If you use MTS, then the COM object talking to the server counts as 1 connection. Even if you open/close connections at the client, you might get away with it. My own preference is nobody has base table access, sp's for insert/update/delete/anything else done a lot, views for everything else. COM DB components to interface w/all client UI's. Doing that cuts down significantly on "concurrent connections" unless you use the same system for DSS. I've deployed MSDE in a small shop w/12 workstations (it's an office doing lots of edits) and never exceeded the 5 concurrent limitation.

Just my 2,
Mikem