XL2001: What's New in Excel 2001? (274105)

MORE INFORMATION

Office 2001 is the most Mac-like version of Microsoft Office yet, with many features appearing for the very first time - on any platform. Each Office 2001 application offers an updated user interface with a modern Macintosh look and feel.

What's new with basic features?

The little things you do each time you use Microsoft Excel, such as opening and saving files, have just gotten easier.

• Project Gallery:   The Project Gallery is a visual directory of workbooks, templates, and other Office files. It provides document previews and allows you to start any type of Office document from any Office program. The Project Gallery appears when you start Excel and when you click the Project Gallery command on the File menu.
• See-Through View:   When you select cells with colored text, the color remains the same and is visible through the transparent selection instead of appearing in an inverse color scheme.
• Euroconvert function and euro currency symbol:   The Euroconvert worksheet function converts a number to euros, converts a number from euros to a euro member currency, or converts a number from one euro member currency to another by using the euro as an intermediary. The currencies available for conversion are those of European Union (EU) members that have adopted the euro. You can also apply number formats that have the euro currency symbol.
• Flag for follow-up:   If you have Microsoft Entourage installed, you can flag workbooks for follow-up at a later date and time, and Entourage will alert you.
• Scanner and Digital Camera support:   You can scan a picture directly into Excel from most TWAIN-compatible scanners and digital cameras.
• Pointer Changes:   The mouse pointer may turn into a hand if you place it over a cell that is selected. When the hand appears, you can drag the cell to a different location and drop it into place. If you place the pointer in the lower-right corner of a selected cell, the pointer may turn into a small, thin black square with two arrows in the upper-right and lower-left corners. This pointer indicates that if you click and drag through other cells, they will be filled automatically with the data in the first highlighted cell.

What's new with toolbars?

Shared tools across Office programs mean you only need to learn one way to get your work done.

• Border Drawing toolbar:   Define and draw your own borders, selectively erase borders, merge borders and cells in a single click, and change border styles and colors all by using the new Border Drawing toolbar.

What's new with formulas?

Creating formulas on worksheets is easier than ever. New tools help you build and edit formulas and enter functions.

• Calculator:   The Calculator is the easiest way to create or change a formula in Excel. It automatically includes any required formula syntax and gives you quick access to frequently used math functions.
• AutoSum (Improved in 2001):   Average, Count, Max, and Min have been added to AutoSum, making it easier to create formulas by using these functions.
• Four-digit dates:   You can now choose to preserve dates that have four-digit years, determine your own cutoff year for assuming a 21st century date, and select from additional date formats that have four-digit years.

What's new with formatting and layout?

Enhanced formatting and layout features help you get the printed report or online form that has the look you want.

• Formatting Palette:   The Formatting Palette puts formatting options at your fingertips. For example, if you have text selected, the Formatting Palette gives you a choice of the most common text formatting options. If you have a drawing object selected, the Formatting Palette changes to show you options for drawing objects. The Formatting Palette saves you the effort of clicking through menus and dialogs to find a particular formatting option.
• Wysiwyg font menu:   Font names now display in their font on the Font menu so you can preview a font style before you apply it to your worksheet.
• Color Picker:   Modify the colors used in your workbooks by using the Apple Color Picker, or select the colors you want by using the Pick Fill Color eyedropper tool on the Fill Color pop-up menu (Drawing toolbar).
• List AutoFill:   Microsoft Excel 2001 automatically extends formatting and formulas in lists, simplifying this common task. Select Extend list formats and formulas to automatically format new items added to the end of a list to match the format of the rest of the list. Formulas that are repeated in every row are also copied. To be extended, formats and formulas must appear in at least three of the five rows preceding the new row.
• Euro currency symbol:   Additional number formats are available with the euro currency symbol.

What's new with list management and data summary?

Finding and sorting data in lists is one of the most common uses of Microsoft Excel.

• List Manager:   List Manager gives you the ability to search, analyze, and sort your data faster and more effectively. Define a worksheet, or part of a worksheet, as a list by using the List Manager and the List Wizard. By using existing Excel data, external data, or a blank list, you can choose the types of data to include in your list. You can also use your own criteria to validate the values entered in the list and create custom error messages to alert you when a criterion hasn't been met. You can also create custom formatting or conditional formatting for your list and choose to accept only unique values for a column or define a default value for a column.
• List AutoFill:   Excel 2001 automatically extends formatting and formulas in lists, simplifying this common task. Select Extend list formats and formulas to automatically format new items added to the end of a list to match the format of the rest of the list. Formulas that are repeated in every row are also copied. To be extended, formats and formulas must appear in at least three of the five rows preceding the new row.
• AutoFilter (Improved in 2001):   AutoFilter displays rows of information in a list based upon selections you make. Use the new sorting feature to find values in your list.
• AutoComplete (Improved in 2001):   Start typing in a cell, and AutoComplete compares text you type with text that is already entered into the same column and then prompts you to pick from a list of similar items to complete the entry.

What's new with charts?

Increased capacity and high-end display options give you powerful ways to analyze your data visually.

• Display units:   If your chart values consist of large numbers, you can make the axis text shorter and more readable by changing the display unit of the axis. For example, if the chart values range from 1,000,000 to 50,000,000, you can display the numbers as 1 to 50 on the axis and show a label that indicates that the units express millions.
• Multiple-level category labels:   When the category data on your worksheet is hierarchical (that is, consists of more than one heading level), Microsoft Excel automatically maintains this hierarchy in your chart by including each level in the category axis labels.

What's new with Microsoft Excel and the Web?

Explore the power of familiar Excel spreadsheets and the Web.

• Web Page Preview:   Preview your worksheet as a Web page in your browser.
• Customize your Web pages:   Quickly change how Microsoft Office 2001 generates and formats Web pages by using the Web Options dialog box (Edit menu, Preferences command, General tab, Web Options button). For example, you can add a title to your Web page, specify what format graphics are saved in, and select a target monitor size, along with other options. When possible, the options you set are shared across all Office programs.
• Manage your files and links:   Office programs automatically manage companion files, such as graphics. When you create a Web page, all supporting files are stored in a file folder that has the same name as the file. When you save your file to a new location, Office 2001 checks the links and repairs those that aren't working.
• Create an international presence:   If you create Web pages for international use, Office 2001 saves files by using the appropriate international text encoding so that users can view the correct characters in any language.
• Use graphics and objects:   Office 2001 makes using graphics on Web pages easy. Graphics for Web pages are automatically stored in GIF or PNG format. Even after you save your file as a Web page, you can still edit graphics and objects when you open your Web page in an Office program.

PivotTable features

• Lay out reports directly on worksheets:   After you click Finish in the PivotTable Report Wizard, blue outlined drop areas appear on your worksheet, and the PivotTable toolbar displays a list of the fields from your source data. You can lay out the PivotTable report directly on the worksheet by dragging the fields from the toolbar to the drop areas.
• Data selection and formatting (Improved in 2001):   You no longer have to use PivotTable selection when you format a PivotTable report. Formatting that you apply by using regular Excel selection is retained when you refresh or change the layout.

What's new with data retrieval from external databases?

When you want to analyze data from outside Microsoft Excel, there's no need to retype. In a few keystrokes, you can bring the data right into your worksheet.

• Web Queries (Improved in 2001):   You can create and run queries to retrieve data that is available on the World Wide Web. You can either select an entire Web page or specify a table on a Web page to retrieve. Excel 2001 provides several sample Web queries that you can run.
• Refreshable text import:   Data from text files can now be brought into Excel in the same way that you create other database queries. Formatting and formulas are retained when you open the file as refreshable.
• FileMaker Import Wizard:   This wizard steps you through the process of choosing which fields to include in your workbook and defining criteria that data must meet before it is imported into Excel. Start the FileMaker Import Wizard by opening or importing a FileMaker file into Excel or an Excel workbook.

What's new for developers?

For more information about new objects, methods, and properties in the Visual Basic object model for Excel 2001, see Visual Basic Help.

• Object model additions:   There are additions to the object model for the creation of lists, import of FileMaker databases, saving of worksheets as Web pages, improved accessibility, and the display of unit labels in charts.