Long delays when manipulating charts in Excel 2008

M

Matthias

I have an Excel 2008 workbook with 4 columns of data, each containing
1500 rows. I have made a line chart plotting the last three columns,
using the first column to label the bottom axis. Excel 2008 was very
slow to produce the chart (took a minute or two after clicking the
chart icon in the ribbon), and also has delays of a similar duration
whenever I try to manipulate the chart -- type a new minimum or
maximum value for an axis, change the color of a line, switch a series
to a secondary axis, etc.

In addition, whenever I try to change the color of a line, I receive
the message, "Complex formatting that is applied to the selected chart
may take a while to display. Do you want to continue using the
formatting? [No] [Yes]". I don't consider a line color to be "complex
formatting," so this message is perplexing. But I assume it is related
to the general slowness of Excel when plotting this data.

This dataset is not unusually large (4 years of daily values), and
Excel 2004 (or any Windows version of Excel) are able to handle it
nearly instantaneously. I wrote an entire Ph.D. dissertation using
Excel 2004, with larger and more complex charts than this. I really
appreciate the improved integration between Word and Excel 2008 (I can
finally copy and paste charts from Excel to Word as real objects
instead of pictures, without ballooning the size of the Word file!),
but this problem is making Excel 2008 unusable for my work.

I have put up with the limitations of Mac Office for years, always
expecting the next version to solve the most egregious problems, but
this problem may drive me to finally abandon Microsoft in favor of
other solutions. The learning curve for other software is steep, but
if I can't even use Office for my work, what choice do I have?

Please eliminate these delays in editing graphs as soon as possible.
It is the most important thing keeping me from using Office 2008 right
now or recommending it to my colleagues.

Thank you for your help.

Matthias Fripp
 
J

Jim Gordon MVP

Matthias said:
I have an Excel 2008 workbook with 4 columns of data, each containing
1500 rows. I have made a line chart plotting the last three columns,
using the first column to label the bottom axis. Excel 2008 was very
slow to produce the chart (took a minute or two after clicking the
chart icon in the ribbon), and also has delays of a similar duration
whenever I try to manipulate the chart -- type a new minimum or
maximum value for an axis, change the color of a line, switch a series
to a secondary axis, etc.

In addition, whenever I try to change the color of a line, I receive
the message, "Complex formatting that is applied to the selected chart
may take a while to display. Do you want to continue using the
formatting? [No] [Yes]". I don't consider a line color to be "complex
formatting," so this message is perplexing. But I assume it is related
to the general slowness of Excel when plotting this data.

This dataset is not unusually large (4 years of daily values), and
Excel 2004 (or any Windows version of Excel) are able to handle it
nearly instantaneously. I wrote an entire Ph.D. dissertation using
Excel 2004, with larger and more complex charts than this. I really
appreciate the improved integration between Word and Excel 2008 (I can
finally copy and paste charts from Excel to Word as real objects
instead of pictures, without ballooning the size of the Word file!),
but this problem is making Excel 2008 unusable for my work.

I have put up with the limitations of Mac Office for years, always
expecting the next version to solve the most egregious problems, but
this problem may drive me to finally abandon Microsoft in favor of
other solutions. The learning curve for other software is steep, but
if I can't even use Office for my work, what choice do I have?

Please eliminate these delays in editing graphs as soon as possible.
It is the most important thing keeping me from using Office 2008 right
now or recommending it to my colleagues.

Thank you for your help.

Matthias Fripp

Hi Matthias,

We know that MacBU has heard about this problem and is paying attention
to it. Please send your feedback to Microsoft using Excel's Help > Send
Feedback menu. A nudge will help them keep focused on this problem.

You don't mention whether or not you've installed the latest updates. If
you haven't, please do so. Be sure your computer is set to receive
automatic updates so that if this fix is implemented, you will get it
right away.

-Jim
 

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