One of the September 2014 updates has us scratching our heads because it doesn’t make a lot of sense. The download is a fix for a problem caused by a previous bug patch, but what else?
Under the bland title “September 9, 2014 update for Excel 2010” you’ll discover that the download fixes, in Microsoft’s words:
“When you select the chart area (the chart area is the entire chart and all its elements) of a chart in a worksheet in Excel 2010, the formula bar is disabled. This issue occurs after you install update KB2881057 for Excel 2010.”
Back in June 2014, Microsoft released Hotfix KB2881057 for three Excel 2010 bugs. That download ended up disabling the formula bar which is a major problem for any Excel user. So the cure may have been worse than the disease for most Excel 2010 customers.
Hotfixes aren’t full patches. They are somewhat rushed updates to fix specific problems and not recommended unless you need a fix to that issue.
But the hotfix has been available for three months and there’s nothing on the hotfix page to warn about the known problem with it.
Even now, the hotfix page doesn’t have a mention of the September patch that fixes the hotfix.
But that’s not all. The June hotfix deals with three separate Excel bugs. The September full release public patch only mentions fixing the bug made by the hotfix.
Does the September update replace the hotfix? If it does, why not say so and remove the buggy hotfix?
If the June hotfix is still needed to fix the other bugs, why doesn’t the September patch mention the hotfix as a prerequisite?
It’s not clear if the September patch replaces the earlier hotfix or just restores the formula bar.
All up, it’s another example of poor documentation from Microsoft. The once useful Knowledge Base isn’t given proper attention.
