Microsoft nixes bug, fixes Excel
Patch not yet pushed to Windows Update, however
Computerworld - Microsoft Corp. yesterday patched a bug in Excel 2007 that displayed wrong values for calculations around a pair of numbers, and said it would push the fixes through Windows Update as soon as possible.
The bug, which Microsoft acknowledged two weeks ago, displays 100,000 as the result of calculations that should instead show either 65,535 or 65,536. The error, Microsoft claimed last month, is not in Excel's calculations, but in the code that takes resulting values and formats them before they're displayed in a cell on the spreadsheet. Only the newest version, Excel 2007, and its online cousin, SharePoint's Excel Services 2007, contain the bug.
Fixes for the bug, as well as documentation logged into Microsoft's support database, have been posted to the company's download site, with links available on Microsoft's Excel blog. The download for Excel 2007 is a substantial 32.5MB.
"We are in the process of adding this fix to Microsoft Update so that it will get automatically pushed to users running Excel 2007 or Excel Services 2007," said David Gainer, the program's lead project manager, on the team's blog. The patch was not among the non-security updates included with yesterday's bulletins, however. Gainer also noted that the hotfix would be added to the first service pack for Office 2007, although Microsoft has said nothing about its work on Office 2007 SP1, or its release date.
The next regularly scheduled update is Nov. 13, but Microsoft has also taken to rolling out non-security hotfixes, especially for newer products such as Windows Vista, on the last Thursday of each month. This month, that day will be Oct. 25.
Read more about Applications in Computerworld's Applications Topic Center.



- Excel 2010 Cheat Sheet
- Register for this Computerworld Insider Cheat Sheet and gain access to hundreds of premium content articles, guides, product reviews and more.
- Forrester Total Economic Impact (TEI) Case Study - Oracle
- In this paper, Forrester Consulting examines the total economic impact and potential return on investment (ROI) realized by three Enterprise organizations as they...
- The Hidden Truth About Virtualizing Business-Critical Applications
- This IDG whitepaper highlights key findings based on the Quickpoll Survey conducted with more than 300 Enterprise and Commercial IT decision makers worldwide...
- Top 10 Myths About Virtualizing Business-Critical Applications
- Even though virtualization has brought positive change to enterprise IT over the last decade, some skepticism remains about how valuable virtualization can be...
- Enterprise Java Applications on VMware: Unix to Linux Migration Guide
- This guide focuses on key considerations for IT Architects who are in the process of migrating Java applications from UNIX to Linux as...
- Virtualizing Tier 1 Applications: A Critical Step on the Journey Toward the Private Cloud
- This IDC white paper explains how much of the Enterprise IT community is at a crossroads in extending their journey to the private... All Applications White Papers
- Live Webcast
Banish Poor Application Performance: Eliminate Business Disruptions, Increase End User Productivity - End User Experience, 30-Min Webinar
Wed. Feb. 22nd ~ 11 AM ET
Are you ready to gain the proactive ability to rapidly respond... - Apps QuickStart Series Part 2: Designing and Deploying SQL Server on VMware vSphere
- Download this webcast to learn about the design considerations for virtualizing SQL workloads, performance and scalability information and high-availability options, as well as...
- Apps QuickStart Series Part 1: Designing and Deploying Exchange 2010 on VMware vSphere
- Download this webcast to learn the virtual hardware design considerations for Exchange 2010, deployment using the building block approach, options for high-availability and...
- Virtualize Business-Critical Applications with Confidence
- Virtualizing business-critical applications has become a key focus for organizations as they move along their virtualization journey. With the launch of VMware vSphere®...
- Discover the Benefits of Virtualization for Federal Applications
- Want to say goodbye to missed SLAs? VMware can help you virtualize mission-critical applications such as Oracle, MS Exchange and SharePoint to achieve...
- Reduce Application Lifecycle Management Costs with VMware ThinApp
- Traditional desktop application deployment and management is a time-consuming and costly endeavor for IT. From development to deployment, including help desk support, the... All Applications Webcasts