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Excel 2007 Multiplication Bug

Posted by kdawson on from the be-fruitful-and-all-that dept.

tibbar66 writes with news of a serious multiplication bug in Excel 2007, which has been reported to the company. The example that first came to light is =850*77.1 — which gives a result of 100,000 instead of the correct 65,535. It seems that any formula that should evaluate to 65,535 will act strangely. One poster in the forum noted these behaviors: "Suppose the formula is in A1. =A1+1 returns 100,001, which appears to show the formula is in fact 100,000... =A1*2 returns 131,070, as if A1 had 65,535 (which it should have been). =A1*1 keeps it at 100,000. =A1-1 returns 65,534. =A1/1 is still 100,000. =A1/2 returns 32767.5."

8 of 806 comments (clear)

  1. Oh no! by kwabbles · · Score: 0, Troll

    This is the most devastating bug in years. Heaven have mercy on us all.

    --
    Just disrupt the deflector shield with a tachyon burst.
  2. Dunno... by Frosty+Piss · · Score: 0, Troll

    Dunno, works just fine in my copy of 2007...

    --
    If you want news from today, you have to come back tomorrow.
  3. Re:Microsoft Excel is the Worst Part of Office 200 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Troll

    Here's a tip. The same fuckers wrote the application and the kernel, and we hate them, and no one wants your snarky effort to show you took a high school intro to computers class.

  4. Found only now? by The+MAZZTer · · Score: 0, Troll

    If this had been a bug with, say, some iPhone spreadsheet program, it would have been found and posted launch day.

    Why has it taken so long for someone to find this? Other than the plausible explanation that MS' push for people to upgrade isn't going so well...

  5. Re:Microsoft just announced plans for their fix by Tablizer · · Score: 0, Troll

    They will be disabling multiplication in all future versions of Excel.

    But first they got a patent on it and sent cease and desist letters. The Hindu's are suing over prior art from 1005.

    --
    Table-ized A.I.
  6. Re:Good Luck! by Skates1616 · · Score: 0, Troll

    Just tried and I get this:

    4294967295

  7. Re:Is anyone using Excel 2007? by T-Bone-T · · Score: 0, Troll

    Try to make your jealousy less obvious next time.

  8. Market share by akalaniz · · Score: 0, Troll

    So, the market share of Linsux users seems to be about 572 or so, and you "winners" clearly know how to spend your weekends. Have you ever kissed a girl?

    Alex