I probably didn't state my question very clearly. Let me try again.

I have MS Office so I have Access. I've fiddled around with it a bit, but now I want to get serious about writing some usable applications. Here are a couple of examples:

  1. Personal library. Keep track of all of my books. There are probably library apps already available, but I'd like to write my own partly as a way of learning database skills.
  2. Product ratings. Keep track of and rate various products that I frequently buy.
  3. Exercise. Keep track of my reps and sets.


So my question is: Is there something better than Access, which I already have, for my needs? I see a lot of alternatives: MySQL, TeamDesk, Knack, AxisBase, Glom, FileMaker Pro, FireBird, ....

Are any of these better for my needs than Access?

One of my criteria is user support. Access has a lot of users and a number of user communities, so getting help is fairly easy.