# Excel 2007



## Expiry (May 26, 2010)

I've just got myself a new laptop for home and I've invested in a copy of Excel 2007.

Never used it before and it looks very different. I know there are some functions within it that are new (SUMIFS, etc). 

Has anyone got any tips/ advice on what's great about Excel 2007?


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## RoryA (May 26, 2010)

The new functions are handy, conditional formatting is better (though the interface is awkward). A lot of the rest is worse - I hate to say it but I'd have gone for 2010 instead.


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## justme (May 26, 2010)

If he just bought 2007 can't he upgrade to 2010 for almost nothing?


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## RoryA (May 26, 2010)

Quite possibly. I don't know for sure as I've not had to actually buy any MS stuff for a few years.


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## baitmaster (May 26, 2010)

likes

better autofilter
better name manager (but still not as good as free add-ins available via web)
sumifs formula is faster that array formula equivalent
countifs formula as above
conditional formatting has some new features
bit more capability around pivot tables
more results available in statusbar, i.e. not just sum, but averaegs etc too
mouse wheel can move you along the ribbon (that's how low I have to sink to suggest "good" bits!)
dislikes

layout changed too much without adding much functionality. E.g. page layout - I still have to bring up the old menus (which fortunately are still there) in order to configure the layout right, the new menu has just duplicated the old one, and not even all of it...
ribbon - difficult to find advanced functions e.g. developer tab
my customised drop-down menus are now hidden in a new section of the ribbon
other customised features (adding new buttons) appear _under_ the rest of the toolbar, as opposed to in it
new .xlsm, .xlsx etc save formats. I still just default to .xls to avoid compatibility problems
annoying mesages about "incompatible formats leading to minor loss of fidelity" every time I save a .xlsm as a .xls, so colleagues can use files on older versions, and to avoid macro security issues. So what if a colour is going to change imperceptibly?!
.xlsm = macro-enabled workbook - I mean why? when would I want a workbook in which I couldn't use macros?!
conditional formatting - easier to screw up formats, and its more cumbersome to set certain conditions
New functionality appears minimal - basically, apart from a few new formulae, its just been updated to look prettier for novices, whilst at the same time confusing those of us that knew our way around.

There may be some benefit to having more that 65536 rows or 256 columns, but not much because it can't handle that much data anyway.

Overall, disliked it initially, now I'm not too bothered.


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## VoG (May 26, 2010)

You might find this handy http://www.rondebruin.nl/0307commands.htm


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## Richard Schollar (May 26, 2010)

I much prefer 2010 too.  It hasn't annoyed me much at all (compared to 2007 which I continue to loathe).

One thing about 2010 that does irritate is the File ribbon - I'd have much preferred it to appear as just a ribbon across the top of the spreadsheet rather than taking you away from your file window completely.


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## RoryA (May 26, 2010)

Richard Schollar said:


> (compared to 2007 which I continue to loathe).



When's your renewal date again?


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## Expiry (May 26, 2010)

Fantastic. Thanks, guys. If I find it too much of a bind, I'll upgrade to 2010 before I get too 'used-to-it'.


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## Greg Truby (May 27, 2010)

If I'm reading the footnotes correctly, looks like you can upgrade for free?

http://store.microsoft.com/microsoft/Office-Office-2007-Suites/category/202


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## justme (May 28, 2010)

That's what I heard  Greg, except the article I read had a span of time you could buy 2007 and receive 2010 for free.  I just can't remember what the months were


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## xld (May 28, 2010)

rorya said:


> The new functions are handy,



... as long as you will never need to pass them to someone with Excel 2003 or earlier



rorya said:


> conditional formatting is better (though the interface is awkward).



... if you like lots of silly cartoon-like icons, never change the CF range, and the idiotic (not awkward, just dumb) interface



rorya said:


> and A lot of the rest is worse - I hate to say it but I'd have gone for 2010 instead.



The CUBE functions are great, but again, not backward compatible; I like the pivot interface much more; tables are BRILLIANT; and it does look pretty (until you get over it and realise that it was designed by someone who has no concept of presenting information visually)


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