You can use VB.NET or C# to write procedural code and create user-defined types and aggregates in SQL Server.

Use saved queries as opposed to SQL statements as the data sources for Access objects. The wizard will create a corresponding SQL Server object for each saved query.

As a heavy user of other RDBMS data platforms, I have long appreciated the extra effort that Microsoft put into their data management and administration tool, the SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS).