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Calc – A Viable Replacement for Microsoft Excel?
Microsoft Excel has lengthy been the first spreadsheet based mostly utility within the Microsoft Workplace software program market. First launched for Home windows programs in 1987, Excel is utilized in a big majority of workplaces all over the world.
Nevertheless, regardless of its widespread utilization, Excel shouldn’t be with out its detractors. Some cannot stand the consumer interface structure; others rant over the “Workplace Assistant” on-screen characters (in different phrases, the annoying mild bulb all of us like to hate); and for others, it is rather more simple- the associated fee. As of present writing (January 2011), Microsoft Excel retails for $139.99 – actually not simple for college students or new enterprise homeowners to soak up. So what are the choices for these of us who cannot stand or cannot afford Excel?
As Excel is usually used for vital and generally important enterprise report protecting, a program that may match or beat the options and stability of Excel is of utmost significance. Additionally of large significance is the power to load and modify Excel recordsdata; in any case, even if you happen to’re utilizing an alternate, you possibly can’t count on your shoppers or different companies to make use of that different as nicely. As Microsoft Excel outputs recordsdata in a proprietary format, different packages can not legally learn or modify Excel recordsdata and not using a license from Microsoft. Fortunately, there are free choices for workplace software program customers. The most well-liked, OpenOffice.org (www.openoffice.org) is a complete software program suite launched free for cost from the OpenOffice.org group. It consists of quite a lot of packages (identical to Microsoft Workplace)- Author, a phrase processor; Impress, a presentation software; Base, a database entry program; Draw, a graphic creation and manipulation program, and Calc, a spreadsheet utility. Calc is what we’ll concentrate on, as it is the spreadsheet utility in Open Workplace.
Calc is taken into account by many to be an nearly direct substitute for Excel. The consumer interface may be very comparable, and the syntax for spreadsheet formulation and calculation is well translatable between Excel and Calc. A lot of favourite options from Excel are additionally delivered to Calc, albeit beneath new names with a barely completely different look. This system is complete and consists of quite a lot of “wizards” that can assist you create, manipulate and perceive the information in your spreadsheets. Moreover, Calc can import and modify Excel format spreadsheet recordsdata, which is a significant plus. Assist for this system is widespread, however is generally centered in on-line boards and message boards somewhat than a central location (as is the case with Excel).
