Excel uses the setting that the user specifies in the control panel (regional
settings) for date order.

So my bet is one is using a short date format in one order and the other pc is
using a different order--like mdy or dmy.

Walter wrote:

I installed excel on my Vista laptop and the formatting comes up different
than my XP desktop. Upon further investigation, although the Version numbers
are the same in About, the product number is different. The option for date
does not even exist in the laptop and the input is inverted? WHY

--

Dave Peterson