The Bottom Line
If you need a flexible desktop database and money is no object, Access is the way to go!
Pros
- Powerful database engine
- Integration with other Microsoft Office products
- Intuitive Graphical User Interface (GUI)
Cons
- Relatively expensive
Description
- Access is the industry standard -- it's well supported and training is easy to find
- The database engine is extremely powerful -- the most flexibility you'll find in a desktop database
- Voice recognition technology allows for data entry and menu navigation by spoken commands
- Access also serves as a powerful front end for ODBC-compliant server databases like MS SQL Server
Guide Review - Microsoft Access 2007
Microsoft might be competing against Oracle for market share in the server database category, but they maintain a clear lock on desktop databases with Microsoft Access 2007. The price tag may be a bit steep, but you won't find a more functional product anywhere. New bells and whistles in this version include a set of ready-to-go database templates to help you get a quick start and a vastly improved user interface that does away with the traditional toolbars and menus.
You probably don't want to buy Access as a stand-alone product -- it's often more cost-effective to purchase it bundled with Microsoft Office and benefit from the added power of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook.
You probably don't want to buy Access as a stand-alone product -- it's often more cost-effective to purchase it bundled with Microsoft Office and benefit from the added power of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook.
