1. It may be, but it may be not. Any way, writing any application based on MS Access seems a big no-no. You should rely on a decent database that can be reliabl

1. It may be, but it may be not. Any way, writing any application based on MS Access seems a big no-no. You should rely on a decent database that can be reliably shared with another processes (publishing the thing over network share is not a reliable solution). If you really want to stick to Windows, then .NET is the way to go. And for building something that needs to work, just bring in an experienced programmer. It will be worth the cost. 2. I don't see much work for VBA. Current trend in the industry appears rather to be to move away from Microsoft platforms. 3. Python? Ruby? Web applications?