Bonsai collection on MS Access

[Felix Laughlin]

I have been using MS Access for many years to accumulate photos and text on my bonsai collection. It has worked nicely because I have an entry for each bonsai and there I have (1) notes on what I have done in the care and improvement of the tree and (2)successive photos of the tree taken over time. However, I am having problems with the database which has gotten large and unwieldy, and am looking for a better way going forward. An IT expert suggested Mysql which I am unfamiliar with.

Will Mysql give me the same or better functionality and how much will it cost to maintain?

Thanks.