Things that bother me about excel, and other pet peeves

[Diffy]

After being a mathematician for many years, and studying matrix theory and other abstract algebra topics, the on thing that bothers me most about excel is how you classify a cell. D12, in matices we always state the row and then the column, to have excel do this backwards drives me off the wall. What is wrong with 12D?

Also many times I wish I had more rows and columns. You would think that 65k+ rows would be enough, but it isn't. The number of columns is even more pitiful.

Am I the only one with pet peeves in excel?

 

[Oaktree]

Per your concerns, (1) there is always R1C1 referencing for you and (2) Excel 2007 (finally) gives Excel the much needed upgrade from 65K to 1.1MM rows.

You're certainly not the only one with issues with Excel. I'd put floating point errors on my list.

 

[Diffy]

Does 2007 give more columns? That could be a selling point for me. Would you recommend 2007 as a "must have" upgrade from 2003? How is the new interface?

 

[Oaktree]

Oodles more columns (10,000+) too.

See: http://www.mrexcel.com/board2/viewtopic.php?t=172620 for a discussion of some of the new features.

 

[starl]

Diffy.. Excel 2007 is WAY different from any other version.. it's apples and oranges.
Thing is - I like apples and oranges So it's not a bad thing.
But it does take a while to get used to. The interface is VERY different. and the file formats don't work backwards.
I've upgraded - but I have to. Else, I would wait a year, maybe two to have more users and to work the bugs out (esp. the latter).
Excel 2007 is great, lots of bells and whistles. But, if you communicate with people who don't upgrade, I don't know how useful it is. 2003 will continue to be my default version for quite a while.

 

[Felix Atagong]

In our company it is still the 2000 version. 99 out of 100 users don't need the bells and whistles of Excel and use it mostly instead of the Windows calculator anyway... even copy - 'paste special values' is something most of our users have never ever heard of...

Why not have an Excel Light and an Excel Pro version?

 

[Oorang]

You could always write a UDF to interpret just about any addressing scheme you want.

 

[Joe4]

In our company it is still the 2000 version. 99 out of 100 users don't need the bells and whistles of Excel and use it mostly instead of the Windows calculator anyway... even copy - 'paste special values' is something most of our users have never ever heard of...

Why not have an Excel Light and an Excel Pro version?

I guess that really depends upon the kind of business you work in. We use Excel a lot, along with a lot the advanced features, and a lot of VBA. Heck, my job involves mostly writing Excel VBA and Access applications. It is very useful in the financial world.

By the way, they do have Excel light... it is the version of Excel that comes with most new home computers nowadays. It sucks. I had to upgrade to the Professional version just to get VBA and Access. Those used to be standard.

 

[xld]

I guess that really depends upon the kind of business you work in. We use Excel a lot, along with a lot the advanced features, and a lot of VBA. Heck, my job involves mostly writing Excel VBA and Access applications. It is very useful in the financial world.

SO, if most of your work is in VBA, why isn't 2000 sufficiient? VBA hasn't changed.

By the way, they do have Excel light... it is the version of Excel that comes with most new home computers nowadays. It sucks. I had to upgrade to the Professional version just to get VBA and Access. Those used to be standard.

So VBA doesn't come with Excel standard? And Access is now an Excel add-on?

 

[Joe4]

So VBA doesn't come with Excel standard? And Access is now an Excel add-on?

I can't speak for everywhere, but over here in the States, a lot of new computers come with what I call a "dummied down" version of Microsoft Office, you get Excel, but no VBA, and you don't get Access or PowerPoint either (unless you pay a significant price to upgrade).

BTW, when I was made the reference to Access, I was talking about the entire Microsoft Office package. Access is its own program and is not as an Excel add-on.