I've seen Access used decently as well as abused. The good: it is actually not a bad tool if you're familiar with database concepts. It even has some nice feat

I've seen Access used decently as well as abused. The good: it is actually not a bad tool if you're familiar with database concepts. It even has some nice features, like being able to see a graph of all the pk relationships between tables (and use that graphical tool to create relationships and rules). You can seamlessly switch between list view (rows)/design view (GUI aid)/SQL when you're working on queries, allowing you to test things quickly and get rapid feedback at different levels of detail. It has a not-completely-insane tool for generating custom reports from tables or queries. It is extensible with VBA (trust me, I know -- that's not really a ringing endorsement). And like many MS products it has wizards for common tasks that make them surprisingly painless. And above all, because Access is part of the office suite, a regular user might actually have the program installed and be allowed to use it in a BigCorp or Government setting. All that being said... Access is abused just like Excel by people who don't really know what it's for. What's worse, you get monstrosities made by people with just enough knowledge of databases to make them dangerous but without the wisdom to consider normalization, maintainability, or anything like that. I have so often been asked to "take a look at" an Access database that was thrown together 10+ years ago by a mildly computer savvy amateur that is still used in production, and without exception the insides are horrifying. (Side note: usually I have had to fight my instinct to take these on as a pet project because nothing good can possibly come of it, and as soon as you change it you own it). TL;DR -- You already know shit. You might actually be surprised how not-bad Access is. Sadly you are not the person who is using Access in 99.9999% of cases.