How to Excel with Your Spreadsheet Software
Rosemarie A. Fisher, CPA
June 2008

Multiplan, VisiCalc and Lotus 1-2-3. If you recognize these early spreadsheets you may also be familiar with Rubik's Cube, Cabbage Patch Dolls and PacMan. The 1980s saw the real birth of personal computing when the information age truly came into its own. In 1985, Microsoft released the first version of Excel for the Mac, followed by the first Windows version in 1987. Today, we have Microsoft Excel 12, better known as Microsoft Office Excel 2007.

Excel was the first spreadsheet application to allow a user to define the fonts, appearance and graphics in a spreadsheet. It was also the first with cell re-computation, based only on the cells that changed. Previous spreadsheet programs required a total recalculation of the entire spreadsheet, causing them to be cumbersome and slow. Excel leveraged these unique advantages to become the personal and commercial standard that dominated the market early on.

To remain on top, Microsoft has introduced enhanced versions every couple of years. With the release of Excel 2007, a whole new user interface has been introduced. This interface, the Microsoft Office Fluent user, is standard across the entire Office 2007 product line, including Word, PowerPoint and Outlook. Instead of seeing drop-down menus and task lists, a new ribbon technology format allows the user quicker, one-click access to the tools needed to develop and customize spreadsheets.

The adjustment to this new interface can be a bit tedious initially, but once you learn how the tools are organized, it becomes second nature. Microsoft has a webpage that helps you locate the Excel 2003 command and map it to the new Excel 2007 command: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/excel/HA100860481033.aspx. You can keep this downloadable program on your PC as a reference or access it directly on the web when you need it. It can be extremely valuable in transitioning from Excel 2003 to 2007.

Beyond Bells and Whistles

The most recent incarnation of Excel offers something for any spreadsheet aficionado. Here are some of the more noteworthy amenities:

• Increased capacity — one million rows by 16,000 columns.
• Faster calculation performance with support for dual or multi-core processors.
• Chart formatting tools help create and format charts more easily.
• Visual effects in charts such as 3-D, soft shadowing, anti-aliasing and glow.
• Shared diagramming and charting with Word and PowerPoint to ensure a consistent look.
• Page layout view lets you see on the screen what will get printed.
• Conditional formatting with data visualization can set conditions to see data trends or patterns.
• Create an HTML spreadsheet and permit others to view only the parts of a spreadsheet you want them to see by using their Web browser.
• Create business dashboards to track key performance indicators and share through a Web browser.
• Create spreadsheets in PDF and XML file formats for easier sharing.
• Permissions-based control lets you control data access, viewing and changes.

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