Office 2006 Preview

[Anne Troy]

It's a 45-minute video WELL worth watching!

http://download.microsoft.com/download/6/5/b/65b05191-a526-44bc-80e5-3f5399aeb162/new_julie_larson_green_office12_ui_2005.wmv

[Marcster]

To read about and view screen shots of the next version of Office, click here:

http://www.microsoft.com/OFFICE/PREVIEW/default.mspx

Marcster.

[shades]

See also John Walkenbach's blog (http://excel12.blogspot.com/) about the newest version.

[TonyJollans]

Ok, Anne - I've kicked off the 600MB+ download so I'll watch it sometime next week :)

[Anne Troy]

LOL

[shades]

Ok, Anne - I've kicked off the 600MB+ download so I'll watch it sometime next week :)

Good thing I'm not doing that - on a dialup!!! :p :hi:

[TonyJollans]

My point, shades!

I am on a dialup - it has currently downloaded about 200 meg and still has more than a day to go.

[Bob Phillips]

My point, shades!

I am on a dialup - it has currently downloaded about 200 meg and still has more than a day to go.

Tony,

When you get to a situation like that, ask one of us with BB to download it for you, and burn it to CD. For those in the UK, you should get it within a day or two, better than tying your machine up like that.

.

[TonyJollans]

It's not a great problem really - just takes a while. I shall be getting broadband shortly but it's still a very kind offer. Thank you Bob.

The download ended with just under 400M so I've seen about half the video - looks good. I've kicked off another download - I'll let you know what happens.

[MOS MASTER]

This is gonna be a late one for me now! :rofl:


Thanx Anne I love this! :yes

[MOS MASTER]

:p This looks great!!! :p


Can't wait to get it.....:yes

[sheeeng]

It's a 45-minute video WELL worth watching!

http://download.microsoft.com/download/6/5/b/65b05191-a526-44bc-80e5-3f5399aeb162/new_julie_larson_green_office12_ui_2005.wmv


Thanks, Dreamboat.. :friends: I'm downloading this with FlashGet now. Wait for that.

Btw, how you manage to get the links?

[Ken Puls]

Thanks, Dreamboat...

Btw, how you manage to get the links?

Sheeeng... Dreamboat has super powers... I'm not kidding. Sometimes it's just downright freaky! :eek:

[shades]

She wasn't in Navy Intelligence for nothing. ;)

[MWE]

It's a 45-minute video WELL worth watching!

http://download.microsoft.com/download/6/5/b/65b05191-a526-44bc-80e5-3f5399aeb162/new_julie_larson_green_office12_ui_2005.wmv
LOOKS pretty interesting and this may be the straw that forces me to get speakers for my PC (but probably not :devil:)

[MOS MASTER]

She wasn't in Navy Intelligence for nothing. ;)

O Yeah! :cloud9:

[Anne Troy]

LOL.
I just got a ton of notifs from VBAX, including these.

Actually, sheeng, MrExcel emailed me that link. :)

[MOS MASTER]

MrExcel emailed me that link. :)

Well thank him from me as well cause I loved the sneek preview!! :yes

[sheeeng]

She wasn't in Navy Intelligence for nothing. ;)

DreamBoat, are you really in Navy Intelligence before? Wow, that must be great working there... :rotlaugh: So, how can we spy by VBA? :devil: (Just Kidding)

[sheeeng]

Does anyone knows whether which version of VBA is included in Office 12?

Is it .NET compatible?

[Anne Troy]

DreamBoat, are you really in Navy Intelligence before? Wow, that must be great working there... :rotlaugh: So, how can we spy by VBA? :devil: (Just Kidding)

Navy intelligence? Sort of. I was stationed in Rota, Spain, where we called ourselves "The Spies". :)

I was a mechanic on airplanes.

[shades]

Uh huh. :p Sure, ummm, yeah, that's it!

Seems that everyone made the same claim. ;) :D

[sheeeng]

Navy intelligence? Sort of. I was stationed in Rota, Spain, where we called ourselves "The Spies". :)

I was a mechanic on airplanes.

Great! I love plane, but you have have the chance to repair it... So good..

Anyway, anyone knows anything bout the new VBA that is included in Office 2006 or "12" ? Is it .NET compatible? Or it will be the same old VBA?

[Anne Troy]

I believe Bill said it is VBA. :)

[MOS MASTER]

I believe Bill said it is VBA. :)

Which Bill would that be? (MR Ex?) :yes

It would be great of course to just continue like we always have but somehow I have the feeling a new type of VBA is comming build on the classes of the .NET framework and we'll be moving in that direction.

Of course it's just me thinking out loud but somehow I have the feeling that Office 12 is build in .NET and can only be installed on pc's with the framework installed.

Perhaps I'm wrong but MS is really moving towards the .NET thingie with all it's arrows so I'd be very surprised if VBA was here to stay. (And we all know that support on VB and VBA has stopped earlier this year so....)

Time wil tell...I want to buy it now!!!! :motz2:

[sheeeng]

Thanks Joost & DreamBoat..!

VBA or .NET, I want it both!! VBA still the classic but .NET has more programming power...:thumb

[Marcster]

Microsoft has announced Visual Studio Tools for Applications (VSTA) will ship with Office 12.

Have a read of these links for more info:

http://www.ftponline.com/weblogger/forum.aspx?ID=6&DATE=09/15/2005&blog=#438

http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/extend/vsta/

Visual Studio Tools for the Microsoft Office System:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/office/understanding/vsto/default.aspx

Redesigning an Excel VBA Solution for .NET Using Visual Studio 2005 Tools for Office:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/office/understanding/vsto/default.aspx?pull=/library/en-us/odc_vsto2005_ta/html/officevstoexcelvbarearchitecture.asp


Marcster.

[sheeeng]

Microsoft has announced Visual Studio Tools for Applications (VSTA) will ship with Office 12.

Have a read of these links for more info:

http://www.ftponline.com/weblogger/forum.aspx?ID=6&DATE=09/15/2005&blog=#438

http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/extend/vsta/

Visual Studio Tools for the Microsoft Office System:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/office/understanding/vsto/default.aspx

Redesigning an Excel VBA Solution for .NET Using Visual Studio 2005 Tools for Office:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/office/understanding/vsto/default.aspx?pull=/library/en-us/odc_vsto2005_ta/html/officevstoexcelvbarearchitecture.asp


Marcster.

Great info, Marcster. Great anticipation now. : pray2:

Thanks. :beerchug:

[Marcster]

Cheers sheeeng :beerchug: ,

Here's some more info to whet your appetite even further....

The Excel 12 grid will be 1,048,576 rows by 16,384 columns. Columns will end at XFD instead of IV. :eek:
Amount of memory Excel can use will be the maximum allowed by Windows.
Amount of unique colours allowed in a single workbook will be 4.3 billion :eek: .
Number of conditional format conditions on a cell will be limited by available memory.
The maximum number of arguments to a function will be 255 :eek: .

Here's a link to an MSDN blog about what's going to be new in Excel 12:
http://blogs.msdn.com/excel/default.aspx


Marcster

[Marcster]

Lots of new pics regarding the Office 12 user interface.
Displays, among others:
Excel toolbar
Word toolbar
Outlook interface
Frontpage interface
Save dialog
Word 12 development environment
http://bink.nu/photos/news_article_images/category1015.aspx

Office 12 release dates (maybe):
Beta 1: October 2005
Beta 2: First half of 2006
Beta 3: Mid-2006
General availability: October 2006

System requirements:
Microsoft Office 12 will run on Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2) or later.

Marcster.

[sheeeng]

Thanks a lot!!
I have to wait till next year for Office 12.

[sheeeng]

does anyone knows how many characters can be store in a cell?
in office 2003, it's 255 (2^8) only. What bout' Office 12?

[edited] i think is more right? last time was 1K, new office has 32k.

[sheeeng]

Which Bill would that be? (MR Ex?) :yes

It would be great of course to just continue like we always have but somehow I have the feeling a new type of VBA is comming build on the classes of the .NET framework and we'll be moving in that direction.

Of course it's just me thinking out loud but somehow I have the feeling that Office 12 is build in .NET and can only be installed on pc's with the framework installed.

Perhaps I'm wrong but MS is really moving towards the .NET thingie with all it's arrows so I'd be very surprised if VBA was here to stay. (And we all know that support on VB and VBA has stopped earlier this year so....)

Time wil tell...I want to buy it now!!!! :motz2:

You are right! :thumb Office 12 now supports VSAT (on .NET)

[Marcster]

does anyone knows how many characters can be store in a cell?
in office 2003, it's 255 (2^8) only. What bout' Office 12?

[edited] i think is more right? last time was 1K, new office has 32k.

Yep, it's 32K in Office 12.


Marcster.

[XL-Dennis]

From what I've seen and read it looks like it will be a major paradigm shift. In order to face it I believe we will need to make an active choice, either stay with the present versions or port ourself to Excel 2006, Visual Studio 2005 and VSTO 2.0.

Kind regards,
Dennis

[Ken Puls]

From what I've seen and read it looks like it will be a major paradigm shift. In order to face it I believe we will need to make an active choice, either stay with the present versions or port ourself to Excel 2006, Visual Studio 2005 and VSTO 2.0.

This kind of frightens me... not because I am afraid to learn new things, but because of the cost. One of the great things about VBA to me has always been that it is included in the office suite. No extra software to buy.

I haven't looked at 2006 at all, but I'm sure hoping that MS leaves our programming interface open for many years to come. I'd love to get into VS, but can't affored the extra $ at this point.

[Anne Troy]

I'll buy it for ya.

[sheeeng]

This kind of frightens me... not because I am afraid to learn new things, but because of the cost. One of the great things about VBA to me has always been that it is included in the office suite. No extra software to buy.

I haven't looked at 2006 at all, but I'm sure hoping that MS leaves our programming interface open for many years to come. I'd love to get into VS, but can't affored the extra $ at this point.

Ken, I'm sure you can learn new thing very fast. Well, technologies changes, we change too. :doh:

[sheeeng]

Yep, it's 32K in Office 12.


Marcster.


32K would means exactly how many characters? :doh:

[Marcster]

32K would means exactly how many characters? :doh:

K means thousand.

But now I'm unsure if 32,000 is going to be correct as I have read::dunno
32,000 or as many as will fit in the cell (regardless of formatting)
So that number could well be increased!.
Guess we'll have to wait and see...

I think :dunno in current versions of Excel, the length of cell contents (text) is currently 32,767 characters.
Only 1,024 display in a cell; all 32,767 display in the formula bar.
Haven't tried this though.

8,000 characters will be the maximum length for formulas in Excel 12.

Marcster.

[XL-Dennis]

Ken,

I fully agree with You and I'm the first to regret it as it will break apart the group of developers.

Unless You accept Ann's nice offer (Hi Ann :cloud9: ) I can only see one way to go.
1. Start to post a MSFT Newsgroup where Your answers are highly quality and with a
frequent of at least 150 post / month.
2. Keep doing it for 1 - 1 ? year.
3. If You're lucky then MSFT will reward You with a MS MVP Excel status.

In return You'll get full access to all the MSFT softwares for free and also books published at MS Press :thumb

Kind regards,
Dennis

[shades]

K means thousand.

But now I'm unsure if 32,000 is going to be correct as I have read:http://vbaexpress.com/forum/images/smilies/102.gif
32,000 or as many as will fit in the cell (regardless of formatting)
So that number could well be increased!.
Guess we'll have to wait and see...

I think http://vbaexpress.com/forum/images/smilies/102.gif in current versions of Excel, the length of cell contents (text) is currently 32,767 characters.
Only 1,024 display in a cell; all 32,767 display in the formula bar.
Haven't tried this though.

8,000 characters will be the maximum length for formulas in Excel 12.

Marcster.

Discussion on Mr Excel (http://www.mrexcel.com/board2/viewtopic.php?t=85752&highlight) shows that the visible display can reach 7250, or with smaller fonts ~ 10,000 displayed characters

[Marcster]

Ah, so now I know, thanks.

Also searched for 'specifications' in Excel help.

Marcster.

[Ken Puls]

Ken,

I fully agree with You and I'm the first to regret it as it will break apart the group of developers.

Unless You accept Ann's nice offer (Hi Ann :cloud9: ) I can only see one way to go.
1. Start to post a MSFT Newsgroup where Your answers are highly quality and with a
frequent of at least 150 post / month.
2. Keep doing it for 1 - 1 ? year.
3. If You're lucky then MSFT will reward You with a MS MVP Excel status.

In return You'll get full access to all the MSFT softwares for free and also books published at MS Press :thumb

Kind regards,
Dennis

:rotlaugh: So that's what it takes, eh?

Who knows... could happen, but I doubt it in the short term. Might have to work on the quality of my answers a bit too! :P

Truly, though, if MS were to rip out the VBE and go strictly VS, I wonder what that does to the future of in house development. It's where I learned to code. I can also say with 100% certainty that I would never have been able to convince my company to buy a programming suite for me at that point, although they might now.

Maybe that's the point though... reserve those skills for someone that is trained. It's a shame if you are in a small business though where costs are always at issue. Software as a whole is so expensive these days (I know... Linux...) and just one more license... it all adds up. :(

[XL-Dennis]

Maybe that's the point though... reserve those skills for someone that is trained. It's a shame if you are in a small business though where costs are always at issue. Software as a whole is so expensive these days (I know... Linux...) and just one more license... it all adds up. http://vbaexpress.com/forum/images/smilies/sad2.gif


We, selfemployed developers and unofficial developers within smaller companies, are the group that in the long run can't afford to keep up the pace when it comes to new versions. It's too expensive and the answer is not illegal copies or moving to Linux as the market's preference still will be Windows and Office.

In the short run I can only see a solution where we simple decide to drop to regular update Windows and Office. Sooner or later MSFT hopefully pay attention to that the volumes slowly decrease and change their present price model.

The new upcoming price model will slowly put us away. Windows Vista will be available in 7 different versions whereof one version, Enterprise, will be based on a yearly subscription fee. How many versions of Office 12 will be available and to which cost?

With all the "whistle & bells" in the coming version it will surely raise the minimum level in order to run it. How many companies are prepared to upgrade their hardware?

Perhaps it's time to re-evaluate the real value for all companies when it comes to new versions. After all, Office 97/2000 can still solve 95 - 98 % of all the standard activities within companies.

Sorry for being pessimistic but I can't see how we could afford upgrading in the long run.

Kind regards,
Dennis

[Ken Puls]

Dennis, I totally agree.

We have a mixed office environment here. Anyone using a desktop has a copy of Office 2003, but the rest of our users, who work on a Citrix terminal server, are still using Office 97. We just haven't been able to afford the $20,000 to upgrade. From my perspecitive, I am finding that I'd like to leverage some of the new aspects availble in the 2000+ object models, so we are looking at finally upgrading next year. (Not to mention that MS no longer supports Office 97, which is a bit of a concern to us.)

Beyond that, though... I'm honestly trying to figure out if there is value in the Software Assurance program to keep current. The cost is high, and as you say, hardware also becomes an issue. My head office is trying to get to a 3 year replacment cycle on everything though, so who knows...

You know the thing I find most offensive about MS's pricing model? It is so costly, and yet they don't reinvest near the retail (or wholesale) price in the product. Something like 17 cents of every copy went back into IE devlopment... so why charge so much? :dunno

[Zack Barresse]

..frequent of at least 150 post / month.

We get almost between 300-400 / month. LOL! Must be more than that. :D

[XL-Dennis]

Ken,

The situation You describe sound too familiar among the companies I used to work with. The burden of the license's cost will push us into other directions, preferable away from all kind of licenses.

During the spring this year I was involved in a project at one company (about 90 employees) and we made a full scan of all the activities / tasks that involved the Office-suite. The output of this was that over 80 % of them was ported to web-based solutions and the company reduced the number of licenses to less then 20.

The Web may be an option to the licenses softwares and reduce the costs involved.



You know the thing I find most offensive about MS's pricing model? It is so costly, and yet they don't reinvest near the retail (or wholesale) price in the product. Something like 17 cents of every copy went back into IE devlopment... so why charge so much? http://vbaexpress.com/forum/images/smilies/102.gif


I believe it's called the stock markets and shareholders.

I also believe that when companies control a market with a market share of around 90 % they tend to forget what made them once to grow to their present size.

To sum up: $$$

Kind regards,
Dennis

[XL-Dennis]

We get almost between 300-400 / month. LOL! Must be more than that. :D

Zack, I did say quality :whistle:

Kind regards,
Dennis

[Zack Barresse]

ROFL!! That you did!

[sheeeng]

Thanks for the information.

[MOS MASTER]

You are right! :thumb Office 12 now supports VSAT (on .NET)

Hi Sheeeng, :yes

Watching MS very carefully over the last years it had to be this way.

Thanx for sharing this update Marcster! :yes

I'm very happy to read it's backward compatible with VBA and I acspected that as well. (Remember Office still supports Excel4 macro's and they are very old!!) :rofl:

Can't wait to get my hands on the 12 version.

[MOS MASTER]

From what I've seen and read it looks like it will be a major paradigm shift. In order to face it I believe we will need to make an active choice, either stay with the present versions or port ourself to Excel 2006, Visual Studio 2005 and VSTO 2.0.

Kind regards,
Dennis

MS wil never make that choise buddy! :yes

They need to be backward compatible cause otherwise they can't sell the product. (And people can't use there old stuff)

But you are very right this will bring a whole lot of bugs with the system.

And I agree with Ken on the cost factor. Bottom line in buiseness its all about the money!!!

Later. :whistle:

[MOS MASTER]

1. Start to post a MSFT Newsgroup where Your answers are highly quality and with a
frequent of at least 150 post / month.
2. Keep doing it for 1 - 1 ? year.
3. If You're lucky then MSFT will reward You with a MS MVP Excel status.

In return You'll get full access to all the MSFT softwares for free and also books published at MS Press :thumb


Very true and I have been doing that too...but to be honest...forums are much more personal then MSFT Newsgroups.

And I'm not only here for the sharing/gaining of knowledge....making new friends is part of the deal for me as well! :cloud9:

[XL-Dennis]

MS will never make that choise buddy! :yes


I hope I'm entitle to do my own choice when the day come :rotlaugh:

Seriously, the thing is that it will be so much new things in Excel 12 that we will be having major difficulties to maintain both how to do things in previous versions and Excel 12 and later. Except for that, old habits are always hard to change.



And I'm not only here for the sharing/gaining of knowledge....making new friends is part of the deal for me as well! :cloud9:


In the long run this is the most valuable aspect of being part of a forum like VBAX :thumb

Thanks Joost,

Dennis

[MOS MASTER]

We, selfemployed developers and unofficial developers within smaller companies, are the group that in the long run can't afford to keep up the pace when it comes to new versions. It's too expensive and the answer is not illegal copies or moving to Linux as the market's preference still will be Windows and Office.

There is a MS partnership program in which you can receive all new MS software if you sign up. (Don't know the exact costs but can look in to it for you)



In the short run I can only see a solution where we simple decide to drop to regular update Windows and Office. Sooner or later MSFT hopefully pay attention to that the volumes slowly decrease and change their present price model.

Agreed the software gets more expensive every year and they have to battle that sooner or later cause otherwise the illigal copies will keep on growing.



The new upcoming price model will slowly put us away. Windows Vista will be available in 7 different versions whereof one version, Enterprise, will be based on a yearly subscription fee. How many versions of Office 12 will be available and to which cost?

I hate all those different versions and I think developpers do as well cause some things just aren't available to code with. (And it makes helping people in forums like this one hard as well)



With all the "whistle & bells" in the coming version it will surely raise the minimum level in order to run it. How many companies are prepared to upgrade their hardware?

Believe it or not but the most big companies have strict policies on upgrading there hard and software on a very frequent basis. At our Company Hardware get's upgraded in 3 years and Software in 5 years!! (Or sooner if need for it)



Perhaps it's time to re-evaluate the real value for all companies when it comes to new versions. After all, Office 97/2000 can still solve 95 - 98 % of all the standard activities within companies.

This is very true and like always 99% of the users are only able to use about 5% of the power that is given by Office!



Sorry for being pessimistic but I can't see how we could afford upgrading in the long run.

Kind regards,
Dennis

IMO you aren't...this is simply the way it is. I see it exactly the same way and I hope Software prices will go down and Versions are upgraded only once every 5 years or so (In big paces)

It takes a lot of time to keep up with new developments and it would be better if you could enjoy your knowledge a bit longer then always being behind on schedule!! :(

Thanx for your thoughts buddy (And all the rest of course I love this topic) :yes

[MOS MASTER]

I hope I'm entitle to do my own choice when the day come :rotlaugh:

Thank god we will always have that I hope!...agreed in Full! :bow:



Seriously, the thing is that it will be so much new things in Excel 12 that we will be having major difficulties to maintain both how to do things in previous versions and Excel 12 and later. Except for that, old habits are always hard to change.


Yes developpers have to make serious choises on which versions they will support or not!

I myself can get very frustrated of not being able to keep up with the developments. (I'm back about three years...and probably longer)

But time is limited and whe have to accept and make choises what we can ant can't do.



In the long run this is the most valuable aspect of being part of a forum like VBAX :thumb

Thanks Joost,

Dennis

Glad to see you have the same feeling. (As if I didn't know that)
For me this sort of thing relaxes my day and I can relief my brain with doing something I love.

Talk to you soon buddy. :hi:

[XL-Dennis]

It takes a lot of time to keep up with new developments and it would be better if you could enjoy your knowledge a bit longer then always being behind on schedule!! :(


I fully agree and at present I feel "lost in space" due to all the new things.

The more I think of it the more I realize that MSFT biggest issue will not be stand up against other competitors like the Linux-Platform etc.

It will simple be how they can stand up against their very own previous versions of Office!

Thanks mate :)

Kind regards,
Dennis

[MOS MASTER]

It will simple be how they can stand up against their very own previous versions of Office!


Yes they do have the potential of being there own competitor!

To be honest the last two versions office really don't differ that much. And the speed in which they developt 4 versions in 6 years is really much to fast!

However I've been listening very carefully to what was said in the movie this thread started whit and it does seam like MS has listened very well to there customers.

And I do think the new version is very different and have high hopes for its future. All previous versions where more a make over then something else. The base for Office 12 (Lot of XML) is very different then the previous one and I do like all the features I've seen so fare and the banning of all toolbars. (Love the fading in and Out (Like Outlook 2003 notifications) feature)

I really hope they have invested a lot of time in Beta testing this puppy cause it has a high potential of being full with bugs. : pray2:

But like you said we really have to see if people will go for the product and spent all that money on it.

Lets hope for the best...

[shades]

Believe it or not but the most big companies have strict policies on upgrading there hard and software on a very frequent basis. At our Company Hardware get's upgraded in 3 years and Software in 5 years!! (Or sooner if need for it)


We went through an IT freeze in the last two years (to make the IT SVP look good and get his $10M bonus). I had a four year old laptop, that was the slowest in the department, even though I was the power user. So it finally died on me, and the replacement? A laptop that was 6 months OLDER than the one that died! But then that one could not meet the demand, so I was to get a brand new, but since I don't travel at least 70% of the time, I was no longer eligible for a laptop. Yet, I give presentations in several different buildings on our complex (each with four floors - 18,000 workers on site - 70,000 throughout the company). IT,.... grrrr. At least he got his bonus - oh, yeah, and he left the company last month!!!!

[Bob Phillips]

IMO, whilst the cost of the upgrade may be high, and whilst we may think that some of the functional enhancements are debatable, the UI is a significant change, and that alone will drive demand to the extent that companoies will upgrade. The migration problems will have tgo be faced but how many companies plan that as against just doing it and managing the problems as they arise?

[MOS MASTER]

The migration problems will have tgo be faced but how many companies plan that as against just doing it and managing the problems as they arise?

Very true and IMO less companies plan for it then they ought to!

I know we certainly don't but then again we have our own development team so technical support is there right away. (Not saying here that its the right choise not to....I would prefer a bit more planning)

But then again I know companies where Office automation is buiseness critical and they always plan an upgrade very carefully.

But I'll second your story for sure...there's a lot to expect from the UI and all the problems of migration. :yes

[Ken Puls]

Okay, finally had a chance to watch this. I have to say that I was feeling pretty apprehensive after hearing about the UI changes. All in all, though, I think what was sold in the video makes sense, and am looking forward to getting my hands on a copy when it comes out.

I can certainly see a push to upgrade to the new version for the features and, ultimately, the usuability of the suite, although cost, no doubt, will still be an issue.

The one thing that makes me very curious, though, is how some of my addins will function. I've taken to putting everything in menus, rather than the activeX button approach I used to use. It will be interesting to see if there is backwards compability for this built into the new version. :yes

[Zack Barresse]

I think a UI change is exciting, myself. I can't wait to test this out. And Ken, you have a very interesting point; one that I have thought of myself a time or two. I don't think it will be too difficult a migration. But time will tell.

[MOS MASTER]

I don't think it will be too difficult a migration. But time will tell.

People in general don't like changes...I for one can't wait to get my hands on a copy and migrate in to the early hours....:giggle

[shades]

User Interface is still a critical factor. Remember when MS thought it important to give condensed dropdown menus, and the order of items in the menu changed every time you used a different menu item? And that was default? That is not good user interface design. Computers are only as efficient as they allow the user to interact with it.

So, while I don't mind change (I've gone through Mac OS 6 to OS 9, then to OS X; and Win 3.1 to 95 to NT to 2000; and all the Office versions on each side throughout that same time). But user interface change is more critical than whether the geeks (yep, most of us here) can handle it. To me, some of these changes will negatively affect the "average" user.

ramblings from an old(er) codger.... who first worked with computers as a junior in college on an IBM 360 with Fortran IV and those wonderful card decks.

[Bob Phillips]

User Interface is still a critical factor. Remember when MS thought it important to give condensed dropdown menus, and the order of items in the menu changed every time you used a different menu item? And that was default? That is not good user interface design. Computers are only as efficient as they allow the user to interact with it.

Let us hope that MS have learnt those lessons, hidden options, disappearing help, etc.

[Zack Barresse]

Of all the things listed as upgraded, I think one of the most interesting - maybe even moreso than the row/column increase - is this ...


Number of rows of a column or columns that can be referred to in an array formula:
Old Limit: 65,335
New Limit: Limitation removed (full-column references allowed)

I also like to number of formats/workbook raised. ~4000 was a lot, but some people maxed them out in lieu of their need. Will be nice.

[Bob Phillips]

Of all the things listed as upgraded, I think one of the most interesting - maybe even moreso than the row/column increase - is this ...



I also like to number of formats/workbook raised. ~4000 was a lot, but some people maxed them out in lieu of their need. Will be nice.

I tend to disagree mainly. Any workbook that uses anywhere near 65000 rows or 4000 formats is badly designed IMO and should be re-done before it either blows up nastily, or worse still, starts erroring unnoticeably. Haven't these people heard of databases. Don't tell me not everyone can afford Access or SQL Server, MySQL is free.

The best public changes I have seen are:
- more than 255 columns
- more than 3 conditional formats
- more than 7 nested functions (64 may be overkill, but more than 7 was long overdue)
- save as PDF (I know we all have utilities, but built-in is easier)

[brettdj]

I've suffered from the dreaded too many formats error while running a particular formatting code on huge spreadsheets without even coming close close to 4000 underlying different formats, so I'm hoping that this update fixed this quirk.


I'm a big fan of more conditional formats - great change. About time
Agree that more rows is overkill as Excel isn't a databse
Neutral on more than 256 columns, I specialise in business evaluation work and I never use more than 60 columns for labels, units and 50 years of data. Accountants may model months but rarely go beyond 5 years of data. Maybe others users have different needs to me, but for finance the current limit is fine
Neutral on the PDF, current utils work well enough
And if someone wants to use more than 7 nested functions then they need a good scolding for over complex model design. No supper either.
Anyone know if the ToolPak addin functions (XNPV, YEARFRAC etc) get upgraded to core function status?

My company will eventually roll out Office 12 but we typically wait 18-24 months after the new versiosn is released before we roll out the updates en masse throughout our corporation


Cheers

Dave

[Zack Barresse]

Now xld, don't take what I said out of context here. :D

This is what I like:

Number of rows of a column or columns that can be referred to in an array formula:
Old Limit: 65,335
New Limit: Limitation removed (full-column references allowed)

I personally don't like using near that many formats. I just know some friends that do. (I think it's borderline shameful. LOL!) It's just not needed though.

Good question Dave. It's going to be interesting to integrate things over to the new version. I think some consultants will find a lot of work, and some will find less.

[Marcster]

Some new Office 12 (Office 2006?) screenshots for you to look at:

http://activewin.com/articles/2005/21.shtml

Marcster

[Marcster]

Microsoft Office Open XML Format does not require upgrading to Office "12"
"We will provide free updates for Office 2000, XP, and 2003 that allow them to both open and save the new XML formats."
Read more:
http://blogs.msdn.com/brian_jones/archive/2005/10/11/479808.aspx

Office "12" XML Schema Reference - PDC 2005 Preview:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=15805380-F2C0-4B80-9AD1-2CB0C300AEF9&displaylang=en

Marcster.

[MOS MASTER]

Some new Office 12 (Office 2006?) screenshots for you to look at:

http://activewin.com/articles/2005/21.shtml

Marcster

Excellent screenshots Marc...but I don't like the Fastclick tracking cookie! :*)

[Marcster]

Excellent screenshots Marc...but I don't like the Fastclick tracking cookie! :*)

Sorry about that, my cookie security wasn't set up that good. :omg2:
Is now though :devil: .


Marcster.

[MOS MASTER]

LOL! :rotlaugh:

[Marcster]

Number of conditions on a range currently in Excel is 3. This limit in Excel 12 will only be limited by system memory.
Currently in Excel you can't reference ranges on other worksheets in a condition. Excel 12 will allow cell references anywhere in the workbook.
Support for number formatting will be available in Excel 12.
http://blogs.msdn.com/excel/archive/2005/10/13/480599.aspx

New info regarding Excel 12's conditional formatting with VBA (contains sample code :yes):
http://blogs.msdn.com/excel/archive/2005/10/14/481237.aspx

Some more on conditional formatting:
http://blogs.msdn.com/excel/archive/2005/10/12/480431.aspx

Marcster.