Is Access 2000 still "current"? 1

[xbigblue]

Hi all,

I've been out of development for a couple years, may have a project on the horizon. My experience is in Access 2000; is it considered "current" (function, MS support, etc.)?
If not, what versions are recommended. Saw that Office 2003 has a lot of new stuff for collaboration/data sharing, but is Access 2003 substantially different? Have searched and not found this topic specifically addressed. Thanks for your consideration, as always.

 

[SteveR77]

There are two verison since 2000. There is 2002 and 2003.

For the most part 2002 and 2003 added more features for collaboration between the Office products.

HTH,

Steve

 

[Terpsfan]

Access 2002 is generally believed to be more stable than Access 2000. It has a new file format that is asserted to handle larger databases as well as OLE fields (images, etc) better than previous versions. Access 2002 is also much better if you want to use Data Access Pages, which are basically web forms you can view in Internet Explorer. Access 2000 DAPs only supported the IE browser, while Access 2002 supports other browsers such as Netscape. Access 2000 also tends to be a bit buggy with record conflicts in a multi user environment. 2000 also loads all called modules in a form on form load, while 2002 only loads the modules when they are called, making for a more efficient application. 2003 still uses the 2002 file format. I have not worked with it as much.

 

[jrbarnett]

xbigblue

With regards to Access 2000, while it is true that it has been superseded with 2002 and 2003, a large number of applications developed using Access 97 are still in use, and because they do what is required, and don't require features from the newer versions, the software developers have decided not to upgrade them to newer versions.
In fact, I have read elsewhere on this site that there are still developers doing active maintenance of Access 2 (Win3.1) applications, so don't think that just because Microsoft have chosen to stop support for the Office 97 family of applications that all code developed with it has been upgraded to a newer version.

John

 

[Hap007]

I have to agree with John,

My experience shows that each new version has more features, but each seems just a little bit less stable. If you do not need or use the new features, well the older versions work just fine.

Regarding Microsoft and Support, well if they stop supporting a past product, it may be a method to force us to upgrade. I have been working with all versions of access (2.0/97/2000 and XP) All seem to work fine, so If you can afford to purchase the latest, go for it, but Access 2000 works just fine.

Final note on Microsoft Support. A court ruling, several years back, forced Microsoft to stop selling certain features in some of their products, so while they may not be supporting older software, it may be that it is involved(in some way) with the court settlement order which took effect Dec 23, 2003. Some products, Like Office 2000 and SQL 2000 were retired because of that ruling.

Hap

Access Developer

http://www.fcs-software.com/fcsaccessdev.html

Access based Add-on Solutions
Access Consultants forum

http://www.tek-tips.com/groups/accessDevelopers

 

[xbigblue]

Kudos to:

Steve, Omega36, John, and Hap for on the mark replies.

Hap, do I understand your reply to say that Office 2000 (and therefore Access 2000) is no longer supported by Microsoft? I recently used my old Desktop Windows 98 update function, applied one "critical" update, then noticed a link to Office update and found an update there for my Office 2000 applications. Seems like I would not find that if it's out of support. Or was it just an older update that remains on their servers for us?

Thanks,
Harry

 

[Hap007]

Harry,

You know, I can never seem to actually understand MicroSoft, and all the what you can buy how much it costs and all the different lic schemes.

It is my understanding that Microsoft is no longer selling MS Office 2000 and at least Part of MS Office XP. If this is indeed true, you will only be able to buy those products from resellers who still have copies. But beware of illegal copies.

Here is an Announcement from the Microsoft MSDN Web site:
[blue]
"Announcements
MSDN Subscription Content Retired as of December 2003
Due to a settlement agreement reached in January 2001, Microsoft is phasing out the Microsoft Virtual Machine from its products. As of 12:01 AM Pacific Time December 23rd, 2003, we have phased out several product families, and remove the Microsoft Virtual Machine from others. The major product families that will no longer be available are:

BackOffice Server 2000
MapPoint 2002
Office 2000 Suite and Products
Office XP Developer
SQL Server 7.0
Windows 98

Although these products will no longer be available for distribution from Microsoft, they can still be used in accordance with the terms of your MSDN Subscription license agreement."
[black]

So, I guess we will have to see just what Microsoft will support based on this legal ruling.

Regarding tech support, I think that might be a whole different can of worms.

Hope This Helps,
Hap


Access Developer

http://www.fcs-software.com/fcsaccessdev.html

Access based Add-on Solutions
Access Consultants forum

http://www.tek-tips.com/groups/accessDevelopers

 

[xbigblue]

Hap,

Appreciate your thorough response. I guess Access version I end up using will have much to do with potential client's existing software environment, which I have not been able to determine yet. This is still a "maybe" project.

regards,
Harry

 

[Hap007]

Harry,

I agree 100 percent.

That is why I have all versions of Access(almost, I do not seem to have a version 1.0).

If my client has nothing, I can recommend a version, but...
If the client already has Access, then that is usually the version of choice.

Good Luck,
Hap

Access Developer

http://www.fcs-software.com/fcsaccessdev.html

Access based Add-on Solutions
Access Consultants forum

http://www.tek-tips.com/groups/accessDevelopers

 

[Norris68]

I agree with Hap007 - I have versions 1.1, 2.0, 97, 2000, 2002 and 2003 installed on various machines (note lack of Access 95 ... urgh!). Development will depend on the client. While it is nice to use the latest version of Access, the client will need to buy licenses for it (unless you use the truly horrible Access runtime). Usually the decision about the specific version is out of your hands.

I tend to do most of my development in Access 2000. 2002 & 2003 seem to default to 2000 compatibility for databases anyway. I don't think 2002 (XP) is very stable, but 2003 seems better.