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The problem with Access isn't as much Access itself, but rather its intended audience.
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That's nicely put!
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Does anyone use it? Yes.
Are there valid reasons to use it? Yes, with caveats.
I have heard of it being used by individuals working for charitable organizations when the individual is essentially cut off from field support, ie: they are on their own. Think interval Africa.. really, used by people in Africa without access to the internet for support.
I have seen it used (badly) in a commercial organization by the accounting group because 'someone' thought they knew how to create a database and the attendant code and couldn't be bothered asking the IT department for help.. that would take to long. So, when the database grew to over 5G and couldn't be shrunk and was tied to a particular machine that couldn't be re-imaged, etc... they refused to admit they had erred years before, but reluctantly asked the IT department for help is moving the functionality to SQL Server.
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I was going to say, why don't they use locaDB/sqlexpress instead, but thinking about it, if your in Africa etc, and you're an end user (not a developer), and you have need for a DB, what options do you have? I had a very quick look at access this morning, it does seem to come with ready made templates that an end user could quickly get setup and use.
I'm not about to start using it!! 
But for non developer/end users that want a simple DB, what other options do they have? Search for an app already made for the job. As an example, I've just googled 'CD Database software' ... and there where lots of hits
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You can easily connect an Access app file to SQL Server (or Express).
Keep searching for template files - MS has made many available!
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I have a difficult time imagining that a developer has no idea what Access is. Perhaps I missed the sarcasm? Since you already have it installed, I'd suggest that you try it and decide for yourself if it might be useful to you...it won't cost you a thing.
That said, I use Access 2003 almost every day. Why? Two words: Query Designer
"Go forth into the source" - Neal Morse
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No Sarcasm, genuine question. I've been aware of Access since windows 3.1 (I think access was available then, anyway along time), just never used it. Just never though/considered it's use, no reason not to.
During my early programming life, it was all embedded microcontrollers running C/asm with about 32K of program code. My most of the work is still embedded stuff.
I've only really started using DB in the last 6 years. combination of sql compact, express, localDb and MySQL, selecting whichever suited the project/client the best. I'm no DB expert, there's always something to learn!!
But I updated office yesterday, noticed access and opened it up to have a look. Which made me wonder if any one currently uses it.
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Query designer in Access is also my fallback tool when I'm having trouble figuring out how to write a SQL string in code! 
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ACCESS is so good that MS is killing it because is a big competitor of VS. ACCESS is the fastest RAD tool and you can do petty good desktop and web applications for SME or departments almost without code. Access it is simply fantastic. And of course there are millions of people using ACCESS.
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MS stopped making improvements in Access with the 2003 version. But - they have improved Access for power users since then.
It doesn't make sense for MS to put resources into improving two products for the same set of developers. The IDE in VS is much better than the IDE in Access.
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Access is great for manipulating data from one format to another, outside of that I have not used it
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I also used MSAccess for back-end DB while ago..
But now I'm using LocalDB or sometimes SQLite... 
Don't watch the clock;
Do what it does.
Keep going.....
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Many years ago but I don't want to see it again - ever.
However, I'd gladly go with dBase III and Clipper again.
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I loved Clipper - you could link c modules to it which was way cool at the time.
We can’t stop here, this is bat country - Hunter S Thompson RIP
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Access is a true RAD tool. If you can model data and build SQL Express databases it is perfect. The query builder and reporting is the best in the business. One day, building web databases will use the same techniques to build views as access uses to build forms. (instead of typing in a morass of HTML).
Most of the comments here are simply wrong - its a great tool and Microsoft has made (yet another) mistake in not developing it further.
Ray Starkey
ACCESSible IT Limited
Coventry, UK
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I fully agree with you. MS Access is a very good RAD tool and perfectly fine for smaller, tactical solutions. To throw the entire technology stack at a problem isn't always wise 
We use it in our company for various purposes.The entry level is relatively low and that maybe explains the image MS Access has. Everybody can crank something out in relative no time but in the wrong hands, the best tool can be disastrous!
When we decide MS Access is good enough for the task to solve, we still apply IT best practice in designing, programming, testing etc. We don't have many of those application but they do what they are supposed to do since years very successfully and reliable.
Cheers
Rene
Working at a larger Reinsurance Company
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True about reports. When I'm making a report in VS I wish it was as easy as it is in Access!
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It can make a very fast way to play with data with it's import abilities. Last time I used it was for facing a SQL database table in about 20 minutes start to finish - try that with anything else in that time frame 2 years ago.
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I use it for analyzing millions of records from web server logs with SQL queries about once a quarter.
Easy to import the logs, simple to write and apply custom functions for massaging column data.
Copy+Paste results into Outlook or Excel.
Easy to throw away when you are done! Just purge the table containing the log records and retain the queries and custom functions.
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You can hook Access to almost any type of database file. Easily write queries and easily make good reports. This is a great way to use Access!
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There are a ton of apps we dark matter developers need to mantain that are too massive in scale to port to other runtimes. (wheter it be because of scale of the project or because you have a dinosaur boss in the way (such as my case))
I for example, mantain a manufacturing support application that uses access, and for what is worth, it does processing crap really fast with an sql server back end. Too bad it doesn't support sql batch statements or better vb data structures.
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Yes, and Access can work quite well in small office settings. Many things work very well, but it also does have downsides (particularly handling memo fields). It you need a lot of control over keyed inputs for forms, etc., it is going to be more difficult to accomplish with access as a front-end, but most items can be done fairly quickly and work quite well.
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I am a developer of business applications with MS Access version (97) for small businesses and professional firms. Develop programs with MsAccess is a guaranteed investment over time. The programs were converted in later versions of MsAccess (2000/2003/2010/2013) with SO Xp. Win 7, Win 8 and finally with Win 10. Queries, Forms, Reports and VBA are more than enough to satisfy monoutenze and multiuser with 10 users. With accesshosting.com also work remotely.
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Yup. I made over $200k last year developing in MS Access. And in ever case, it was just the right tool.
If you are good at it, it's a great product. Not without flaws like every tool, and limiting compared to some, of course. But if used in the right situation by someone that knows what they are doing, it's simply a great tool.
I build complex applications that save tremendous amounts of time. Multi user environments are just fine. Lots of data. Lots of calculations and automation.
Like anything, it sucks in the wrong hands.
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