Which Desktop Database For Your Small Business

[hrdatamanager]

Well, I guess I should admit right away that I am biased. I have developed in MS Access for over ten years while I worked with FileMaker for a few years for a client project.

There has been quite an argument between the PRO-FileMaker crowd and the PRO-Access crowd.

So, Which one is better? In my experience, that depends on what is needed and the level of experience of the person developing the database. FileMaker is geared toward people with no programming experience and is extremely easy to get started with. I personally find it to be somewhat limited in its scripting language, but is a great tool for many users. MS Access includes Visual Basic for Applications (VBA), a full programming language that gives the programmer a great deal of control.

While FileMaker is great for the database novice, I would use MS Access for any serious desktop database development.

Regardless of which desktop database system you use, any database that is not properly designed (relationships, normalization etc.) is likely doomed to failure.

Which one do you prefer and why?

[uyytuyt]

I would like to mention a more powerful desktop database Mysql, it is widely used on the internet web sites too, best of all, it's free.

[hrdatamanager]

A quick note on MySQL, it is a great server based database and is Free as mentioned in the last post.

It is not however a desktop database that will allow a novice to easily build an entire solution including tables, views/queries, forms and reports from within one application as Access or FileMaker does. My SQL has become very popular on the web for use with PHP based web sites.

[Elizabeth01]

I think Intel Core will be the good choice for Desktop Database for small business.

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Bill management

[certifypers]

I think MS Access can be used for desktop database and I can think of any desktop today that will do this things for small business. However, MySQL can be set-up to be used to work with VBAs as part of a desktop application software.

[ashok]

Mark is right. MySQL is not an open source alternative to MS Access. It doesn't have views/queries, forms and reports from within one application as Access or FileMaker does. It is not packaged for the business user on the desktop.

The open source alternative to Access is Open Office Base.

If you check it out, let us know how it went!

[InternetFilter]

Hi all,
As above discussion some of them saying that Intel core and MS Access is best for small business. I agree with these little bit. But as of my experience MySql is the best one for small business. I tried all these. But I struggled with these Intel and Ms Access. But I am comfortable with MySql.

[smartmind]

Hello fellows:
I come to know about the discussion going in this forum. I would like to advise you that Microsoft Access is the best database software for your desktop.

[rlane]

MySQL is a great database but it is not and end-to-end solution as it lacks the UI tools that MS Access provides such as Forms, Reports, etc. For desktop applications Access is the way to go.

On the flip side, I have seen some companies try to use Access as an enterprise storage solution which is not really what it was designed for. This is where MySQL comes into play.

[Agur]

I would suggest to try Oracle Database 10g Express Edition. It is made by the biggest database software creator in the world and it is free. It has also easy to use graphical user interface like an usual webpage. Very convenient. Give it a try.