As Excel attempts to enhance its functionality and improve user accessibility by combining with Python, power users and developers appear to be cold to these updates.

Microsoft announced on its official blog on the 22nd (local time) that it will introduce the programming language Python to Excel and provide a preview of the function that will allow users to manipulate and analyze data in Python.

The Python features, which are being released as a public preview in the Microsoft 365 Insider Program Beta Channel, which provides early access to features and updates, will reportedly be released first in Excel for Windows, with other platforms to follow.

“We’ve combined Python’s powerful data analysis and visualization libraries with the power of Excel,” said General Manager Stefan Kinestrand. “You can manipulate and explore your data in Excel using Python plots and libraries, then visualize it using Excel formulas, charts, pivot tables, and more.”

Access Python directly from the Excel ribbon menu Access allows you to perform advanced data analysis in an Excel environment. Previously, you had to download separate Python modules from the Python community and set up the environment for data analysis and visualization libraries, but now there is no need for separate settings or installation.

Microsoft has partnered with Anaconda, an enterprise-grade Python distribution, to provide popular Python libraries, including data manipulation with pandas, advanced statistical modeling with statsmodels, and data visualization with matplotlib and seaborn.

Customers and partners such as McKinney and McGraw Hill responded to these updates by saying, “Python in Excel will simplify our workflow and make Python more accessible across the organization,” and “Students’ access to Excel tools has been improved and their job readiness has been enhanced.” These comments are being introduced on the official MS blog.

Python in Excel is included with MS 365 subscriptions during the public preview period, but it appears that some features will be limited without a paid license in the future, suggesting that it may be offered as a paid feature after the official release.

This has been met with negative reactions from advanced users, developers, and data scientists. From a developer's perspective, there is no advantage to using Excel, and faster work such as data processing and visualization can be done using only Python.

The main reason for preferring Python is that it can perform broader and more connected tasks while encompassing the scope of Excel in terms of its functionality and usability. Moreover, while Python can be used for free, Python within Excel is provided for a fee.

However, it is expected that the inclusion of Python functions in Excel will increase functionality in the area of temporary data analysis and management, and lower the accessibility and entry barrier to Python for some users.