I have more then once mentioned here that MS has the best track
record in the industry when it comes to software updates and
long term use.
Apple computer has forced their whole user community
MORE THAN ONCE to throw out ALL of their software. None of the original
apple mac programs from the 1980's worked with the new MAC that came out in
the early 90's. I sure your prof remembers the first Mac Paint programs!
However, you can't run those old programs. All those users were left high
and dry!
Apple did this again recently with the new OS X, and again
forced out tons and tons of software.
With windows, we can still run old software from the 1980's. MS has never
forced a upgrade here by design. I have clients in town running old DOS
FoxPro code from the 1980's on brand new win XP pc's. Ms-access is
celebrating its 11 anniversary right now (or is it now 12?). Fact is,
you can still run and use the ORIGINAL ms-access version 1.0 (that
is from windows 3.1, 16 bit environment) on brand new 32 bit pc windows
box today. (MS had to do a LOT OF work to make old windows 3.1 code still
function. Just dealing with 16 bit libraries vs 32 bit was a huge
challenge). Fact is that MS had the money to spend on compatibility and
they did, where companies like Apple is make you fork out the money for
new versions. As a result, with MS your software investment has been
protected better then anyone else in the last 20 years.
There is not one company, I repeat NOT ONE company that comes close to the
track record of MS. In fact, one the reasons why MS is so successful is
because IBM, Apple, Atari etc, and even SUN can not even come close the
compatibility that windows has maintained over the years. MS likes you
as a customer, and thus having compatibility keeps you!
I was talking to some one the other day, and they say they are going to
upgrade from VB to .net? I asked why? If you want to develop with very OLD
very of VB5, you still can.
Fact is, from a compatibility point of view, there is not a vendor in the
industry that even comes remotely close to the continues compatibility
Microsoft has offered over the last 20 years.
You can actually go a web site and download the Original version of
visi calc and run it on your pc today (that download is less then 32k
which is smaller then a web page with graphics!). Imagine that, a
whole spread sheet that fits easily in 32k of ram!
So, even if ms-access was being dropped, you likely could use it for
the next 20 years!
However, we got a new version access 2003 a few months ago. They are
now hard at work on the next version.
Since MS is so eager to win market share, and win customers, then why
on earth would they dump the most popular database program in the
world? You mean they want to chase customers away back to Linux and
apple after all this work to win those customers? really, do you
think the company is that stupid?
I have little doubt we will see new versions of ms-access for the next
10, or 20 years. There is no rumour, or article or even a statement that
anyone with real functional brain can point to that would even HINT of
the demise, or stopping of the fantastic product we all know and love
as ms-access. Lets hope that not all education is going to be based
on hearsay, or rumours. Your prof will not find such a article, as the
premise
is based on people who cannot analyse such issues as above.
If anyone
could point to such an article, why would you need to post here? Why is
such a challenge needed? Cannot one use a search engine, and read things
with some intellectual and analyses to make a reasoned conclusion?
Such a challenge is needed since the original concept of the demise of
access is a a old straw man grasping at straws.
