An Ez Software Review of
Microsoft Excel 2010

Rating: **** (4.5/5) 

Simply put, Excel is the best spreadsheet software currently available. However, in the 2010 version, Excel had the fewest feature updates.

The good news is that the macro recording errors that plagued Excel 2007 have been fixed. You can now compose graphics-inclusive macros without fear of random bugs creeping into your supposed times savers.

Excel 2010 has the revised version of the ribbon interface that debuted in Office 2007. The Office Button from Excel 2007 has been replaced by a more traditional File menu. The ribbon itself is cleaner, leaner and offers more enhanced customization options. You can even pin common functions to a quick menu that sits above the ribbon. Also, unlike Microsoft Word, the Excel ribbon is constantly on state, just as it was in previous Excel versions.

However, the File menu is not necessarily what you're used to. Clicking File in Excel 2010 will bring up the Backstage view, which hides your active worksheet and shows your full screen set of controls. All of the old File menu options- saving, printing and document templates are available, but there are a lot of additional bells and whistles. For example, you can now save your Excel worksheets to Skydrive, Microsoft's free online storage service. It requires a Microsoft Live ID like Hotmail and MSN Messenger. This is a great for sharing spreadsheets on the Web. Backstage also contains the Help menu, a permissions editor and the options menu that lets you customize the ribbon.

Microsoft Excel 2010 allows multiple users to open and edit the same Excel file simultaneously. If you have many employees that need to update a spreadsheet, collaborative editing means not getting locked out of a file because someone has it open. Please note, collaborative editing isn't directly supported for documents stored on Skydrive.

Microsoft Excel 2010 supports Shared Workbooks, which allows multiple users to open and edit the same Excel file simultaneously. If your office shares a common sales spreadsheet that many employees need to update, (particularly one on a shared network drive) collaborative editing means not getting locked out of a file because someone else has it open.

Collaborative editing isn't directly supported for documents stored on Skydrive. In those cases, you'll have to use the Excel Web App, which has a somewhat less robust functionality, but can handle basic data entry and calculations.

Office macros have always been a big security problem. Any spreadsheet downloaded from the Internet or received as an email attachment is automatically opened in Protected View the first time you open it. You must enable editing once to open the document normally. This prevents viruses from infecting your machine. This is a welcome update.

Sparklines and Slicers are two new Excel 2010 features designed for users that create custom reports and pivot tables. Sparklines are miniature graphs that fit inside single worksheet cells. These tiny graphs are a nice way to save screen and print space.

Microsoft Excel 2010 has changed the least from the Office 2007 version. The improved ribbon is nice, and the integration with Skydrive has many possibilities, but neither is a major update. If you're happy with your current version of Excel, there's no major reason to stop using it in favor of Excel 2010. However, if you're looking for a new spreadsheet application, check this out.