Excel for mac 2016 update#
Not only does this rolling update cycle make users feel like eternal beta testers but it also means they’re frequently clicking Help > Check For Updates to find if a valuable new feature has arrived. At what point will Microsoft abandon the fundamentally unfinished Excel 2016 and turn its attention to the next release?
Excel for mac 2016 upgrade#
If you pay monthly or yearly for an Office 365 subscription then upgrade worries are not a worry because you’ll get the next version for free, but those buying the Office 2016 boxed edition have reason to be concerned. Get used to this screen because Microsoft is rolling out significant new feature updates as time goes on – but will Excel 2016 ever be actually finished?
Read next: Apple Numbers vs Microsoft Excel vs Google Sheets: Which is the best iPad spreadsheet app? They request basic functionality, much of which was already present in the older Excel 2011. These aren’t exotic or fanciful requests. Indeed, it’s not at all clear if Excel 2016 will ever be “finished” and a quick search of Microsoft’s support forums reveals a growing list of features, directly requested by users, that – once again – will be here Real Soon Now. That’s a big feature to add eight months after the app was first released but, hey, let’s be grateful. For example, in version 15.18 of Excel 2016, which we looked at and which was the current release at the time of writing, Excel 2016 had gained a selection pane by which you can better organise drawing objects (to view it, select an object, then click Selection Pane on the Shape Format ribbon).
Excel for mac 2016 software#
Microsoft seems happy with this Real Soon Now approach to software development for all of the Office 2016 components but with Excel 2016 it’s particularly acute from the user’s perspective. Read more Office for Mac 2016 reviews: Word for Mac 2016 review | PowerPoint for Mac 2016 review | Outlook for Mac 2016 review The addition of PivotTable S licers vastly improves the pivot chart abilities, allowing you to dig further into data with just one click, and a new Analysis Toolpak add-in, accessible from the Tools > Add-Ins menu, will delight engineers and statisticians (and leave the rest of us scratching our heads – Other new features include improved charting tools, with a Recommended button that will attempt to match the data you’ve selected with the best type of chart. This sounds like a minor grumble but has a massive impact on usability. It’s like the spreadsheet is a skating rink. When combined with a new smooth scrolling experience within spreadsheets, accurately selecting a cell, row or column can be insanity inducing – and especially with the aforementioned trackpad. The cell highlight now slickly glides between cells but once the coolness factor wears off it becomes annoying.