Off the top of my head - one of the UK's leading time and attendance systems
used Access.
You say you want to market the software to the home user with a desktop PC,
then Access seems an ideal solution; as with all databases, issues usually
appear on multi-user systems, whereas yours would appear single user.
If you don't need to use the latest 'bells & whistles' report writers, and
your data is only a few thousand records and MOST IMPORTANTLY you do not
require complex relationships between your data - then I wouldn't bother
with Access, just create a random access flat file. I had a company running
a Stock Control System with a random access flat file for 13 years, and
never ever had a problem - there indestructible!
Sorry I can't be of further help - only you can weight the advantages and
disadvantages of using Access, governed by your requirements.
Merlin
"Philip" <pd*******@spellthenextcorrectly.asptules.biz> wrote in message
news:OJ**************@TK2MSFTNGP10.phx.gbl...
Well, I hate to sound ignorant, but can you give me examples of commercial
software that would use Access as a backend database?
Do they somehow hide the fact that they are using access? I mean, take
Microsoft Money for example. You'd think that would be a perfect for an
Access database, but a quick look through the money directory shows no MDB
file. Outlook Express? Nope...
I mean, don't get me wrong, I really DO WANT to use Access, but I don't
want to make the wrong decision. I don't think SQL server is an option--I want
to market the software to the home user with a desktop PC.
Philip