Introduction:
You will probably wonder what this section is doing in an Excel Tutorial. Normally people don’t bother about the History and Geography of most of the things. But wouldn’t it be nice to know a little about the definition of Excel - one of the most popular applications in Computer history, and the people who burnt lights at night to gift it to us? So here I go, very short indeed.
Excel (Microsoft Office Excel) is a spreadsheet-application that allows easy analysis and manipulation of data using tables and formulas. Period.
Advantages:
Like all other applications, Excel does have its share of advantages and disadvantages. However, if I start jotting them down, I am afraid the whole book needs to be dedicated to this section. However, just to name a few - it’s easy to use, portable (you can create something in excel and send it in a mail), affordable, and one of the best parts is it has amazing capabilities in terms of presentation of your data. If you are as much (or even more) in love with Excel as I am, and if you are reading this right now (which means you have a PC at your disposal), the chances are fairly high that you have access to internet. Browse through the cyberworld and you will find hundreds of advantages and disadvantages of this amazing application. Period.
History:
Up till 1978, a spreadsheet comprised of a ledger paper, pencil (pen in some cases, or both) and eraser. Now, imagine you realised at the end of the year that there’s an error in one of the entries in the starting of the year. You will probably end up an entire day erasing and recalculating to get to the correct figures.
However, in 1979, two guys (Bob Frankston and Dan Bricklin) came to the rescue and invented VisiCalc (Visual Calculator) for Apple II computers. This was the first Spreadsheet program. Then came Lotus 1-2-3 for DOS. Some of the other spreadsheets who claimed their existence during those times were Quattro, Multiplan, and others; but Lotus 1-2-3 was clearly the leader in the world of Electronic Spreadsheets.
Come early 90s and Microsoft was ready with their improved Spreadsheet program named Excel. The initial Excel wasn’t as good as Lotus 1-2-3, but they showed rapid improvement each year. From mid 90 onwards Microsoft Excel started leading the Spreadsheet world and today it’s the undisputed leader. Period.
Like all other applications, Excel does have its share of advantages and disadvantages. However, if I start jotting them down, I am afraid the whole book needs to be dedicated to this section. However, just to name a few - it’s easy to use, portable (you can create something in excel and send it in a mail), affordable, and one of the best parts is it has amazing capabilities in terms of presentation of your data. If you are as much (or even more) in love with Excel as I am, and if you are reading this right now (which means you have a PC at your disposal), the chances are fairly high that you have access to internet. Browse through the cyberworld and you will find hundreds of advantages and disadvantages of this amazing application. Period.
History:
Up till 1978, a spreadsheet comprised of a ledger paper, pencil (pen in some cases, or both) and eraser. Now, imagine you realised at the end of the year that there’s an error in one of the entries in the starting of the year. You will probably end up an entire day erasing and recalculating to get to the correct figures.
However, in 1979, two guys (Bob Frankston and Dan Bricklin) came to the rescue and invented VisiCalc (Visual Calculator) for Apple II computers. This was the first Spreadsheet program. Then came Lotus 1-2-3 for DOS. Some of the other spreadsheets who claimed their existence during those times were Quattro, Multiplan, and others; but Lotus 1-2-3 was clearly the leader in the world of Electronic Spreadsheets.
Come early 90s and Microsoft was ready with their improved Spreadsheet program named Excel. The initial Excel wasn’t as good as Lotus 1-2-3, but they showed rapid improvement each year. From mid 90 onwards Microsoft Excel started leading the Spreadsheet world and today it’s the undisputed leader. Period.
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