Oprah's—I mean Crabby's—favorite things: Excel 2010

But even so, an old hat (like the Hogwart's sorting hat) can discover new tricks that it didn't know were possible. Excel 2010 has some really great new additions as well as improvements (I probably shouldn't use that word--improvements--but everything and everybody can fashion some room within themselves in order to to squeeze some in...right?).

And then one day the clouds part and Dionysus, the Greek god of wine and partying AND fertility--which, in our context here, means productivity--smiles his sweet, naughty, benevolent smile down at you and y ιδού* you are anointed! But with what?

Read on to find out...

As an example, if you've been using Excel 2007, what was new to you a few years ago (the Ribbon) and then admittedly became indispensable, has had a boost for the 2010 version; a touch up, an improvement (that, by the way, a good many of you requested). And if you've been using versions prior to Excel 2007, you're getting something new (the Ribbon) AND it's been perfected.

But there are more, um, additions to what was already pretty good that you might be able to mkae use of.

First up: the ribbon reaching out to the nonconformist in you:

Your ribbon, your way

Here's a feature you really wanted...and now you get it. When the ribbon was introduced in Excel 2007, although it was possible to add commands to a Quick Access Toolbar (the QAT), you couldn't add your own tabs or groups on the ribbon, dang-it! In Excel 2010, however, you can create your own tabs and groups and rename or change the order of the built-in tabs and groups. Sweet!

Read more about customizing the ribbon

Sparklines (why not called "Sparklelines?")

What better time could there be than now, the holiday season, to talk about sparklines. Even though the name is so cute and festive that you want to either dunk it in your coffee or drape it over your Christmas-decorated mantel, these effervescent little guys can help you to discover patterns or trends in your data making it more useful for you.

Sparklines are tiny charts—the good kind of computer gremlins, actually—that fit inside a single cell that can visually summarize trends alongside data. They're particularly useful when you need to show a snapshot of something in an easy-to-read format.

Run, do not pass GO, do not collect our $200 (which is, by the way, it's only TWO dollars in Monopoly Junior!) and watch Doug's Office Casual video about sparklines. Doug just has a certain..."everyman's" flare for explaining things, and I often feel that he and I have the same  sensibility of what Office customers want to learn and how they want to learn it...

If you like just simple images as examples, in the example below, you can see, at a glance how each (fictional) department performed in May:

 (But I know, this image is static; it doesn't really tell the story in a particularly meaningful way, so again—and don't be a boob about it, please—go see Doug's Office Casual video about sparklines .

AutoFilter buttons  

AutoFilter buttons now remain visible along with table headers in your table columns, so you can sort and filter data quickly without having to scroll all the way back up to the top of the table.

(I like this video; the guy who created and narrates it has this nice, soothing, "it's-as-easy-as-pie" (which it is) way of narrating and running you through it.

 Go find out for yourself what else is new—and improved—(oops...I did it again!) in Excel 2010.

— Crabby

*y ιδού means voilà in Greek