You don't have to "own" the versions, just have access to them. If you have
versions A (oldest) thru versions N(newest) of any software program, your
code written for version A may well run in all versions thru version N
because of "backwards" compatibility. But if you write your code for version
N, it is almost guaranteed not to run in version A. In other words, in
software as in life, you can never go back. The only way to be certain your
code runs in all versions is to test your code in all versions.

Tyro

"dim" wrote in message
...
Hi folks,

Im writing my current program in Excel 2002 with VBA. Its still in the
early days but I intend to incorporate some MS Word elements aswell.

One of my books puts Excel useage at: [Excel 97 - 10%] [Excel 2000 - 45%]
[Excel 2002 - 40%] and [Excel 2003 - 5%]. Obviously Excel 2007 is out now,
and I can only assume that useage for it is still low in proportion.

I'm wondering when the time arrives, how I can test my program is newer
versions of Excel than 2002....and possibly even test it in 2000. Do I
need
to own all the versions which I want to test in?

Do I need to test in different windows versions aswell?

What about people running Excel on a Mac...can I test for that without
buying a Mac?

How do the MVP's usually test their programs...do you or your company own
all versions for testing? Thats not economically viable for me at this
point.

Thanks.