Updates
| 2010 | Multithreaded calculations when using multi-processor or dual-core chips. |
| This feature enables Excel to identify formulas that can be calculated concurrently, and then runs those formulas on multiple processors simultaneously. When Excel loads a workbook it asks the operating system how many processors are available. | |
| 2007 | Structured References |
| Easy referring to tables and named ranges (structured referencing) within formulas and functions | |
| Formulas can now also include references to named ranges and table names | |
| The ability to incorporate structured references: | |
| 1) reference a table (or part of) by using the name | |
| The maximum number of operands in a formula has been increased from 40 to 1,024. | |
| The maximum length of a formula has been increased from 1,024 to 8,192 characters. | |
| The number of cell references you can have in a particular cell has been increased from 8,000 to unlimited. | |
| Formulas can now be nested up to 64 levels instead of a maximum of 7. | |
| Can now contain structured references making it easier to work with tables or just portions of data. | |
| MEMORY MANAGEMENT | |
| This has been increased from 1GB in 2003 to 2 GB in 2007. | |
| RESIZEABLE FORMULA BAR | |
| The formula bar has its own dedicated space that never overlaps with the cells. | |
| A resizable formula bar now prevents long, complex formulae from spilling over and obstructing some of your worksheet. | |
| Resizable formula bar to accommodate long formulas. | |
| You can quickly resize by dragging the resize bar at the bottom, or by clicking the auto expand/collapse button at the far right. | |
| There is also a keyboard shortcut to toggle between the collapsed (1 line) and expanded state. | |
| FORMULA AUTOCOMPLETE | |
| Context based formula autocomplete | |
| In addition to cell references Excel now provides structured references that reference named ranges and tables. | |
| Excel functions - this includes all functions in the Excel library | |
| User defined functions - Functions defined by the user either through VBA, automation add-ins, or .XLL's show up as functions | |
| Defined Names - All defined names are surfaced | |
| Enumerated Arguments - Some enumerated arguments (like the function_num argument in the example) will have auto complete support | |
| Table Structure References - More on this in post coming soon about improved table support. | |
| MULTITHREADING | |
| Multi-threaded support for dual processors | |
| Multithreaded Calculations (MTC) makes it possible for Excel 2007 to automatically divide formula evaluation and computational tasks into multiple calculation engines that are distributed among multiple processors | |
| This arrangement reduces the time it is required to calculate workbook models because multiple calculations can be performed simultaneously. | |
| MTC is turned on by default and it is set to create as many calculation engines as there are processors on the computer. | |
| You can manually specify the number of calculation engines that Excel creates regardless of how many processors are on the computer. | |
| CALCULATION | |
| Calculations and formulas should be faster because Excel 2007 supports multi processors and multi-threaded chipsets. | |
| Indicates the number of processes when updating | |
| INCREASED PERFORMANCE | |
| Excel 2007 now supports dual processors and multithreaded chipsets. | |
| LENGTH OF FORMULAS | |
| 2003 limit - 1024 characters | |
| 2007 limit - 8000 characters | |
| The maximum number of nested functions increased from 7 to 64 | |
| The maximum length of a formula increased from 1,000 characters to 8,000 characters | |
| The maximum number of characters that may be updated in a non-resident external workbook reference increased from 255 to 32,000 | |
| The number of cells that may depend on a single area before Excel must do a full calculation instead of a partial calculation (because it can no longer track the dependencies required to do a partial calculation increased from 8,000 to no limit | |
| The number of different areas in a sheet that may have dependencies before Excel must do a full calculation instead of a partial calculation (because it can no longer track the dependencies required to do a partial calculation increased from 64,000 to no limit | |
| LINKS | |
| If a workbook is referenced by other workbooks you should upgrade all of the related workbooks at the same time. | |
| If a user who is using an earlier version of Excel opens a workbook that references a workbook saved in the new XML format, the references will not update by using the Update Links feature. | |
| Earlier versions of Excel cannot update links to workbooks saved in the new XML format. | |
| There are no modal prompts asking if you want to refresh on open and periodic refresh | |
| You will see a trust bar, this will display the enable/disable options | |
| Placing a workbook in a trusted location enables the workbook to automatically refresh without the prompt. |
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