Spreadsheet software displays incorrect numbers

Microsoft has admitted to a flaw in Excel 2007 which causes certain numbers to be displayed incorrectly.

The problem occurs when Excel attempts to display 65,535 or 65,536. Rather than displaying the actual number, the cell instead shows the value at 100,000.

The number 65,535 often appears as a maximum value in computing operations because it is the highest number which can be represented as a 16-bit unsigned number.

Excel group programme manager David Gainer assured users in a company blog that, while the number in the cell is incorrect, the value stored in memory will be accurate and will not throw off further calculations.

Gainer said that the issue occurs when any of six floating point numbers are displayed, and attributes it to "changes to the Excel calculation logic" made during what Gainer terms "the Office 2007 time frame".

A fix is in the final stages of testing, but Gainer would not give an expected date for release. Other versions of Excel are not affected.