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Disabled Macros in Microsoft Excel 2008...

Adokimus

Adokimus

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jun 2, 2007
842
3
Boston, MA
Ok, I'm looking to purchase Microsoft Office: Mac 2008, but I know that macros are disabled for the new Microsoft Excel. I tried to search for this issue on the forum and with google, but I'm still not sure I completely understand what this means. I rely on Excel for work, but I also have a work notebook PC that I use as my primary work machine. Can someone explain the compatibility issues that arise from the lack of macro support in Excel 2008? Will it affect every type of spreadsheet, or just in certain instances? Will I know there is an error when I try to open an excel file, or will there just be mistakes in calculations that might not be obvious? Also, would it be wise to install Office 2008, but keep excel 2004 for work purposes?

Thanks, sorry for the dumb question!

-Ado
 
Adokimus said:
Ok, I'm looking to purchase Microsoft Office: Mac 2008, but I know that macros are disabled for the new Microsoft Excel. I tried to search for this issue on the forum and with google, but I'm still not sure I completely understand what this means. I rely on Excel for work, but I also have a work notebook PC that I use as my primary work machine. Can someone explain the compatibility issues that arise from the lack of macro support in Excel 2008? Will it affect every type of spreadsheet, or just in certain instances? Will I know there is an error when I try to open an excel file, or will there just be mistakes in calculations that might not be obvious? Also, would it be wise to install Office 2008, but keep excel 2004 for work purposes?

Thanks, sorry for the dumb question!

-Ado
Click to expand...

Do you use macros in your Excel spreadsheets now?

Basically, if you try to open an Excel doc that contains macros in Excel 2008, it will just warn you, and let you open the document with the macros disabled.

I don't use macros, so you'll have to let a Excel guru tell you how much of an impact this has. I only use basic spreadsheets, and those will all work fine.

In your case I WOULD keep Office 2004 on the machine alongside 2008 for the macro support, just in case. You could always uninstall 2004, then reinstall on Excel 2004 if you needed to save space. Both will co-exist on the machine fine.

-Kevin
 
kbmb said:
Do you use macros in your Excel spreadsheets now?

Basically, if you try to open an Excel doc that contains macros in Excel 2008, it will just warn you, and let you open the document with the macros disabled.

I don't use macros, so you'll have to let a Excel guru tell you how much of an impact this has. I only use basic spreadsheets, and those will all work fine.

In your case I WOULD keep Office 2004 on the machine alongside 2008 for the macro support, just in case. You could always uninstall 2004, then reinstall on Excel 2004 if you needed to save space. Both will co-exist on the machine fine.

-Kevin
Click to expand...


Thanks for the response. To be honest, I have no idea if I use macros. My trusty wikipedia only told me that macros are a set of computer instructions. Any spreadsheet I make myself is usually pretty standard issue, with a few complex equations, and cross-tab referencing, but most of the time I'm working off of template spreadsheets that have to be updated annually.

Is there any way you can tell me exactly what macros are, and how I would know if I use them? (Since I don't know what they are, I probably don't use them, but I don't want to make assumptions...)

Thanks,

Ado
 
Adokimus said:
Thanks for the response. To be honest, I have no idea if I use macros. My trusty wikipedia only told me that macros are a set of computer instructions. Any spreadsheet I make myself is usually pretty standard issue, with a few complex equations, and cross-tab referencing, but most of the time I'm working off of template spreadsheets that have to be updated annually.

Is there any way you can tell me exactly what macros are, and how I would know if I use them? (Since I don't know what they are, I probably don't use them, but I don't want to make assumptions...)

Thanks,

Ado
Click to expand...

I think most Macros are recorded by going to the Tools menu and selecting Macro. They use VBA (Visual Basic for Applications).

I don't and haven't really used Macros, so I can't say. I'm guessing, like you, that you don't use them.

I would at a minimum, keep Excel 2004 on the machine.

You can also look at this doc for looking at moving from Macros to Applescript:
http://www.mactech.com/vba-transition-guide/index-toc.html

If you know someone who has Office 2008...send them some files and have them open them to see if they get the Macro warning.

-Kevin
 
Hmm...

Does anyone know why in the hell they disabled macros in the first place?
 
Thanks for all the help Kevin. I think I'm going to take the route of buying Office 2008, but keeping excel 2004 installed just in case I need it.

Thanks again.
 
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