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SOFTWARE NEWS: Web-based Microsoft Office 2007 files will open in native apps. By John Stokdyk

The Microsoft Office 2007 watch is intensifying with new updates to the beta test versions and final alterations to the code in response to user feedback.

Between now and Christmas, ExcelZone will continue to monitor these developments and report back from users and experts on the likely impacts of all these changes. For Excel users, one of the best places to start is the Excel 2007 blog maintained by Microsoft's programme team leader David Gainer.

In a recent "guest post", Andy Tischaefer of the Office Programmability team explained a change that will be welcomed by many people who get frustrated when they click a link to a spreadsheet file on the net and find that it opens as a window within their browser rather than in the native Excel application.

This feature does have its uses, but it can be frustrating if you want to work on the file and can't get to some of the program commands you want.

For Office 2007, the default will be to trigger the native application rather than opening an Office file as a window within Internet Explorer.

If you prefer the existing set up, for example to use spreadsheets more as a web-based reporting or data collection tool, you can revert back by opening the Tools-Folder Options menu, clicking the File Types tab and selecting the Browse in Same Window checkbox. A full explanation is provided in the Excel 2007 & Internet Explorer posting, which also tells you how to effect the same change by editing the appropriate Windows Registry key.

Sadly for Gainer's fans, he announced earlier this week that after 163 posts he felt that he had achieved his original objective of documenting all the major changes in the new version of Excel. Writing that "the whole thing has surpassed my hopes in pretty much every area", Gainer said he would not be churning out the posts at the rate he has been, but would look into ways that he could continue to involve his blog readers and commentators in developing the next version of Excel. "I really do appreciate everyone's help," he added.

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