Week in Review: October 11, 2025

Just Published

^{This section includes videos, articles, and (occasionally) open-source project updates from the past 7 days.}

Articles

^{*Article descriptions generated by Claude-Sonnet-4.}

Access Forever
- Access as an ETL Orchestrator: From SAP Exports to Azure SQL, by Bert Hoekstra (Adapted for AFo by Maria Barnes)): Demonstrates how Access can orchestrate an automated ETL pipeline that extracts data from SAP via GUI scripting, validates and loads it through Access, and transforms it in Azure SQL for production-level reporting.
John Mallinson (The VBA Help)
- Get key presses while VBA code is running using PeekMessage and TranslateMessage: Shows how to detect keyboard input during long-running VBA operations using Windows API functions PeekMessage and TranslateMessage to check the message queue for key press events.
Jonathan Halder (Access JumpStart 2.0)
- Moving the business forward! Remembering the basics: Reflects on applying fundamental business principles—reducing redundancy, cutting expenses, and increasing income—to improve productivity and profitability in Q4 2025.
Daniel Pineault (DEVelopers HUT)
- Simple & Reliable Methods to Check Internet Connectivity in VBA Using Ping: Compares three VBA approaches for checking internet connectivity via ping commands—Command Prompt, PowerShell, and WMI—with WMI's Win32_PingStatus class recommended as the cleanest and most reliable method.
- Windows 11 Insider Build Forces Microsoft Account Sign-In, Ending Local Account Workarounds: Reports that Microsoft has disabled all known workarounds for creating local accounts during Windows 11 setup in the latest Insider builds, now requiring a Microsoft account sign-in for initial configuration.
Colin Riddington (Isladogs on Access)
- Module type code fails from library database: Describes an obscure Access bug where checking module types from a library database triggers error 9 when the VBE is closed, with workarounds including opening the VBE or using VBE extensibility code instead.
- AEU46: Using Twilio for texting from Access: Announces an upcoming Access Europe meeting where Adolph Dupré will demonstrate how to send SMS messages from Access using Twilio, including setup, VBA code examples, and practical use cases.
Mike Wolfe (NoLongerSet)
- Throwback Thursday: October 9, 2025: Highlights three past articles offering tips for managing temporary or one-time code safely, including techniques for distributing data hot fixes and ensuring temporary code doesn't persist.

Videos‌

Access User Group Recordings (YouTube channel)
- High impact – Custom dialogs and mini-notifications (54:12): with Marcus Dieterle
Alessandro Grimaldi (YouTube channel)
- Great news! (01:47): A brief announcement from the newest Access MVP. [Congratulations, Alessandro!]
Richard Rost (YouTube channel)
- Quick Queries #61 (28:11): Can Microsoft Access Handle API Calls or Act Like a Web Server?
- Microsoft Access Fitness Database:
  - Part 45 (11:55): Create a Button to Copy a Record Using a Recordset in Microsoft Access
  - Part 46 (22:11): Microsoft Access Date/Time Secrets: Why Timestamps Aren't What They Look Like
  - Part 47 (11:44): How to Copy Records to Today but Keep the Same Time
  - Part 48 (14:19): Create a Default Value Box for New Records in Form Header
David Britz [David's Database and Coding Channel] (YouTube channel)
- Access Series Episode 6 (20:01)

New to Me

^{This section includes content I discovered this week that has been around for a while.}

Nothing new this week.

Upcoming Access User Group Events

^{NOTE: Only English-language user group meetings with scheduled guest speakers or topics are listed. For a complete list of upcoming events, visit the}^{Access User Group event calendar}^{. Not all links below include the start time and time zone. For that information, check out this handy reference guide from Access MVP Maria Barnes over at AccessForever.org:}^{Access User Groups 2025}^.

[October 14, 2025] Juan Soto: SQL Server with Access Academy, Part 2 (Migration to SQL Server) (JUST ADDED)
[October 28, 2025] Colin Riddington: A Masterclass in Access Security
[November 5, 2025] Ynte Jan Kundersma: Using Power Automate with Office Apps
[November 06, 2025] George Hepworth: Create Auditing in an Access Database with 3 Mouse Clicks (JUST ADDED)
[December 03, 2025] Adolph Dupré: Using Twilio for Texting from Access
[February 04, 2026] Aleksander Wojtasz: Creating an Advanced Data Grid Integrated with Access
[March 04, 2026] Chris Arnold: Using Disconnected (In-Memory) ADO Recordsets in Access

*NOTE: Access User Group event calendar was not displaying any events at publication time; events listed above are carried forward from last week's article.

Access Roadmap

There were no changes made to the roadmap between the Week in Review last week (2025-10-04) and this week (2025-10-11).

The roadmap was last updated September 24, 2025.

Listed below is a snapshot of the official Access Roadmap.

"In Development", "Rolling Out", and "Launched" are Microsoft terms that I pulled straight from the public roadmap. Dates listed are "rollout start" dates.

In Development

OCT 2025: Add zoom slider magnification to Microsoft Access: Access will add magnification slider (10% to 500%) in lower right of the application, similar to the feature in Word, PowerPoint, and Excel. It will also be keyboard accessible and available on the ribbon.
SEP 2025: Modernize Access Forms and Reports to work well on Large Format Monitors: Remove the 22-inch size limit and modernize Access forms and reports work well on large format monitors and provide responsive behavior for different form factors.

Rolling Out

None listed.

Launched

None listed.

Upcoming End-of-Life Dates

Here are the key end-of-life dates Access developers should track:

2029

[JAN 09] Windows Server 2019
[OCT 09] Access 2024 | Outlook 2024
[OCT 09 (or later)] Classic Outlook
- See "Edit 8/12/2024" at top of this article for official clarification that "both perpetual and subscription [i.e., MS 365] versions of Outlook will be supported until 2029"
- Support for Classic Outlook is guaranteed at least through 9 Oct 2029; it may be extended beyond this date

2030

[JAN 08] SQL Server 2019

2031

[OCT 14] Windows Server 2022

2033

[JAN 11] SQL Server 2022

2034

[OCT 10] Windows Server 2025

Ongoing

Microsoft 365 (with subscription)

Date TBD

Complete removal of VBScript from Windows OS (Microsoft Announces the Death of VBScript)