You can read XL 97 files in XL 03.

Excel will crash if it doesn't have enough memory to handle the file being
used. Further, newer versions of Excel are better able to address more
memory in modern machines. So that would be a benefit to upgrading.

A further benefit is that XL 03's formula auditing capabilities are enhanced.
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A hint to posters: Specific, detailed questions are more likely to be
answered than questions that provide no detail about your problem.


"Annie" wrote:

Hi
Was wondering whether Excel 2003 is backward compatible with 97. We have a
lot of files here that are in 97 and if we upgrade will they be okay? Also,
we share a lot of spreadsheets with other departments and sometimes in 97 and
2000 they crash because the files are too big. Is there an improvement in
the capacity in 2003? And finally, what are the general benefits to
upgrading to 2003?

Many thanks

Annie
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Kind regards

Ann Shaw