Problems With Using Web Matrix (cont..)

• Form interface is not as easy as drag-and-drop:  You cannot easily drag and drop buttons and images anywhere on the form.  Rather they are placed wherever the cursor starts -- similar to if you are putting an image in a word document, it would place it wherever the cursor is and you couldn't easily move it around in the document unless it was in a clipart frame.  Similarly, this is how it works with WebMatrix, so if you want to move something over just a little bit, you cannot that easily
   
• Things are just not as easy as they are said to be:  Before starting on this project, I thought this would be very simple and done very quickly.  That is the impression I got from all the online testimonials of Web Matrix's creators.  Only after a couple hours, when I started doing more than just dragging controls onto the forms, I realized how inconvenient this program is.  Things you may be able to do using Visual Studios .NET in a matter of a few minutes may take you hours using WebMatrix
   
• No features made for using Microsoft Access:  Since I wasn't really using a large database for my project, I thought I will experiment with Microsoft Access instead of MSDE (Microsoft Data Engine) -- which is a free runtime version of Microsoft SQL Server.  However, I soon realized WebMatrix cannot be used to easily view and create databases using Microsoft Access.  Instead you could access a Microsoft Access file, but you would need to code everything and not be able to view the tables or graphically insert items or dynamically build SQL statements to use in your code.  This would require knowledge on how create a connection to the database and then access such information
   
• Difficult to install MSDE:  If you follow the "simple" step-by-step direction on installing MSDE, you will be quite disappointed because this is a lot more to it than what is stated in simple words.  Everything from setting proper permissions in XP to specifying properties not referred to in the manual, your best resource is hours of filtering through the online forum conversations by other frustrated users