Office 2007: What's changed in Access?

When Microsoft Access was first released in the early 1990's, it didn't include the numerous tools and options that more recent versions have. In response to a need for re-organization, there have been several changes made to the newest version that help increase productivity and decrease the amount of time it takes for a user to customize their document. Some of the major changes are as follows:

• New Look, including the Microsoft Office Button, Ribbon, and dynamic toolbars.
• Dynamic menus that change with the program the user is in and the task they are performing.
• New Templates with predefined tables, forms, reports, fields, queries, macros, and relationships.
• The Ribbon and Quick Access Toolbar that provide commonly used formatting and editing options and can be customized to meet the needs of advanced users.
• Keyboard Shortcuts haven't changed.
• Quick Styles and Themes help to create professional-looking documents much more quickly than previous versions of Access.
• Better Sorting and Filtering to increase efficiency.
• Create tables more quicly or paste Excel data.
• Layout View for changes on-the-fly.
• Automatic Calendar for choosing dates.
• Ability to split forms and combine datasheet and form view.
• Better Program Recovery helps to recover work in progress if PowerPoint has to shut down unexpectedly.
• Embedded Macros for trusted code.
• Improved Sharing to increase productivity.
• Enhanced Security to keep your documents private.

Additional information, training tools, and templates are available through Microsoft's Office website.