If you're looking for small, low footprint and easy to code, look beyond the usual relational Access/mySQL/SQLite/SQL server express etc. There are actually better business products out there that just don't get the same air time. I'd recommend looking into an MVDBMS - there are a whole load out there, the most popular being UniVerse, OpenQM and OpenInsight. They all have a 3-D data model that more easily reflects real life (e.g. a sales order is a sales order, not a mix of parent-child relations) and built-in programming languages inside the database (not just TSQL procedures) that are based around business concepts. And before anyone starts flaming, yes I do use both relational and MVDBMS in my work. Horses for courses.

Thank goodness the styler is now out so you can change at least some of it from grey. I found it was giving me serious eye strain after just a couple of hours. But I hate the kiddy-crayon graphics and monotone presentation. It does not aid intelligibility. Despite the performance improvements, the presentation seriously affects the usability. I'll be sticking to 2010 for as long as I can.

I'm not surprised you were down on this: source control is one of those tasks that is generally resented until the first time you really (really) need it - after that you won't look back. One of those 'voice of experience/burned' things. If you want to keep it simple, SubVersion with Tortoise is stunningly easy to use for the basics. But decide what you want it to do up front and consider the layout of what you will be storing - changing most source control systems mid-stream is a pig. "Baffled"