Blank Sheet Opens When Excel Gets Focus

[joelb]

Version: 2008
Operating System: Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard)
Processor: Intel

MBP 2.5GHz, 4GB RAM, OSX 10.5.5
Excel is running, but no files are open.
Click on the Excel ICON in the dock to give Excel focus and it automatically opens a new blank sheet. I don't want a new blank sheet, I just want the Excel menu bar so I can select File:Open and navigate to find a file I want to open.

Can't find a way to stop Excel from opening a new blank sheet.

 

[JE McGimpsey]

Excel is running, but no files are open.
Click on the Excel ICON in the dock to give Excel focus and it automatically
opens a new blank sheet. I don't want a new blank sheet, I just want the
Excel menu bar so I can select File:Open and navigate to find a file I want
to open.

Can't find a way to stop Excel from opening a new blank sheet.

This behavior is exactly what should happen in accordance with Apple's
Mac OS X Human Interface Guidelines. Specifically
(http://tinyurl.com/5rfrsn):

Your application should open a window when a user does
any of the following:

<snip>

- Clicks the application icon in the Dock when no windows are open

If you'd rather it didn't, contact Apple about changing their guidelines.

In the mean time, instead of clicking the icon in the Dock, use CMD-Tab
to switch applications instead.