Excel: old version was better.

Q-Source · 30th May 2006, 11:18 AM

I like excel because it is easy to use and solves problems quickly. However at my office the new version of excel (2003) was installed and I have no way to go back to the previous one.

The new version lacks some of the tasks that I use more, for example in HELP there was an option called something like LOTUS 1 2 3, in which you were able to work with matrices (to get the inverse, determinants, etc) and run regressions. Is somebody there who could tell me if this option still exists somewhere hidden?

I absolutly hate the new excel, they are suppose to make things easier not harder.

kevin · 30th May 2006, 03:24 PM

Mostly I like the new excel, but the help has gotten worse and worse with every release. The current help is totally worthless, especially when searching on macro/programming issues.

Not sure if this is what you're looking for but Excel has a set of functions (ending in the letter A) that are designed to be compatible with Lotus 1-2-3.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/205548/en-us

Also a complete list of functions is available here:
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/as...042111033.aspx

and finally the analysis tool pak add-in may have what you're looking for:
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/as...038731033.aspx

Paul C. Anagnostopoulos · 30th May 2006, 04:43 PM

Remember when you used to be able to say "RTFM"?

~~ Paul

Q-Source · 31st May 2006, 01:09 AM

Originally Posted by kevin

Mostly I like the new excel, but the help has gotten worse and worse with every release. The current help is totally worthless, especially when searching on macro/programming issues.

Not sure if this is what you're looking for but Excel has a set of functions (ending in the letter A) that are designed to be compatible with Lotus 1-2-3.

Kevin,

Thanks. I was able to add-in the data analysis option. But still can't find and won't find the previous easy options to work with matrices.

The new version is annoying, they expect users to learn and type hundreds of functions when before you only had to click the mouse.

Darat · 31st May 2006, 01:15 AM

The new-new version (the Beta of 2007) is looking very nice, I'm not a "power user" of Excel but the new UI does make getting to the stuff I use much easier and I'm not spending half my time just looking for something that I know Excel can do but I just can't find where it does it!!

BenK · 31st May 2006, 12:01 PM

Originally Posted by Paul C. Anagnostopoulos

Remember when you used to be able to say "RTFM"?

~~ Paul

and ask Clippy doesn't have the same force.

Cecil · 1st June 2006, 10:23 PM

Originally Posted by Darat

The new-new version (the Beta of 2007) is looking very nice, I'm not a "power user" of Excel but the new UI does make getting to the stuff I use much easier and I'm not spending half my time just looking for something that I know Excel can do but I just can't find where it does it!!

Agreed. Doing away with the menus entirely seems to have been a well-thought out design decision. I like the changes they've made in Word as well, especially the in-place auto previews of text/table changes.

Corpse Cruncher · 6th June 2006, 10:24 PM

I am another one who prefers the older Excel. Not that I like excel in the first place. In a Scrooges office I takes what I can get.

I do find the 2003 version glitchy and a bit slower than the old one.

I am also fond of the site that is attached to it, where you can pick up extra templates and tips. Tips I like and I love templates.

Should I confess to be an excel template addict?

30th May 2006, 11:18 AM	#1
Q-Source Guest Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 1,268	Excel: old version was better. I like excel because it is easy to use and solves problems quickly. However at my office the new version of excel (2003) was installed and I have no way to go back to the previous one. The new version lacks some of the tasks that I use more, for example in HELP there was an option called something like LOTUS 1 2 3, in which you were able to work with matrices (to get the inverse, determinants, etc) and run regressions. Is somebody there who could tell me if this option still exists somewhere hidden? I absolutly hate the new excel, they are suppose to make things easier not harder.
Q-Source Guest Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 1,268

30th May 2006, 03:24 PM	#2
kevin Graduate Poster Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 1,666	Mostly I like the new excel, but the help has gotten worse and worse with every release. The current help is totally worthless, especially when searching on macro/programming issues. Not sure if this is what you're looking for but Excel has a set of functions (ending in the letter A) that are designed to be compatible with Lotus 1-2-3. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/205548/en-us Also a complete list of functions is available here: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/as...042111033.aspx and finally the analysis tool pak add-in may have what you're looking for: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/as...038731033.aspx
kevin Graduate Poster Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 1,666	__________________ Long story short, if you wanna get famous, it helps if you're taking a dump. -- RealityBites

30th May 2006, 04:43 PM	#3
Paul C. Anagnostopoulos Nap, interrupted. Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: a little toolshed Posts: 18,589	Remember when you used to be able to say "RTFM"? ~~ Paul
	__________________ Millions long for immortality who do not know what to do with themselves on a rainy Sunday afternoon. ---Susan Ertz RIP Mr. Skinny

31st May 2006, 01:09 AM	#4
Q-Source Guest Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 1,268	Originally Posted by kevin Mostly I like the new excel, but the help has gotten worse and worse with every release. The current help is totally worthless, especially when searching on macro/programming issues. Not sure if this is what you're looking for but Excel has a set of functions (ending in the letter A) that are designed to be compatible with Lotus 1-2-3. Kevin, Thanks. I was able to add-in the data analysis option. But still can't find and won't find the previous easy options to work with matrices. The new version is annoying, they expect users to learn and type hundreds of functions when before you only had to click the mouse.
Q-Source Guest Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 1,268

31st May 2006, 01:15 AM	#5
Darat Lackey Administrator / JREF Forum Liaison Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: South East, UK Posts: 64,739	The new-new version (the Beta of 2007) is looking very nice, I'm not a "power user" of Excel but the new UI does make getting to the stuff I use much easier and I'm not spending half my time just looking for something that I know Excel can do but I just can't find where it does it!!
	__________________ If it were all so simple! If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart? - Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn 1918-2008

31st May 2006, 12:01 PM	#6
BenK Critical Thinker Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 255	Originally Posted by Paul C. Anagnostopoulos Remember when you used to be able to say "RTFM"? ~~ Paul and ask Clippy doesn't have the same force.
BenK Critical Thinker Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 255

1st June 2006, 10:23 PM	#7
Cecil Muse Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Vancouver Posts: 991	Originally Posted by Darat The new-new version (the Beta of 2007) is looking very nice, I'm not a "power user" of Excel but the new UI does make getting to the stuff I use much easier and I'm not spending half my time just looking for something that I know Excel can do but I just can't find where it does it!! Agreed. Doing away with the menus entirely seems to have been a well-thought out design decision. I like the changes they've made in Word as well, especially the in-place auto previews of text/table changes.
	__________________ "Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds." --Albert Einstein "The common man marvels at the uncommon; the wise man marvels at the commonplace." --Confucious "The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts." --Bertrand Russell

6th June 2006, 10:24 PM	#8
Corpse Cruncher Guest Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: In the great cooking pot in the sky. Posts: 3,811	I am another one who prefers the older Excel. Not that I like excel in the first place. In a Scrooges office I takes what I can get. I do find the 2003 version glitchy and a bit slower than the old one. I am also fond of the site that is attached to it, where you can pick up extra templates and tips. Tips I like and I love templates. Should I confess to be an excel template addict?
	Last edited by Corpse Cruncher; 6th June 2006 at 10:26 PM.