MICROSOFT EXCEL

1. MICROSOFT EXCEL • What is Excel? • A software application which is part of the Microsoft Office Suite which performs mathematical calculations • The user must know how to enter formulas or functions to perform the necessary calculations. • While Microsoft Word creates documents--Microsoft Excel creates Spreadsheets • A spreadsheet uses a grid –like worksheet made up of columns and rows to enter data.

2. Columns and Rows • Columns go Down—there are 9,261 – • Rows go across—1,048,576 • A cell is where a column and row intersect and where you would type information—words or numbers. • A spreadsheet can automatically compute figures much faster than one can do with a pencil and paper.-- Unionville

4. HISTORY • Dan Bricklin and Bob Frankson invented the first practical spreadsheet for microcomputers. They called it VisiCalc. It was released for the Apple II computer in 1979. • Prior to this, paper-like spreadsheets called journals had to be manually re-calculated each time one cell was changed.

5. HISTORY CONTINUED • With Visicalc, work that might take a week could be done in minutes. • Several years after VisiCalc's release, the inventors sold the program to Lotus Development Corporation, who renamed it Lotus 1-2-3 and upgraded the software to run on an IBM-PC or compatible computer.(Word Star, Lotus 1-2-3 dBase) (Persuasion, Pagemaker, Hyperstudio) • MICROSOFT LATER DEVELOPED EXCEL • SO LET’S BEGIN AND OPEN FROM THE START ICON MICROSOFT EXCEL –>File New Workbook