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New I have to get a new box to run Microsoft Excel
There is a spreadsheet I have to work on. I have to go to Costco and pick up a computer just to work on the spreadsheet. I have to make sure the software matches the creator of this spreadsheet or at least get to a later version. This is the ultimate viral upgrade. I've managed to stay away from the Microsoft environment for about 20 years now.

I assume I could spin up a virtual environment but I'm not going to do that. Those days are over for me.

Anything I should be looking for or against when I am about to just simply impulse buy a computer?
New 8GB, SSD, AMD APU
That would be the cheapest most effective solution.

After that, just buy on reputation/reviews.

ETA: if you’re doing anything with truly massive datasets then add more memory, obv.

ETA2: before spending a single dime, check whether what you need to do can be achieved in the online (web) version of Excel.
Expand Edited by pwhysall March 2, 2022, 01:07:39 PM EST
Expand Edited by pwhysall March 2, 2022, 01:09:55 PM EST
New Ditto on checking online Excel
Regards,
-scott
Welcome to Rivendell, Mr. Anderson.
New Tiny form factor PCs might have heat issues.
Things are evolving rapidly, but I wouldn't get any tiny desktop unless it's a MacMini. Similarly with an all-in-one.

Otherwise, pick a budget and get the best you can for that price.

The latest Intel series is the 12xxx chips. I would avoid the i3, myself. i5 would be fine, AMD Ryzen 5 series (the latest are the 5xxx chips), similarly would be fine. Try to get an SSD as the boot disk - it makes a huge difference in performance.

Good luck!

Cheers,
Scott.
New Not a thing
ETA: i3 will be fine for a little light Excel work, but you get more bang/buck with the AMD APUs
Expand Edited by pwhysall March 2, 2022, 03:13:48 PM EST
New If you have a Mac - Microsoft Excel 2021 for Mac.
Alex

"There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that "my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge."

-- Isaac Asimov
New Have you checked that it can't be edited in LibreOffice (or similar)?
Or, hey, if it's a somewhat recent (i.e. .xlsx) file, you could always dig into it and see if some tool can work with the XML file(s) it contains. AIUI .xlsx files are actually zipped folders.
--

   Christian R. Conrad
The Man Who Apparently Still Knows Fucking Everything


Mail: Same username as at the top left of this post, at iki.fi
New Oh, it probably can be
But it's almost certainly not worth the effort. It never is. If you can do your Excel shee in LibreOffice, you can almost certainly do it in the Excel web app.

But I'm a big believer in not second-guessing the brief. Baz wants to run Excel. The question was about doing Excel stuff and he even literally said "I have to make sure the software matches the creator of this spreadsheet or at least get to a later version".

There's risk associated with going off-piste with something like LibreOffice if, at some point in the future, the sheet breaks or produces the wrong result. If wor Bazza has done all the work in Excel, he can simply go 🤷‍♂️. If he's used LibreOffice, then the fickle finger of blame can be pointed at him.

Also, LibreOffice is fucking awful to use. It's like being teleported back to 1995.
New Yeah, you're right about the blamage-potential, but wrong about...
...the "fucking awful to use". When it comes to computer GUIs, I'd love to be teleported back to 1995... Or, OK, say somewhere around 2000-2005. Just before the fucking "Ribbon", as far as Microsoft, specifically, is concerned.
--

   Christian R. Conrad
The Man Who Apparently Still Knows Fucking Everything


Mail: Same username as at the top left of this post, at iki.fi
New Spin up a VM, install Windows XP and Office XP, and see how you like it
If you do, bully for you! Also, sucks to be you, because that world is gone.
New Don't have to, I'll just boot up my old Thinkpad T510.
Windows 7 and Office... Uh, can't recall, whatever was current in ~2011, I suppose. (Unfortunately that already had the fucking Ribbon, IIRC.) Even W7 could be persuaded to present almost exactly the good old W95/NT4/W2K interface, so mine of course does.

As for "sucks to be you, because that world is gone" -- I'm not so sure. AIUI at least KDE, and possibly a few other Linux DEs, can be set up to look reasonably sane. And worst case, Haiku, ReactOS, Serenity... Or, hey, I hear OS/2 and Amiga are still around in some form! :-) (Though UI-wise that would probably be ReactOS, Serenity, and OS/2 for me; maybe less so Haiku and Amiga.)
--

   Christian R. Conrad
The Man Who Apparently Still Knows Fucking Everything


Mail: Same username as at the top left of this post, at iki.fi
New Hang on…
…are you saying that this is the Year Of Linux On The Desktop?
New And if it is ...
If the only reason to run Linux is because you can still make it look like Windows 95, I guess you can call that "winning".
--

Drew
New Of course. Aren't they all?
Just saying, if that's how far I'll have to go, then that's how far I'll go.
--

   Christian R. Conrad
The Man Who Apparently Still Knows Fucking Everything


Mail: Same username as at the top left of this post, at iki.fi
New Fortunately, ArcaOS . . .
. . still looks just like OS/2 by default.
New I dodged the bullet
Spreadsheet works on the Chromebook even though it didn't work on the phone. I can work on it so I don't need a different box.

No Microsoft anything in this house at this point.
     I have to get a new box to run Microsoft Excel - (crazy) - (15)
         8GB, SSD, AMD APU - (pwhysall) - (1)
             Ditto on checking online Excel -NT - (malraux)
         Tiny form factor PCs might have heat issues. - (Another Scott) - (1)
             Not a thing - (pwhysall)
         If you have a Mac - Microsoft Excel 2021 for Mac. -NT - (a6l6e6x)
         Have you checked that it can't be edited in LibreOffice (or similar)? - (CRConrad) - (8)
             Oh, it probably can be - (pwhysall) - (7)
                 Yeah, you're right about the blamage-potential, but wrong about... - (CRConrad) - (6)
                     Spin up a VM, install Windows XP and Office XP, and see how you like it - (pwhysall) - (5)
                         Don't have to, I'll just boot up my old Thinkpad T510. - (CRConrad) - (4)
                             Hang on… - (pwhysall) - (2)
                                 And if it is ... - (drook)
                                 Of course. Aren't they all? - (CRConrad)
                             Fortunately, ArcaOS . . . - (Andrew Grygus)
         I dodged the bullet - (crazy)

Don't take the name of the rutabaga in vain!
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