Latest version of Access

[DianePDavies]

We are about to create a new application - and part of the discussion is to
go with the latest available version.

Right now we are on Access2003. I know Access2007 is available - but is
there a new version coming out soon?

 

[Allen Browne]

AFAIK, there's no new version of Access to be announced any time soon.

It's about the right time to dive into Access 2007. Service Pack 1 has been
released, so the initial bugs have been dealt with. Perhaps there will be a
Service Pack 2 next year. I'm sure there will be a new version of Access in
the future, but it has not been announced for any immediate timeframe, so go
ahead with the current version now.

If you are used to working with A2003, you might find this useful:
Converting to Access 2007
at:
http://allenbrowne.com/Access2007.html

 

[Craig Alexander Morrison]

Access 2007 SP2 is scheduled for release next year.

The next version is likely to be late 2009 or more likely 2010

Stick with 2003 as Access 2007 is very buggy and the new interface is
terrible if you are used to 2003 or earlier versions.

Hopefully the next full version will fix the interface and return the
industry standard menus at least as an option.

 

[Daniel Pineault]

Use 2003 or 2007?

As Craig mentioned, the 2007 interface is 'difficult' (to say the least) for
programmers/developpers to adapt to if they developed on previous versions.

I still develop using 2003 and would recommend it unless you need some new
feature that is only available in 2007. One nice thing about 2007 is the
fact that you can deploy it using run-time for free. If all your users have
access installed then there is no need, so stick with 2003. However, if your
users do not have access installed, then i would look into 2007 seriously.

You'll see, if your search other posts, that the 2003 vs. 2007 battle is a
very subjective one. At the end of the day it comes down to your specific
needs. So what are yours?
--
Hope this helps,

Daniel Pineault
http://www.cardaconsultants.com/
For Access Tips and Examples: http://www.devhut.net
Please rate this post using the vote buttons if it was helpful.

 

[DianePDavies]

The free runtime may be a small issue. I used to develop in Access2000 - and
here the runtime was free as well. Now I somehow thought that the "runtime"
was integrated in Vista..? But we dont have Vista anyway.

But installing Access to all users is not a big issue if the runtime is not
available.

The reason for going for the latest version - was simply to get "best"
version. I must say that since the change from Access97 to Access2000 I
havent really felt major new developments. But I guess I expect newer
versions to be better at handling larger data amounts and more users. At the
moment I am actually not aware of the data limits. I believe there used to be
a limit at 1GB databases - but I guess you could come far by having every
table in its own database - if the limit ever became a problem.

One thing I have missed quite often - is a data field where I can store
formatted text - like e.g. "word"-bits. That would be relevant if you want to
generate a document based on data etc. - but I dont know if this ever will
make it into Access.

So far for my thoughts.

I guess I would just stay with 2003 at the moment.

 

[John W. Vinson]

The free runtime may be a small issue. I used to develop in Access2000 - and
here the runtime was free as well.

Well... the runtime is free to distribute once you've purchased the (decidedly
NOT free) Developer's Edition. See
http://www.granite.ab.ca/access/developereditionfaq.htm
for a historical perspective.

Now I somehow thought that the "runtime"
was integrated in Vista..? But we dont have Vista anyway.

No. Vista is an operating system; Access is one of many applications which
runs under that operating system. A Vista computer may or may not have Access
(or the runtime) installed.

But installing Access to all users is not a big issue if the runtime is not
available.

It is available, and it's your choice.

The reason for going for the latest version - was simply to get "best"
version.

I must say that since the change from Access97 to Access2000 I
havent really felt major new developments. But I guess I expect newer
versions to be better at handling larger data amounts and more users.

The limits have not changed: still 2GByte in a database (unchanged since A97)
and still 255 users. If you need more, consider using SQL/Server with an
Access frontend.

At the
moment I am actually not aware of the data limits. I believe there used to be
a limit at 1GB databases - but I guess you could come far by having every
table in its own database - if the limit ever became a problem.

A nightmare to maintain but yes, that's possible.

One thing I have missed quite often - is a data field where I can store
formatted text - like e.g. "word"-bits. That would be relevant if you want to
generate a document based on data etc. - but I dont know if this ever will
make it into Access.

That IS available in A2007, which might be a reason to use it.

So far for my thoughts.

I guess I would just stay with 2003 at the moment.

I'd get a copy of 2007, try your app in it, and see what you think. I'm still
using 2003 but am building a second machine on which to install 2007 for
testing.

 

[Daniel Pineault]

I should make one little correction. I stated free run-time, which isn't a
lie, but I meant 'Access 2007 Runtime and Developer Extension'. you might
want to check

http://blogs.msdn.com/access/archiv...ime-and-developer-extension-will-be-free.aspx

Also, you might want to look at

http://allenbrowne.com/Access2007.html

To review Allen's comments and list of new features and bugs... to see if
any of them could truly aid you in your design or not.
--
Hope this helps,

Daniel Pineault
http://www.cardaconsultants.com/
For Access Tips and Examples: http://www.devhut.net
Please rate this post using the vote buttons if it was helpful.

 

[Allen Browne]

For the first time, A2007 does support formatting within a field. From a
programming perspective, it's HTML tags within the field, e.g.:
This is a <b>bold</b> move.

The runtime works on Win XP as well as Vista. It is not only royalty-free
(like previous verions), but you don't have to buy a developer version of
Office to get it.

For info about features and limitations of the new version (PDF etc):
http://allenbrowne.com/Access2007.html

 

[DianePDavies]

When developing in Access I have quite often been faced with doubts like
"Access is not a professional database" implicating that it will eventually
crash on me and cause loss of data and other bad things.

In terms of robustness I have not really had any major issues - but with
more users (and here I am still <30) there could be some conflicts if data
volume is small and many users tend to access the same data. But in general I
have always been able to design a way around trouble - and here I dont mean a
"dirty fix" - but generally good normalized design and sound logic, has been
able to solve my issues.

I have some times had incidents where a mdb/mde-file corrupts and only way
to solve it was to use the backup copy.
In online applications I have had to make logic that after e.g. a power loss
checks for data availability and accessability and in case it fails - simply
just copies backup versions. This has given some data loss - but this has
been for an application that logs data on a regular basis - and a 15 minutes
data loss was not that critical.

So when referring to the "best" I just hoped that any newer versions would
give me less of such issues...