First of all the comaprisson is invalid.
95% of people confuse Access with the database engine.
Access is NOT a database. It is a tool to build applications that happens to
use many different databases.
The one that comes free and out of the box is known as the JET database
engine. (The .mdb file.)
However, Access has also used SQL Server databases (using .adp projects)
since A2000.
So a better question would be: how does Access compare to other RAD tools
for building data centirc applications?
The answer is it kills them. A good Access developer can build a database
related program 2-10 times faster than a VB developer. The new .Net Winforms
are also difficult to program in comparison to Access.
<rant>
I hate it when people complain that Access requires that a "program" be
installed in order to run. (Msaccess.exe must be installed.) What do they
think VB and Foxpro and .Net run on???? They all have runtime libraries that
must be installed. So what is the difference?? And if it is cost, then
Access has a free runtime version which can be used.
</rant>
To answer your question,
Access will perform very well using the new SQL Server 2005 Express Edition
as its database.
(Because Access already hooks into SQL Server, this is no different.)
There are many nice new features in SQL Server Express that will make
building Access applications easier to deploy. The license issues and
governor will both fade away too.
