Microsoft Remembers Access With Conversion Kit
Microsoft finally has, with a conversion toolkit to help recalcitrant Access 97 users make the tricky leap to later versions of the PC database.
It has seemed for quite some time Microsoft itself had forgotten the database it launched at $99 more than ten years ago, and which many credited with upsetting the lucrative PC database applecart. But Access in recent years has seemingly disappeared into the overall "Microsoft Office" brand. Access is part of the "Office Professional" SKU.
The toolkit will include a small Visual Basic executable to scan desktops and servers to collect information on current Access deployments, Microsoft said. "A lot of our customers have no idea how many applications they have," said Jon Sigler, group program manager. Microsoft changed the Access file format after Access 97, making migration to later versions problematic. The file format has not changed since that time, he added.
The scanning tool will determine size, author and last changes to the database, and Data Access Object (DAO) properties. It will "drill down into the database without actually opening it to determine the number of tables, forms, whether it's compiled or not and come back with an XML file," Sigler said.
The fact that so many Access users are still on relatively ancient versions illustrates Microsoft's dilemma with Office and upgrades in general. The company will not say what percentage of its current Office base is on the latest Office 2003 release, available widely since October.
The advent of $99 Access--Microsoft followed with FoxPro at $99 as well--undercut much pricier PC databases such as Borland's Paradox, which at that time retailed for nearly $500. Since that time, popular end-user databases like Lotus Approach, have come and gone. Meanwhile, FileMaker has capitalized on the vacuum to promote its latest releases.
The toolkit will be offered in the same time frame as Office 2003 Service Pack 1, now due in late July, but will be a separate download. Microsoft had originally hoped to SP 1, which will include enhancements to InfoPath and OneNote applications as well, out by May or June.
Also on the Office front, Microsoft executives delved more deeply into the deliverables of their proposed
, unveiled at the show. Due in July, this software comprises an add-in to Office 2003, that renders the information returned from back-end applications; a server-side component to act as a meta data repository; and a Visual Studio add-in for developers building the actual application linkages, said Anders Brown, group product manager.
Microsoft released "a tactical beta" of the software on MSDN this week and final code is expected in July, Brown said.
For continuing Tech Ed Coverage, see CRN News Center.