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DanMoorehead_PowerWeb5AI's avatar
DanMoorehead_PowerWeb5AI
Iron Contributor
Sep 24, 2018

Microsoft Office 2019 Now Available – Comparing 2019 vs 2016 vs 365, New Features in Access & Excel

Microsoft Office 2019 is out!   Microsoft started the roll-out today of Microsoft Office 2019 for Windows & Mac – with major updates to Access, Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Outlook, Project, Visio, a...
  • DanMoorehead_PowerWeb5AI's avatar
    DanMoorehead_PowerWeb5AI
    Nov 15, 2018

    That said, you can install Parallels (with Coherence Mode enabled) or VMware Fusion (with Unity mode enabled) on a Mac and use that to run Microsoft Access inside of a native Mac window as if it was a native Mac app (though, under the hood, it uses Windows virtualization).

     

    In a similar fashion, you can use RemoteApp, a form of Remote Desktop which allows many simultaneous users to connect to the same Windows Server (or PC) with Microsoft Access installed, so that all they ever see is the launched application Window, appearing on their own PC, iPad, Mac, Android, web browser or mobile device via an RDP client, allowing full-screen, almost native app-like use (full screen on in an app window, without ever seeing a Windows desktop or having to launch the app from it).

     

    Server Bandwidth may be more of a constraining factor with RemoteApp-based Access usage, limiting the maximum number of effective simultaneous users for different reasons, and can sometimes result in lag and/or reduced frame rate (which may or may not be noticeable) especially with very slow cellular connections, even if the database operations themselves end up running much faster than with a typical multi-user Access database deployment via VPN / network share folders.

     

    However RemoteApp does provide its own performance and reliability benefits, such as a much reduced chance of database corruption. It can allow the Access database transactions/queries (and underlying JET/ACE/Access database engine) to operate as if each client has the database located locally on their own PC (assuming you locate it on the same server/PC hosting RemoteApp, though in some cases even if not) resulting in the database itself performing like it would if you were to open multiple instances of Microsoft Access with the same database (saved to your local drive) at the same time on your PC. RemoteApp presents a tradeoff (vs. VPN multi-user deployment) with bandwidth usage and performance being more fixed/constant, meaning higher bandwidth usage even idle (vs. VPN) for all users but potentially lower bandwidth usage or latency in cases which would otherwise be slow on VPN (such as with heavy data processing/updates).

     

    Though RemoteApp is designed for Windows Server use, it can be hosted from any Windows PC (for running in the background while using that PC), though limited to just 1 connection at a time for Windows PC vs. up to 255 simultaneous connections (or much higher if using a SQL Server database backend) with Windows Server. RemoteApp can even enable simultaneous use by many mobile devices (such as iPads) over cellular connections.

     

    That said, I've implemented a workaround for that limitation, as part of the PowerAccess All-in-One Toolset & Framework for Microsoft Access solutions platform, with tools for simplifying RemoteApp deployment and even enabling hosting from a single Windows Desktop PC (workstation) instead of just Windows Server, which avoids additional licensing costs and complexity.  I have, through this method, enabled Microsoft Access to run on multiple iPads, Macs, phones and even in Web Browsers simultaneously (with full-featured, touch-optimized support for the same Access Forms, Queries, Macros used on Windows desktop) based on one Microsoft Access installation on a single Windows desktop PC.

     

    In this way, through RemoteApps for mobile/web/Mac use and Parallels or VMware Fusion for Macs, Microsoft Access can be used on Macs, iPads, Android, Web Browsers and mobile devices, as a viable alternative to PowerApps and the like, for or most clients and use cases, which typically  than 255 different users connecting to and using the same Access database at the same time, and for which an unlimited number of authorized potential users are supported.

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