The Access 2007 runtime and key developer tools, called the Access Developer Extensions, have been released and are now free of charge. Offering them as free products will reduce the startup cost and simplify deployment of Access applications, but the move may also mean that Microsoft does not intend significant further updates for the extensions.

The Access runtime enables developers to package and distribute Access applications to users who don't have the full product installed. The Access Developer Extensions allow Access developers to use the Visual SourceSafe source-code control system and package their applications for the Windows Installer. But the free version also removes some tools that were included in previous versions, such as the Property Scanner Add-in (a search-and-replace tool for strings in binary Access files). By not updating the removed tools, and releasing the remaining tools for free, Microsoft could be signaling that it will limit further development effort.

Versions of the Access Developer Extensions and runtime were previously distributed in editions of Visual Studio that started at US$799. Releasing the runtime and extensions for free will reduce the initial cost and complexity of creating a redistributable Access solution, a move that will particularly appeal to small commercial software vendors and solution providers that use Access, as well as corporate developers who redistribute Access solutions on a large scale inside their organizations. Such Access solutions are less important to Microsoft than they were formerly: with Access 2007, the company tried to simplify development of small-scale, ad hoc Access solutions by part-time developers, while steering professional and commercial developers to Visual Studio and SQL Server.

The Access 2007 Developer Extensions and Runtime downloads are at msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/office/bb229700.aspx.

For more information about Access 2007, see "Access 2007 Targets First-Timers, SharePoint Users" on page 19 of the Dec. 2006 Update.

An Access blog with further information on the release is at blogs.msdn.com/access.