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Microsoft has recently unveiled a public preview of Python integration in Excel, allowing users to incorporate Python code directly into spreadsheets. With this new feature, data analysts, engineers, marketers, and data science students can leverage Python for complex statistical analysis, advanced visualizations, predictive analytics, and machine learning within the Excel environment.

Users can easily input Python code into cells using the new “=PY” function, as Python will be seamlessly integrated into the Excel grid without the need for additional software installation. Microsoft has chosen to utilize the Anaconda distribution of Python, which is a user-friendly enterprise solution tailored specifically for data scientists and engineers. Anaconda comes equipped with pre-packaged libraries and packages such as pandas, Matplotlib, scikit-learn, NumPy, and SciPy.

Microsoft emphasizes that Python in Excel operates securely within the Microsoft 365 experience. The execution of code takes place in the Microsoft Cloud, rather than locally, within an isolated container using Azure Container Instances. This ensures enterprise-level security and minimizes the potential for unauthorized access.

To further protect the data in users’ workbooks, specific functions like “xl()” and “=PY()” are employed to control data access and perform authorized operations exclusively.

The public preview of Python integration in Microsoft Excel will be initially available to Microsoft 365 Insiders using the Beta Channel in Excel for Windows. This development signifies a significant advancement, granting Excel users a powerful toolset to harness the capabilities of Python for data analysis and data science tasks, all within the familiar Excel environment.

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