subject: Introduction To New Excel File Formats [print this page] Many user sure experience transition of upgrading from previous Excel version to the Excel 2007 or Excel 2010. As a results, users in many cases, need to decide which file format to used, keeping the previous file format (.xls), or using the latest file extension (.xlsx). Though, before make up your mind, it is always good to know a little more about the advantages of the .xlsx format.
First of all, if you realized, the new file format is compact and having smaller file size. The secret of .xlsx format is it uses ZIP file compression, so spreadsheet files are way smaller than the original file format. The compression ratio can be up to 75 percent smaller. Because of the reduced file size, it enable users to easily share their workbooks via emails, portable drive or even web.
With the new file system, Microsoft also improved on the Excel application stability and hence less error-prone. The .xlsx file now separates ordinary content, macro codes, and pictures into different sections. Microsoft claims that this approach results in more robust files. With this kind of structure, if any part of your Excel file is damaged, for example due to hard drive clash, user have higher chance to recover as much information as possible from the damaged file.
The .xlsx file extension is actually using the XML (eXtensible Markup Language) format. As you may already know, XML is well known for extensibility and it is a standardized way to store information. With that, it also means that many software company or advanced users are able to build custom software that uses Excel documents. As long as Excel spreadsheets are saved in .xlsx, these companies can develop automated programs that pull the data they desire straight out of a worksheet, without Microsoft Excel's existence. Or, for those who are familiar with the new Excel file format, they can write a program to generate Excel documents all on their own.
For all these advantages, users are recommended to use .xlsx extension if they are using Excel 2010 or Excel 2007. However, Microsoft also offer two more new file formats. First, there's the closely related .xlsm file extension. This is the special format which adds the ability to store macro code. Microsoft Excel will prompt users to save the file into this extension if they added any macros to the spreadsheets. Second, Microsoft also offer an optimized .xlsb format. This is the format that specially designed for faster file opening and saving of gargantuan spreadsheets. The .xlsb format also implement the compression and error-resistance like .xlsx, however the data is stored in raw binary format, to speed up the loading and saving. You can choose to save this file extension from the File Save As, and then, from the "Save as type" list, choose Excel Binary Workbook (.xlsb).
In most cases, users are recommended to user the default file type, which is the .xlsx file extension. The only time users need to start considering is when they need to share their workbooks with other users that may different version of Excel, such as Excel 2003. If that is the case, then .xls may be a better extension to use.
