Is Microsoft phasing out MS Access as a development platform?

[Lauren Wilson]

Hello folks,

Would love yo get all informed opinions and/or facts on the following:

Over the last few weeks I have spent quite a bit of time reviewing all
the Access and .NET stuff I could find on Microsoft.com. It's seems
harder and harder to find much of anything about Access as a primary
development platform. I am getting the uneasy feeling that Microsoft
is slowly phasing out Access.

Am I incorrect about this? Does anyone have a link to a clear
statement of intent from Microsoft on the role they have planned for
Access and VBA in the future?

 

[Robbe Morris [C# MVP]]

Sure. It's called SQL SERVER MSDE

Access as a development platform is all but dead (as well it should be).
Access as a database will be around for awhile. Especially since
so many companies can't stand needing to install the "bloat" that
is MSDE for simple desktop applications. Our customers
have been asking us to completely remove any notion of SQL Server
in our next editions of desktop software.

 

[Mary Chipman [MSFT]]

No, Access is not being phased out as a development platform, just the
opposite. The Access team is hard at work on the next version of
Access even as we speak. However, Access is not envisioned as a
development tool for .NET applications, if that is what you mean by
the question. The Jet engine can be used as a data store for a .NET
application as long as it's small and local in scope -- it is not
suitable for a public web site or enterprise-level applications that
need to scale up or out. So the bottom line is, if you want to
continue to use Access/VBA, you're not going to be building
applications in the .NET space. If you want to use the Jet engine as a
data store for a .NET application, you can safely do so as long as you
don't attempt to exceed its somewhat limited capabilities.

--Mary