First question, you could use Terminal Server, but although in that
situation users would not have to have Access 2003 physically installed, my
understanding is that each user would need an Access 2003 licence.

Second question, no, Office 2003 requires Windows 2000 or later.

With the Access Developer Extensions you can distribute a runtime version of
Access (Access with design features disabled) to enable users who do not
have retail Access installed to run your applications, but you still need
Windows 2000 or later.

You can run a 15 year old version of ms-access on a brand new pc.

However, I can't run ms-access on a 1981 pc, since that pc likely does not
even have a mouse!! On the other hand, you will find it AMAZING that you can
run 1981 software on a BRAND NEW box today!!

So, the rule for more then 20+ years in our industry is that you can usually
go forward, but not backwards.

No, office 2002 (or what is know as office XP was the LAST version that runs
on windows 9x).

Yes, you can do the above. First, please read the following on splitting a
database. It is a simple concept, and if you adopt this concept, then you
access 97 users, and access 2003 users can use the SAME DATA!!

So, read the following first:

http://www.members.shaw.ca/AlbertKallal/Articles/split/index.htm

Ok, so what you do is now provide a front end in access 97 to those
people/computers with access 97. For those users that have access 2003, then
you provide a access 2003 front end. Then, as time goes by, and those a97
users upgrade, you simply upgrade them to access 2003 front ends.

The back end that you link to must however remain in access97 format until
such time as all users have upgraded.

And, if the users machines have windows xp on them, then you could consider
using the ms-access runtime system, as then they don't necessary have to
have access installed.

Read the EULA for Office and ACCESS... I don't think the EULA permits you to
install one copy on a network and let multiple users use that one copy.

ACCESS 2003 will not run on Windows 98. Must be Windows 2000 or "higher"
version.