Office 2007 Bible

What’s New in Excel 2007?

If you’ve used a previous version of Excel, this section is for you. Here you’ll find a quick overview of what’s new and what’s changed in Excel 2007.

A new user interface

The first thing you notice about Excel 2007 is its new look. The time-honored menu-and-toolbar user interface has been scrapped and replaced with a new “tab-and-ribbon” interface. Although the new interface kind of resembles menus and toolbars, you’ll find that it’s radically different.

Long-time Excel users have probably noticed that, with each new version, the menu system has gotten increasingly complicated. In addition, the number of toolbars had become almost overwhelming. After all, every new feature must have a way to be accessed. In the past, access meant adding more items to the menus and building new toolbars. The Microsoft designers set out to solve the problem, and the new Ribbon interface is their solution.

Cross-Ref

Chapter 2 contains more information about the new Ribbon interface, including a description of its components.

Many experienced Excel users might suffer from a mild case of bewilderment as they realize that all their familiar command sequences no longer work. Beginning users, on the other hand, will be able to get up to speed much more quickly because they won’t be overwhelmed with irrelevant menus and toolbars.

Other elements that comprise the new look include

• Six new modern-looking fonts: The default workbook font is now 11-point Calibri, which, I think, ...