How do I get Excel 2007 to highlight the cells I've selected?

M

michael0511

I frequently select individual cells in a worksheet while holding down the
CTRL key to use the status bar to sum, count or average the results without
needing to write a formula for a temporary calculation.

Now that I've been forced to use Office 2007 , I can't do that because
Office 2007 doesn't visibly highlight individual cells, only the row and
column headers of the selected cells! (My old PC was passed down to a new
employee and replaced with a new one, and we can no longer purchase Office
2003)

I've used Excel and Word for well over ten years, and now I'm filled with
hatred for this new version. In fact, I feel that way about the entire
Office 2007 suite so far.

Needless to say, I'm VERY upset about the random changes forced on me by
this new version of Microsoft Office, and I'm looking for solutions.

I already know about OpenOffice and would love to switch, but I don't have
the option right now, so I'd appreciate help with what I'm stuck with for the
time being.

Thanks in advance.

Michael.
 
J

Jim Rech

because Office 2007 doesn't visibly highlight individual cells

Believe it or not that's not true. It does highlight each area but in a way
that does not display well, or at all, on a lot of monitors apparently. It
is "subtle" but clearly visible on my setup. MS is aware of the problem
(see link) and we can hope that the next version of Excel deals with it. It
would be nice if they did something for this version in SP2 but that looks
like a long shot.

http://blogs.msdn.com/excel/archive/2008/04/22/improving-sheet-selection.aspx

--
Jim
|I frequently select individual cells in a worksheet while holding down the
| CTRL key to use the status bar to sum, count or average the results
without
| needing to write a formula for a temporary calculation.
|
| Now that I've been forced to use Office 2007 , I can't do that because
| Office 2007 doesn't visibly highlight individual cells, only the row and
| column headers of the selected cells! (My old PC was passed down to a new
| employee and replaced with a new one, and we can no longer purchase Office
| 2003)
|
| I've used Excel and Word for well over ten years, and now I'm filled with
| hatred for this new version. In fact, I feel that way about the entire
| Office 2007 suite so far.
|
| Needless to say, I'm VERY upset about the random changes forced on me by
| this new version of Microsoft Office, and I'm looking for solutions.
|
| I already know about OpenOffice and would love to switch, but I don't have
| the option right now, so I'd appreciate help with what I'm stuck with for
the
| time being.
|
| Thanks in advance.
|
| Michael.
 
M

michael0511

Thanks for the answer.

I've gone back and had another look and found that there really is VERY
subtle highlighting upon selection.

How utterly useless. And I guess it's not OK with Microsoft for someone
with visual impairment to want to use Microsoft software.

I find it nearly impossible to believe how badly Microsoft has botched my
favorite programs. If I had the option, I would go reclaim my old computer
from my new co-worker to get the old versions back.

I HATE the new ribbon bars, because once you've learned the programs, you
either work from keyboard shortcuts or by memorized position on the screen
and don't need visual cues to proceed. The ribbon is all kinds of visual
clutter that I find annoying.

On the other hand, I LOVE the live previews of formatting changes. The
keyboard shortcut cues you get when you press the ALT key are also nice, but
would be even better in combination with an option to keep the underlined
letter approach.
 
J

Jim Rech

I HATE the new ribbon

There aren't many who sing the praises of the ribbon but there are a lot of
new and useful features in Excel 2007 for sure.

--
Jim
| Thanks for the answer.
|
| I've gone back and had another look and found that there really is VERY
| subtle highlighting upon selection.
|
| How utterly useless. And I guess it's not OK with Microsoft for someone
| with visual impairment to want to use Microsoft software.
|
| I find it nearly impossible to believe how badly Microsoft has botched my
| favorite programs. If I had the option, I would go reclaim my old
computer
| from my new co-worker to get the old versions back.
|
| I HATE the new ribbon bars, because once you've learned the programs, you
| either work from keyboard shortcuts or by memorized position on the screen
| and don't need visual cues to proceed. The ribbon is all kinds of visual
| clutter that I find annoying.
|
| On the other hand, I LOVE the live previews of formatting changes. The
| keyboard shortcut cues you get when you press the ALT key are also nice,
but
| would be even better in combination with an option to keep the underlined
| letter approach.
|
|
| "Jim Rech" wrote:
|
| > >>because Office 2007 doesn't visibly highlight individual cells
| >
| > Believe it or not that's not true. It does highlight each area but in a
way
| > that does not display well, or at all, on a lot of monitors apparently.
It
| > is "subtle" but clearly visible on my setup. MS is aware of the problem
| > (see link) and we can hope that the next version of Excel deals with it.
It
| > would be nice if they did something for this version in SP2 but that
looks
| > like a long shot.
| >
| >
http://blogs.msdn.com/excel/archive/2008/04/22/improving-sheet-selection.aspx
| >
| > --
| > Jim
| > | > |I frequently select individual cells in a worksheet while holding down
the
| > | CTRL key to use the status bar to sum, count or average the results
| > without
| > | needing to write a formula for a temporary calculation.
| > |
| > | Now that I've been forced to use Office 2007 , I can't do that because
| > | Office 2007 doesn't visibly highlight individual cells, only the row
and
| > | column headers of the selected cells! (My old PC was passed down to a
new
| > | employee and replaced with a new one, and we can no longer purchase
Office
| > | 2003)
| > |
| > | I've used Excel and Word for well over ten years, and now I'm filled
with
| > | hatred for this new version. In fact, I feel that way about the
entire
| > | Office 2007 suite so far.
| > |
| > | Needless to say, I'm VERY upset about the random changes forced on me
by
| > | this new version of Microsoft Office, and I'm looking for solutions.
| > |
| > | I already know about OpenOffice and would love to switch, but I don't
have
| > | the option right now, so I'd appreciate help with what I'm stuck with
for
| > the
| > | time being.
| > |
| > | Thanks in advance.
| > |
| > | Michael.
| >
| >
 

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