We’ve had reports of an error when trying to open the PowerPivot for Excel 2013 'Manage' window after installation. This error does not happen for an Admin user.

 The message received is:  "We couldn't load the Data Model. This may be because the Data Model in this workgroup is damaged"          

In this circumstance, originally, the reason for this error was by design and caused by modified user permissions. Read further for more information, but refer to the UPDATE section at the bottom for changes made and other resolutions now available.

 On Windows Vista and Windows 7, the PowerPivot add-in required the user to have permission for "SeIncreaseWorkingSetPrivilege" which is policy Increase a process working set.

This policy setting determines which users can increase or decrease the size of a process's working set. The working set of a process is the set of memory pages currently visible to the process in physical RAM memory.
These pages are resident and available for an application to use without triggering a page fault. The minimum and maximum working set sizes affect the virtual memory paging behavior of a process.

On Windows Vista and Windows 7, by default, standard users have this permission.  To resolve the issue, add the USER group and allow these permissions.

How to check the permissions:

1. Open the Local Group Policy Editor: gpedit.msc

2. Navigate to:  Computer Configuration\Windows Settings\Security Settings\Local Policies\User Rights Assignment

3. Locate Policy:  Increase a process working set

4. Open tab:  Local Security Setting

     Is it set up to allow the USERS group?

For more information, including the policy needed for Windows XP, refer to the articles below.

Analysis Services Blog  
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/as_emea/archive/2012/04/27/non-admin-users-not-able-to-use-powerpivot-for-excel-2012-on-windows-xp.aspx

User Rights
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd349804(v=WS.10).aspx#BKMK_26

Update: June 2014

For SQL Server 2012 PowerPivot for Excel 2010, this was corrected with hotfix http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2721122

For PowerPivot for Excel 2013, the changes to permissions needed for PowerPivot were implemented in May 2014.  For PowerPivot for Excel 2013, to resolve this issue you may apply the most recent Office 2013 Cumulative Updates or install the hotfix below that includes this design change for PowerPivot: 
   Hotfix 2880450 for Office 2013 (Excelpp-x-none.msp): May 13, 2014
   http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2880450

After editing the Internet Explorer settings via group policy, some users are experiencing errors when trying to launch the Office applications.

 ERROR Examples:

 "Word could not create the work file. Check the temp environment variable."

"Outlook could not create the work file. Check the temp environment variable."

Resolution:

When editing the group policy, ensure that the  Temporary Internet Files setting for "Current Location" is set correctly and/or is not blank.

Internet Options > General tab > Browsing History > Settings:

Windows 7 default:  C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet Files

Windows 8 default:   C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\INetCache

Other known causes and resolutions of this error can be found in the Knowledge Base article: 

2285187 "Word could not create the work file" error message when you save a document in Word 2013, Word 2010 or in Office Word 2007
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2285187/EN-US

As I read through the feedback on Excel 2013, it strikes me that many users are having a little trouble getting used to the interface changes, and are not aware of options to replace the things they miss in earlier versions of Excel. So here are a few tips and tricks to make your life easier!

Print Preview

We see a lot of people missing the old full-screen print preview. It’s still there! Just click on the Quick Access Toolbar (QAT) dropdown and go to More Commands. Add Print Preview (Full screen) to the QAT. Then you can go into the old-style Print Preview any time you like! Alternatively, if you have a custom group with your favorite commands on it, you can add print preview to that.

Others miss the ability to drag the margins in print preview to change them. True, when you first go to the Print backstage place, you don’t have the margins showing. But if you click on the left icon at the bottom right side of the page, you can toggle the margin indicators on and off. Once they are showing, you can drag the margins just like you could in the old-style print preview.

Opening Excel

If you just want to go to a new workbook when you first open Excel, you can do so by clearing the box that says "Show the start screen when this application starts." You will find that at the bottom of the General tab in Options.

Save and Open

Another frequent complaint is that people don’t want to bother with the backstage when they open or save files. There is an option for that… On the Options dialog box, under the File menu, click Save. Put a check in the box beside “Don’t show the Backstage when opening or saving files.” Then when you want to save, hold down Control and press S. Control+O when you want to open files. The common file dialog box comes right up.

While you are at it, if you don’t want to save to SharePoint or OneDrive by default, check “Save to Computer by default.”

Favorite Places

While Favorite Places still shows up in the common file dialog box, some people have mentioned that it isn’t there on the Backstage. They want to be able to add local folders under “Add a place.” Recent folders do show up after you click on the appropriate type of locations. But you can also pin locations to After you have saved to a location once, go to Save As… And find the place you want to save. Hover over it, and it will show a little push pin on the right. Click that, and that folder will always show up at the top of your list.

You can also pin documents to the "jump list" that comes up when you right-click the Excel taskbar icon. That comes in handy for people who miss being able to pin documents to the start menu from Windows 7.

 Freeze and Split Panes

Some folks have mentioned that they can’t find Split Panes now that the little control to drag to split is gone. It’s on the view menu. Place your active cell below and to the right of the point where you want the panes split. Click on the Split button on the View menu. Once the panes are split, you can drag them around to reposition.

People also seem to be confused about Freeze Panes. By default, if your active cell is in the first row, Freeze Panes (and Split) will be positioned in the middle of the visible cells. Place the active cell below and to the right of the freeze you want. Or if you want the top row or left column, click the Freeze Panes button and pick Top Row or First Column.

Sheet Navigation

People miss the first sheet, last sheet buttons beside the horizontal scroll bar. Did you know that you can right-click on the sheet navigation arrows to bring up a list of all the sheets? Then you can navigate directly to the one you want.

Hope this helps!

When opening an .xlsx file in Excel for iPad, Excel for Mac or Excel for iPhone, you receive an error.

ERROR: "The workbook you are trying to open is an ISO Strict file"

 - You find this does not happen with all .xlsx files

Cause:

The file that will not open was created or saved using the newer Strict Open XML Spreadsheet (.xlsx) file type. The ability to save Microsoft Office files in Strict Open XML format was introduced in Microsoft Office 2013 programs.

ISO Strict file is not supported on Excel for iPad, Excel for Mac or Excel for iPhone

See screenshot below, there are two options for . xlsx in Excel 2013 to save: 

 Excel Workbook (*.xlsx)  and  Strict Open XML Spreadsheet (*.xlsx)

References:

New file format options in the new Office
http://blogs.office.com/2012/08/13/new-file-format-options-in-the-new-office/

Why can’t I open my file?
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/excel-help/why-cant-i-open-my-file-HA103748560.aspx

2960660 Strict Open XML files do not open or save in Excel for iPad or Excel for Mac
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2960660/EN-US