Looking for an alternative to MS-Access

[Albert Trudeau]

Hi.

The problem that I am facing is that I've been using Microsoft Access for years; developing and deploying databases for work (and personal use). Being a government employee has benefitted me due to an 'employee discount' program on Microsoft Office. Well, I am not going to be able to enjoy that anymore, so I'm looking for an alternative.

What I propose to do is use MySQL as the backend (database) portion, and an Internet Explorer front-end. I will most likely put this MySQL database on my NAS, and then use a client user interface to input and view the data. So, what kind of a (free?) front-end GUI can I use? Currently my OS is Windows 7 64bit. In searching the Internet, everything that I've seen is directed towards administering the database - not actually using a 'client' front-end to get the data into the database. I've got all the tables set up in MS-Access already, I would just have to import them into MySQL (...and possibly tweak them a bit... right?).

I'm willing to try other 'free' front-end client UI's, though. I just thought that using an internet browser would be the best due to it being installed by default on any (Windows) computer.

Thanks in advance for any direction or advice.

Al