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David Flynn11 March 2010, 10:00 PM
Even if you’re running 64-bit Windows 7 most users will have little reason to install the forthcoming Office 2010 suite in 64-bit mode, says Microsoft.
Office 2010 is about to step into the 64-bit fast lane but only people who push Excel to its limits should bother revving up the supercharged suite, according to Microsoft.
“Aside from that, we’re advising the bulk of our customers to continue
moving along the 32 bit route”, Office 2010 product manager Reed Shaffner told APC.
“The big benefits around 64-bit are going to come in Excel with very large spreadsheets and massive calculations. We’re talking sheets that have hundreds of millions of rows and utilising things like Power Pivot” (Microsoft’s high-end data analysis tool).
Shaffner says that users who rely on Office add-ins will also need to either stick with the 32-bit edition of Office 2010 or obtain 64-bit versions of the add-in software.
“Some add-ins could be 64-bit compatible but in the majority of cases your ActiveX controls and COM add-ins will need to be rewritten for a 64-bit version of Office.”