Discover the Power of Excel 2007

When most users open Office Excel--launched with Microsoft's new Vista operating system--their first reaction is, "Where's the file menu? How do I begin?" This article is designed to help you steer through the labyrinth of new and super-powered functions. Even more important, it will show you how to customize the screen to meet your unique needs so you'll spend less time stumbling through the vast display of icons. THE RIBBON The first visual obstacle you'll encounter is the Ribbon. The traditional toolbars of earlier editions have been replaced with this expanded toolbar and it will take a bit of adjusting for many--if not most--new Users to overcome what looks like a puzzling collection of icons and buttons. The simple file menu toolbar was changed from this: [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] To this: [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The Ribbon consolidates into one vast display many--but hardly all--of Excel's menus and many of the floating toolbars. While it's off-putting at first, once you sort the many options, you'll probably find the new layout helpful in quickly preparing professional-looking reports. Most of the typical file menu commands can now be found by clicking on the Office Button in the upper-left corner of the screen. Here you can create a new spreadsheet or Open, Save, Print and access several other commands. All the menu items on the Ribbon are grouped by function. If you have trouble finding a feature, just ask yourself, "What do I want to do in the spreadsheet?" If, for example, you want to insert a graph, click on Insert. If you want to filter the spreadsheet, that's manipulating data, so look under Data. If you're still having trouble, dick on Help (F1). Unlike the frustrating Help function in Excel's XP/2003 version, this guide is quite useful. It's in the upper-right side of the Ribbon. In addition to the standard tabs, Excel automatically displays a host of new ones each time you select a specific task. For example, if you're working on a PivotTable function, the Ribbon will display additional tabs relevant only to that task. HELP FOR THE IMPATIENT Those who just can't stand the Ribbon have an option. They can turn to third-party solutions that re-create the traditional file menu interface and still work within Excel 2007. If you wish to explore them, do an Internet search or go to such sites as ToolbarToggle (www.toolbartoggle.com) or Classic Menu (www.addintools. com/english/menuoffice). However, I recommend resisting the temptation to revert to the old file menu. As irritating as the Ribbon may seem initially, it will eventually pay off handsomely because some of the inherently complex tools, such as the PivotTable and Conditional Formatting, are made much easier to use and, in some cases, are even semi-automated. Be aware, however, that Excel 2007, as well as the other Office 2007 applications, works just fine in XP computers--so you don't have to rush to make the complete changeover to the Vista operating system. Toolbars are not completely gone: the Quick Access Toolbar sits atop the Ribbon and to the right of the Office Button. By default, it contains three buttons: Save, Undo and Redo (see screenshot below). To add buttons to this toolbar, right-click on it and select Customize  Then select your choices and click on Add. Those selections will appear on your Quick Access Toolbar.  Accountants who typically work with large, complex spreadsheets will be delighted with Excel's expanded capacity. It now can handle 1,048,576 rows, up from only 65,535 in the XP/2003 edition. And the number of columns rose to 16,384 from 256. That means you now have 17,179,869,184 cells per sheet, compared with 16,776,960 cells before. The table below shows all the areas where Excel's data capacity has been expanded. …

Field of study: Business