Upgrading to Excel 2007 (2003)

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We are upgrading to Excel 2007. Is there that great a learning curve from 2003? Will my macros still work in 2007? Is there that great a difference between 2003 and 2007? Thanks for any help you can provide. The reason I ask is because I just got an email about “Training on Excel 2007 tool.”

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Apart from several new features such as many more rows and columns per sheet and some new functions, the most visible difference is the interface: the menus and toolbars have been replaced with the so-called ribbon.
Many macros will still run as under Excel 2003, but code that manipulates menus and toolbars will probably fail, and code that manipulates charts may have problems too.

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Yes, I would say there is a learning curve.

Locating where the commands are will take a little getting used too. Some of my old add ins don’t work.

I’ve had it for about 6 months though and I like very well.

Good Luck.

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I concur with Stans, the new interface takes some time. However 2007 has a “menu” function that displays the “old” menu. I found this useful when pushed for time, to quickly find the function I needed.
I then go back to the “old” menu system, find that function , then see where it is on the new interface. So it does take a little patience.

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I have used XL 2007 for almost a year – I like the increase in rows / columns, although usually when I have that much data Excel is only a way-station in the process of loading into Access; a million rows just means slightly fewer steps in importing and reassembling the data in the database. Apparently ’07 is much better in using multiple processors than prior versions, so calculation-intensive tasks may be faster (if you have a dual-core or higher machine) than in 2003 – I never ran 2K or ’03 on a dual core box, so I can’t compare. As noted by others, the big difference is “the Ribbon” – some seem to tolerate it: I absolutely hate it – partially because it is such an absolulutely useless fiddle: I honestly cannot identify a problem that the Ribbon solves, although there are several that it creates. The graphing interface is less intuitive (although that may be familiarity speaking) than before, and the results -although all in soft pastels- are somewhere between downright ugly and hideous. The only improvement I’ve seen in graphing is that log scales don’t have to be integer powers of ten, which solves some problems; that change is long overdue.

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PaulC:

That “Menu” thing you refer to is NOT a standard part of Excel 2007. You must have installed a third party tool.
However, the old menu shortcuts still work.

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Ah – was not aware of that the old shortcuts work – thank you

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As an aid to the transition, I found the Excel 2003 to Excel 2007 interactive command reference guide by Microsoft to be very useful.

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Thanks WDWells – this is very helpful.

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Just my

I think the learning curve is huge. Especially, since I have customized toolbars with many custom-buttons that I use frequently. I currently have both versions (2003 and 2007) on my machine and I always use the older. The newer is awkward to me and I can never seem to find what I’m looking for and I hate not being able to customize it as I did with 2003. I think it’s very user-unfriendly.

But that’s just my opinion and I’m fully aware there are gazillions of people who would disagree. And perhaps if 2007 were the ONLY version I had (and was forced to use it regularly), I would learn to like it more. The path of least resistance is to stick with something that I’m familiar with.

Lastly, I could think of several upgrades and additions that would have improved 2003. But 2007 was not so much an “upgrade” as it was an introduction of a new application. Honestly, I probably haven’t given it a fair chance. I just don’t like the feel of it and as long as I have 2003, I’ll continue to use the older version.

On the other hand, I love the 2007 versions of Word and Outlook. Go figure!

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