(Solver is bundled with Excel 2011)
Solver for Microsoft Excel 2008 for Macintosh is available and you can download it, free, right now. It was our way of re-introducing ourselves to the Mac community. This version of Solver is a Frontline Systems product and is supported by us -- but we owe a big THANK YOU to Microsoft's Macintosh Business Unit for (i) asking us to do this and (ii) supporting our efforts intensively with AppleScript help, QA testing, and localization.
Frontline Systems developed the original Solver for Excel on both Macintosh and Windows. For many years, we've offered Solver upgrades for Windows users, that have gotten more and more powerful over time -- but we haven't been active on the Mac. We're now applying more development resources to the Macintosh, motivated by the Mac's resurgence in the market and the move to Intel processors. But the catalyst for this move has been Microsoft's Mac Excel team.
 | Solver for Mac Excel 2008 looks and behaves very much like Solver for Excel 2004. |
If you open a workbook with a Solver model that you created in Excel 2004, or in most other versions of Excel, the model will appear automatically in this dialog -- you can just click Solve.
Read the FAQ to learn how Solver for Excel 2008 was developed, special considerations in using this Solver versus the one in Excel 2004, and what to expect in the future.
What You Need
To use Solver, you must have Excel 12.1.2 or later. To check your version, start Excel and select About Excel from the Excel menu. You can get 12.1.2 three ways: (i) use Microsoft AutoUpdate, which runs weekly by default if you've opted in; (ii) start Excel and select Check for Updates from the Helpmenu; (iii) to download 12.1.2 manually, go here and click Downloads at the top of the page. If you're starting from 12.1.0, you must install 12.1.1, then install 12.1.2.
You may also be interested in:
- Try our Solver Tutorial to learn more about building Solver models and getting solutions.
- Premium Solver Platform for Mac offers far more power, speed and flexibility than the Standard Excel Solver while allowing all your existing models, even your VBA code, to be used as-is.
- If you are a developer of optimization or simulation applications, check our Solver SDK Platform. It's available for Windows and Linux -- but contact us for news about availability of the SDK for Mac OSX.