If You Missed the Last Upgrade ...

Just in case you leapfrogged a software upgrade and missed the last big Microsoft Office release, here is a brief description of a few features that are essentially new to you but were actually introduced in the previous release:

• Online assistance In the previous release of Excel, Web-based assistance became a priority, with direct Help connections to Microsoft. The online Help system automatically looked for additional topics on the Microsoft Web site, making the system more complete and accurate. Online/offline integration was seamless-just connect to the Internet, and the Help system automatically availed itself of available online content. In addition, Microsoft added new features that control and enhance Web interactions and customer feedback. Microsoft has enhanced this online focus in Excel 2007.

• Side-by-side comparison of worksheets The Compare Side By Side command made it easy to scan differences between two worksheets, letting you scroll through both worksheets simultaneously to identify differences. In Excel 2007, Microsoft has transformed this command into a button named View Side By Side, but the functionality is still there.

• Improved statistical functions A number of the built-in statistical analysis functions became more accurate in Excel 2003; past versions of these functions had produced slightly different rounding results.

• Task panes Microsoft added the Research task pane, offering a wide variety of reference information and expanded resources with an Internet connection. The Research feature now lives on the Review tab on the Ribbon.

• Collaboration With the advent of Windows SharePoint Services (version 2), Excel 2003 provided improved support for collaborative projects. In 2007, Microsoft has made collaboration even more robust with Windows SharePoint Services (version 3).

• Information Rights Management The Information Rights Management (IRM) features introduced in Excel 2003 provided a measure of control over unauthorized access to your workbooks. Microsoft has updated this feature for 2007 and requires you to install a service pack (SP) upgrade to the Windows Rights Management client.

• List management Enhanced list management features in Excel 2003 helped ensure list integrity and made it easier to upload list ranges to Windows SharePoint Services sites. Excel 2007 discards the concept of lists and upgrades to the concept of tables.