Access 2000 or XP ?

[Sean Howard]

This is not a question, but I need a bit of advice.

I need to create a software solution for users in various countries.
Normally I would use Access 2000 and simply deliver the databases for
use. Unfortunately some of the users will not have Access installed on
their machines, and will not purchase it simply to use this software.

In the (bad) old days of using Access97, I would have simply sent the
databases together with the runtime version of Access.

I am trying to find a similar solution and found a product called the
"Microsoft Office 2000 Developer". Not only am I not sure this is the
product I need, I cannot read anything about it in Microsoft.com or even
purchase it on Amazon. This software seems to have been replaced by an
XP version. That is fine but what if my users are NOT using Windows XP?

So my question basically is this, is "Microsoft Office 2000 Developer"
the product I need to distribute my databases together with a "runtime"
version of Access2000. If this is not the product what should I do?

ANY advice would be great

Sean Howard

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[Steve Jorgensen]

On 13 Jan 2004 11:49:28 GMT, Sean Howard <se*********@axelero.hu> wrote:

This is not a question, but I need a bit of advice.

I need to create a software solution for users in various countries.
Normally I would use Access 2000 and simply deliver the databases for
use. Unfortunately some of the users will not have Access installed on
their machines, and will not purchase it simply to use this software.

In the (bad) old days of using Access97, I would have simply sent the
databases together with the runtime version of Access.

I am trying to find a similar solution and found a product called the
"Microsoft Office 2000 Developer". Not only am I not sure this is the
product I need, I cannot read anything about it in Microsoft.com or even
purchase it on Amazon. This software seems to have been replaced by an
XP version. That is fine but what if my users are NOT using Windows XP?

So my question basically is this, is "Microsoft Office 2000 Developer"
the product I need to distribute my databases together with a "runtime"
version of Access2000. If this is not the product what should I do?

ANY advice would be great

Sean Howard

Using Access 2002 (from Office XP) does not require Windows XP. In fact, it
will technically work on Windows 98, though not very well. I'm doing all my
development with Access 2002 on Windows 2000, and it works great. In fact, I
run into UI and other bugs with Windows XP that lead me to avoid it (in
general, not for Access in particular).

Also, in my opinion, Access 2000 is slightly too low a quality to use, but
Access 2002 is not bad. Access 97 was more stable than either of these, but
2002 is OK, and some of its new features are compelling enough that I do all
my work in Access 2002 now.

[Don Kuykendall]

This is the product you need. It has nothing to do with "Windows XP"
It is the version of "Office XP" not the same.
I used "Microsoft Office 2000 Developer" to develop and distribute a
database for a couple of years and have recently upgraded to
"Microsoft Office XP Developer" It works great.

Sean Howard <se*********@axelero.hu> wrote in message news:<40***********************@news.frii.net>...

So my question basically is this, is "Microsoft Office 2000 Developer"
the product I need to distribute my databases together with a "runtime"
version of Access2000. If this is not the product what should I do?

[Larry Linson]

"Sean Howard" wrote

In the (bad) old days of using Access97,
I would have simply sent the databases
together with the runtime version of Access.

Just what did you find "bad" about the old days of Access 97? There are many
developers who _still_ use it in preference to later versions.

As you've been told, Office XP does not require Windows XP, and there is a
Developer Edition. But that is not the most recent Office, so you cannot
order it from Microsoft. You might find it on eBay or other online auction
sites, and at a lesser price than "new retail". In my experience, it is
solid and stable, and the development environment is somewhat improved over
Access 2000 (which still has enough "issues" that I don't recommend it, even
with SP 3).

The current release would be Microsoft Office 2003 System. There is no
"Developer Edition" for Office 2003, but the Access 2003 runtime is included
in the separate "Visual Studio Tools for Office 2003 System" -- the price of
which is about the same as the difference used to be between Office Pro
Edition and the Developer Edition. You also get a copy of the .NET framework
and versions of VB.NET and C# that you can use with Excel and Word, but not
yet with Access.

My experience with Access 2003 has been good, but I don't think the help
interface is nearly as user-friendly even as that of Access 2002.

Larry Linson
Microsoft Access MVP

[Sean Howard]

I wish I could still use Access97 myself. But it doesn't work too well
with the Chinese version of Windows.

Also what is the dirrerence between Office XP and Office 2003?

Thanks

Sean Howard

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[Trevor Best]

On 13 Jan 2004 19:49:35 GMT in comp.databases.ms-access, Sean Howard
<se*********@axelero.hu> wrote:

I wish I could still use Access97 myself. But it doesn't work too well
with the Chinese version of Windows.

Didn't do much for Russian either, nyet horosho :-)
--
A)bort, R)etry, I)nfluence with large hammer.

[Larry Linson]

The differences are mostly Office-wide rather than Access-specific, and they
mostly affect collaboration issues in the corporate environment -- how
Office works with various server products such as Exchange Server and Share
Point Services or Share Point Portal Server. And, the ability to use VB.NET
or C# as a programming language with Excel or Word (though VBA is still
supported, and does not require the .NET framework be installed on the
user's machine).

The other difference that would give me serious concern about choosing
Office 2003 over Office XP is the user interface for Help. It simply is
missing the very useful Index tab, although I've been told that the content
is better -- you have to get to the content in multiple ways, none of which
have the same functionality as Index.

Larry Linson
Microsoft Access MVP

"Sean Howard" <se*********@axelero.hu> wrote in message
news:40***********************@news.frii.net...

I wish I could still use Access97 myself. But it doesn't work too well
with the Chinese version of Windows.

Also what is the dirrerence between Office XP and Office 2003?

Thanks

Sean Howard

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[Sean Howard]

Dear Larry,

If I went for the combination of "Office 2003" and "Visual Studio Tools
for Office 2003 System", would this mean I would have to learn a new
programming language (namely VB.NET) or could I still do my development
under the current VBA (which I think is version 6.3)

Thanks in advance

Sean Howard

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