AzureFeeds

Today is my last day at Microsoft.

After many wonderful years, I have accepted Microsoft’s Voluntary Retirement Program (VRP) and am beginning a new chapter. It feels a little surreal to write those words. For much of my career, I’ve had the privilege of working with products, communities, and people I deeply care about. In recent years, that has included serving as Program Manager for Microsoft Access, one of the most passionate, knowledgeable, and dedicated communities in technology.

Before I go, there is one message I want to leave you with:

Access is alive, well, and continuing to evolve.

One of the most common questions I hear is, “Is Access going away?”

The answer remains the same as it has always been:

No.

Access continues to ship with Microsoft 365 and Office, continues to receive engineering investment, continues to receive bug fixes, security updates, accessibility improvements, and yes, new features. In fact, we’ve released multiple new capabilities recently, including improvements such as enhanced zooming support, larger form and report design capabilities, and new developer-focused functionality, with additional features already in various stages of development and rollout.

Over the last few years, I’ve had the opportunity to work alongside an incredibly talented engineering team that genuinely cares about Access and the customers who depend on it every day. I’ve seen firsthand the discussions, the prioritization meetings, the customer feedback reviews, the accessibility work, the bug triage sessions, and the long hours spent making sure Access continues to serve businesses, governments, schools, non-profits, and developers around the world. Access remains an important part of Microsoft’s productivity ecosystem, and the team remains committed to keeping it relevant, reliable, and useful for years to come. 

I know many of you closely follow the public roadmap and occasionally worry when it’s quiet. What doesn’t always make it into public announcements is the steady stream of work happening behind the scenes: security investments, compliance work, accessibility improvements, bug fixes, customer-requested enhancements, and the engineering work required to keep a 30-plus-year-old product healthy in a rapidly changing technology landscape. 

As for what comes next, I don’t yet know who the next Access PM will be or when that transition will occur. What I do know is that Access deserves thoughtful stewardship, active engagement with the community, and a clear understanding of why this product continues to matter. I am hopeful that whoever steps into that role will bring fresh ideas, curiosity, and a commitment to listening to the customers, MVPs, partners, and developers who make this community so special.

To our MVPs: thank you for your advocacy, your feedback, and your willingness to tell us what we’re doing right and what we’re doing wrong. Many of the features we’ve delivered started as customer requests, conference conversations, forum discussions, and MVP feedback. Your voices matter, and they have made the product better.

To the Access developers around the world: thank you for continuing to build solutions that solve real problems. Every time someone says Access is only a relic of the past, I inevitably hear from another organization running a mission-critical application, supporting a small business, managing a research project, tracking inventory, or helping people get work done. The creativity and ingenuity of this community never cease to amaze me.

And finally, thank you for letting me be part of your journey.

It’s been an honor to help tell the story of Access, share new features, write documentation, engage with the community, and occasionally fight to get your favorite feature request prioritized.

While I’m retiring from Microsoft, I’ll always be rooting for Access and the people who use it.

The future of Access belongs to all of you, and I believe that future is bright.

Thank you for your support, your passion, and your trust.

See you around,

Linda Cannon

Former Program Manager, Microsoft Access