DotNet world has gotten even less attention than we
could reasonably expect.

Larry Linson
Microsoft Access MVP