Office 2007: What's Changed in Excel

Basic information on the changes between Excel 2003 and 2007

When Microsoft Excel was first released in the early 1990's, it didn't include the numerous tools and options that more recent versions have. In response to a need for re-organization, there have been several changes made to the newest version that help increase productivity and decrease the amount of time it takes for a user to customise their document. Some of the major changes are as follows:

• New Look, including the Microsoft Office Button, Ribbon, and dynamic toolbars.
• Dynamic menus that change with the program the user is in and the task they are performing.
• Default File Format is .xlsx, which is an XML format that is editable with many other programs if handled correctly. However, Excel 2003 requires an extra add-on to open these files. You can change the format that Excel 2007 saves files to by default in the Excel Options menu located in the Microsoft Office Button dropdown. Please note that the CAE lab computers will already have the default file format set to the 2003 version.
• The Ribbon and Quick Access Toolbar that provide commonly used formatting and editing options and can be customized to meet the needs of advanced users.
• Keyboard Shortcuts haven't changed.
• Quick Styles and Themes help to create professional-looking documents much more quickly than previous versions of Excel.
• SmartArt diagrams and charts link items across Word, Excel, and Powerpoint to ensure a consistent look.
• More cells to work with for those who need 1,048,576 rows by 16,384 columns.
• Conditional Formatting can be customized to use colours, data bars, and icons to spot trends and outliers.
• Formula Writing is made easier by many new functions including AutoComplete.
• Chart Themes and Styles are more easily modified by the user.
• Tables can pivot for the best view of where lines cross axes, etc.
• New Add-ins and Templates, including the ability to save directly as a .pdf file (users can share documents as a .pdf without an add-in).
• Better Program Recovery helps to recover work in progress if PowerPoint has to shut down unexpectedly.

A complete listing of the old and new locations of each command is available for download directly from Microsoft here

Need to open a file with Office 2003 that is saved in one of the new formats? Download Microsoft's Compatibility Pack.