Microsoft Access

What is Microsoft Access?

Microsoft Access is a database management system (DBMS), developed by Microsoft. It is used to create, format and manage large amounts of data. The first release was back in November 1992. Since then, multiple new editions have been released, each having improvements and additions over the previous one. The most recent edition is 2021. Often, Access is compared to Excel, but Access is much more detailed and comprehensive. Microsoft Access is available in 2 license terms: perpetual and subscription based. The separate license is perpetual, aswell as some of the Office/365 packages. Some of the Office/365 are actually subscription-based.

What is Microsoft Access used for?

Microsoft Access is mainly used by companies, hence why it is a business license. As Access is compatible with other Microsoft applications, such as Outlook, Excel, SQL and PowerPoint, it is easy to import and export data into Access databases. Access can have so many different purposes. Some of these are Data Storage, Event Planning, Project Management and Personnel Management.

In which Office packages is Access included?

Microsoft Access is included in various Office and Microsoft 365 packages. The user will get Microsoft Access in Office Professional and Office Professional Plus. The difference between these two is that Pro Plus, also includes Microsoft Teams. Access is also included in Microsoft 365 Business and Microsoft 365 Business Premium. The application is also available separately, if all the other Office applications are not needed.

Access 2016 vs 2019

Access 2019 includes all of the features that were included in Access 2016. Next to that, improvements and additions were made. The additions are new charts, support for dBASE and Label Name. Improvements have been made on the accessibility, scrolling, Tell Me Box and Property Sheet sorting. Also, there is now a bigger number support. The software now supports digits from -2^63 up to +2^63.

Access 2019 vs 2021

Access 2021 includes all of the features that were included in Access 2019. Also, improvements and additions were made. It is now possible to add tables with fewer clicks, choose for a dark theme and refresh/remove/relink linked tables. There have been made improvements to the Query Designer and SQL View aswell as the Relationships Window. Another new feature is a new input field for choosing the wanted colour. Lastly, it is now quicker to add tables, as the user can now do that with fewer clicks than before.

Microsoft Access 2016 and 2019: support end dates

Access comes with two types of support: standard support (updates) and extended support (security).

Support end dates for Microsoft Access 2016:

Standard support: 13-10-2020

Extended support: 14-10-2025

Support end dates for Microsoft Access 2019:

Standard support: 10-10-2023

Extended support: 14-10-2025