So what else is new?

Well, for one thing, you can now create much bigger worksheets. If you're one of those few people who've found the 256 column limit a bit restricting, then you'll be pleased to hear the Excel 2007 allows you to have up to 16,384 columns - with the right-hand one now being column XFD rather than IV as in previous versions. Not only that but you can now have up to 1,048,576 rows - 16 times the previous limit. The good news is that the new format means that the files take up less space. For example, one of Excel files that I use in my training courses is 157k in 2003 format, but occupies only 85k in the 2007 version.

Of course, size isn't everything - and there's a lot more for the new user to discover. In particular, if you're a conditional formatting freak then you're going to be very appreciative of the way that Microsoft have enhanced this widely-used and well-loved feature. I'll go into it in more depth in a subsequent post but, very briefly, you can now have as many rules as you like (rather than the limit of three on previous versions), you can change the order in which the rules are applied, and you can include data bars, colour gradients and icons. The new version also includes a mini toolbar which appears either above or below the short-cut menu that get's displayed whenever you click on something that can be formatted. This gives you instant access to the most frequently used formatting options. If you don't like it, you can turn it off.

A number of new functions have been added to Excel 2007. If you've used the SumIf function in previous versions, which enables you to add cells that meet a particular criterion, then you'll be pleased to hear that the new version has an AverageIf function which works in a similar way. Yes, I know you could use an array formula to get round this, but the new function is much more straightforward.

I'll just mention two more changes. One is that you're no longer restricted to the number of different colours you use in an Excel file. The other is that pressing the Alt key now displays the short-cut letters (to be used in combination with Alt) against the various items on the ribbon.