Another abandoned Access developer shares his story

We tend to take notice when an Access developer comes out of the closet and reveals how frustrated he is. 

DELETED: Microsoft has a history of
abandoning its developers

Well, that just happened on the ArtfulOpinions blog, penned by our friend and fellow developer, Arthur. In his post, "The Access Developer's Dilemma," Arthur outlines a history of Microsoft Access, from the release of the first version in 1992 up until the problem Access developers are faced with today. "There seems to be no future in continued Access development," Arthur writes.

But I can't do this post justice -- you'll have to read it for yourself. Head over to Arthur's blog, and don't be afraid to leave your opinion in the comment section, which has already sparked conversation.

Are you an Access developer frustrated with the limitations Arthur details in his post? Take a look at our newest white paper to find out how to move desktop Access apps to the web and mobile.

Alpha Five takes Access developers to the web

It's no secret that Microsoft Access isn't the best tool to use when developing for the web and mobile. But the way we see it, that shouldn't mean that developers still working on the desktop should be abandoned.


With Alpha Five, Microsoft Access developers can take their soon-to-be-obsolete desktop apps and move them to the web and mobile. And Martin Heller, our Vice President of Education and Technology, is making sure Access developers know how to do just that with his latest publication, "Alpha Five Web Applications for Access Developers." 


For more details, take a look at the press release we distributed earlier today:

ALPHA AND ACCESS: Only one can get your desktop
apps to the web

To download "Alpha Five Web Applications for Access Developers," visit our free download page.

Another Microsoft Access shop adopts Alpha Five

When we last checked in with Alpha developer Robin Bennett, his U.K.-based IT software development and consulting business, Start Software, had just finished an Alpha app modeled after Microsoft's metro UI. You can take a look at our previous post to see just how much Robin's app looked like a Windows 8 app.

But Robin didn't stop there. Shortly after he completed that app, he announced Start Software's adoption of Alpha Five for web and mobile applications. Head over to our press release that has the details on Start Software's switch:

ADOPTING ALPHA: Start Software has seen an increase in proficiency and a decrease
in cost since choosing Alpha Five

 Thanks to Robin and everyone at Start Software for letting us share their story!

Are you an Access developer looking to tackle web and mobile? Tell us in a comment, and the next story could be yours!

Alpha Five helps keep libraries current

When we released Alpha Five Version 11, one of our first orders of business was to use it to strengthen our relationship with Tech Soup.

Tech Soup is a global nonprofit organization that uses donated software to promote social change, and we've been donating our software for years. Now, Alpha Five Version 11 will be found in libraries throughout North America, giving libraries the technical support they need to stay current in a digital era.

Our latest donation of Version 11 topped out at a retail value of $365,000, and we issued a press release with all the details:

SUPER SOFTWARE: Alpha Five has helped 7,000 libraries

At Alpha Software, we're very aware of our social responsibility, and we love how Tech Soup gives us the ability to reach communities throughout the world.

Know of a library in your area that could use a boost? Leave it in a comment to have your community considered to be a recipient of Tech Soup's program.

Update on Alpha Five Version 11 scalability

Two years ago, we found ourselves constantly being asked if Alpha Five could scale in high volume situations. While we were getting great feedback on Alpha Five, there's always a legitimate concern about scalability.

Now, we have a new version with a lot more capabilities in environments such as mobile that require even more scalability. Because of that, we wanted to update you on why Alpha Five is able to scale so well. There's no better way for me to do that than by talking about how we work with our partner, ZebraHost, one of the premier hosting platforms for Alpha Five applications.

ZEBRAHOST UPDATE: Who says a zebra can't change his stripes?

Over the past few years, ZebraHost has expanded to hosting in 13 data centers, all of which have passed SSAE 16 inspection.

And while ZebraHost has always offered hosting options for organizations of any size, it recently started hosting to both public clouds and private clouds running Alpha Five. Today, those developing in Version 11 can deploy multiple instances of their applications in any of the 13 global data centers, and load balance them within a particular data center or across several.

For developers working with applications that store sensitive data, ZebraHost can now offer a hosted private cloud accessed by a secure VPN. With ZebraHost, no other customers share the resources of your private cloud, so your data will be securely located in a data center that's checked out with third-party security specialists.

In addition to these expansions, ZebraHost has also implemented a number of new features:

Fully automated platform. All facets of the platform, such as cloud, networking, security, storage, and software services have been automated to accelerate provisioning, reduce human error, and provide Alpha Five customers with the best end-user experience possible.

Read more »

11 feature packs for the 11th version of Alpha Five

You'll notice I'm posting this at 11:11 a.m. What can I say? I like a good theme! 

Today we announced the release of our 11th feature pack, "Power Search for Embedded Reports" for Alpha Five Version 11. 

No developer wants to buy bloatware that is loaded with features they will never need or use. That's why the core Alpha Five Version 11 platform focuses on the tools and technologies that are crucial to build web and mobile database-driven applications.

However, we get mail. Lots of it. It's from developers asking us about specific features. We weigh these requests, and when we see a number of developers needing a particular feature, we bake that into a feature pack. 

This way, those developers that need specific features can get them while we're not overloading the core platform with features that are unnecessary for the bulk of our developers. 

So far, we've produced 11 of these feature packs, and more are on the way as we continue to respond to the demands of our developers. And yes, if a certain feature pack takes off, it's entirely conceivable that that feature will find its way into the core platform at some point. 

There's more about our newest feature pack in the press release issues today:

11 IS THE MAGIC NUMBER: The 11th feature pack
is 'Power Search for Embedded Reports'

What would you like to see in Alpha Five Version 11's twelfth feature pack?