Which excel should I use?

Here's my situation,

I'm trying to improve my Excel/modeling skills before I start as a summer analyst. I have Excel 2003 on my labtop, my free trial on 2007 expired a long time ago, and I just downloaded the 60 day free trial of excel 2010.

Do the bulge brackets still use 2007? I'm considering buying the Excel and Financial Modeling Product from WSO, would it be better to practice with 2003 or the free trial of 2010.

I'm in the process of asking friends/family for their product key for 2007, but until then this is my mini-dilemna

24 Comments
 

03 is the best. 2010 sucks I think; the hotkey response time is atrocious. Don't waste your money on a class, you will pick up whatever skills you need on the job, if they hire you ft you will learn all that anyways... Waste of money.

 

i used 2003 at my old firm but my new one uses 2007. i would NEVER go back to 2003... once you get used to it it's a lot better.

Money Never Sleeps? More like Money Never SUCKS amirite?!?!?!?
 
sayandarulai used 2003 at my old firm but my new one uses 2007. i would NEVER go back to 2003... once you get used to it it's a lot better.

crazy talk. only someone with limited 2003 experience would say 2007 is better. i was forced to switch to 2007 several months ago and i still get pissed about it almost daily. the shortcut key response is slow as hell and the obnoxiously huge menus make it a pain in the ass to find commands and they take up too much screen real estate.

 
bankbank
sayandarulai used 2003 at my old firm but my new one uses 2007. i would NEVER go back to 2003... once you get used to it it's a lot better.

crazy talk. only someone with limited 2003 experience would say 2007 is better. i was forced to switch to 2007 several months ago and i still get pissed about it almost daily. the shortcut key response is slow as hell and the obnoxiously huge menus make it a pain in the ass to find commands and they take up too much screen real estate.

that being said, i would recommend OP get 2007 or later because I imagine most firms will upgrade sooner or later if they haven't already.

 
Best Response
bankbank
bankbank
sayandarulai used 2003 at my old firm but my new one uses 2007. i would NEVER go back to 2003... once you get used to it it's a lot better.

crazy talk. only someone with limited 2003 experience would say 2007 is better. i was forced to switch to 2007 several months ago and i still get pissed about it almost daily. the shortcut key response is slow as hell and the obnoxiously huge menus make it a pain in the ass to find commands and they take up too much screen real estate.

that being said, i would recommend OP get 2007 or later because I imagine most firms will upgrade sooner or later if they haven't already.

bankbank, if you lack screen space try hiding the ribbon, should help some. personally, i don't mind it as i have dual 23 inch monitors at my new place, which gives me plenty of real estate.

as for my 2003 experience, i worked at my prior firm for 9 months using 2003, and almost never touched my mouse, if that tells you anything. the advantages of 2007 are in the new functions that are not in 2003. at my new job, I use "sumifs" and "countifs" quite frequently, which were not available in 2003. yes, there are ways around this by using the old "sumif' and "countif" functions from 2003, but as someone who obsesses with the milliseconds saved with your hotkeys, i'm sure you can find some merit in this new functionality.

Money Never Sleeps? More like Money Never SUCKS amirite?!?!?!?
 

thanks for the responses everyone. my last internship at a boutique had 07 also. it seems like I might as well give the 2010 free trial a shot to be better prepared to use 07.

 

I would advise you using 2007. Also are you still in school, if so it should be free for you to borrow the software from the tech. center. That's what I did.

 
Commodity BullI would advise you using 2007. Also are you still in school, if so it should be free for you to borrow the software from the tech. center. That's what I did.

I hadn't thought about that. I don't know if my school does the same, but I'm abroad now so I'm in a bit of a bind.

 
CiroCorp
Commodity BullI would advise you using 2007. Also are you still in school, if so it should be free for you to borrow the software from the tech. center. That's what I did.

I hadn't thought about that. I don't know if my school does the same, but I'm abroad now so I'm in a bit of a bind.

i got office 2010 from my old employer for $10. im sure there is a good link for an office 2010 torrent somewhere though

looking for that pick-me-up to power through an all-nighter?
 

You can buy the whole 2010 office suite as a student for about $80. It is downloadable from Journey Ed or something similar.

"yeah, thats right" High-Five
 
David_PuddyYou can buy the whole 2010 office suite as a student for about $80. It is downloadable from Journey Ed or something similar.

I'll definitely check out the site. I'm hoping by your picture of arguably the most famous and avid Devil's fan - the venerable David Puddy - that you're an NJD fan like myself. 20-2-2 in the last 24, it's been an unbelievable turnaround.

 
David_PuddyYou can buy the whole 2010 office suite as a student for about $80. It is downloadable from Journey Ed or something similar.

Its funny because Microsoft gives all their development software away for free https://www.dreamspark.com/

But won't give away something students need

looking for that pick-me-up to power through an all-nighter?
 

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