Excel 2003/2007 - Any Reason to Keep?

[ikjohnson]

Hi,

Wondering if there is any reason to keep older versions of Excel such as 2003 or 2007?
I have four versions of Excel installed; 2003, 2007, 2010 and 2013. The old versions were kept just in case a client was still using one of them, but that hasn't been the case for some years.
Can't remember the last time I actually opened Excel 2003 or Excel 2007, but I do have some workbooks created with the Excel97-2003 xls format.
I'm aware that Excel 2010's extended support ends this year, and prior versions are no longer supported.

I am about to upgrade my PC, and when the older versions are gone, they're gone, so I thought I'd ask before proceeding.

Thanks.

 

[cyrilbrd]

OS are being scrapped (Win 7 being the latest), although I have not heard of similar recommendations for programs, I would say it would be dependent to Machine, User and requirements. We still have a few computers running Win 7 and Office 2007 (which was and still is good), however latest versions offers so much new features, Users may want to upgrade to be able to expand possibilities.
My two cents.

 

[Michael M]

You can still open older files with later versions, so unless there is a real need for clients to have older files, I wouldn't keep older versions of Excel.
Most older files can still be created in the newer versions anyway.....biggest issue would be formatting and some newer formulas...just my opinion though !!

 

[MARK858]

I still keep a few old versions but only because I am regularly answering questions on forums and I sometimes forget what doesn't work on older versions (Microsoft these days only list the versions that are currently supported when you look up the functions. You can get a more comprehensive list if you look up the functions on sites like TechOnTheNet so the info is still there if you look).

Other than the above (and what Michael has said about formatting and formulas if it could be an issue) I wouldn't keep them unless you have any old programs that you haven't updated that use filesearch (unlikely if you don't have any clients running 2003).

Again this is only my personal opinion.

 

[ikjohnson]

Thank you cyrilbrd, Michael and MARK858 for your opinions and two cents worth.
That helps decide.

 

[teylyn]

I used to keep old versions, but found I didn't use them much. It was always a delight, though, to see how quickly Excel 2003 opens on a modern Windows 10 machine with oodles of processing power and memory.

 

[CSmith]

Only one I felt was semi important to keep was Word 07 as 2010 and above produce weird formatting issues with .doc files I haven't seen the same with .xls files.