Introduction

Overview of Functionalities

Microsoft Excel is a spreadsheet program that allows users to organize, analyze, and manipulate data. It offers a wide range of features and functionalities, including:

  • Data entry and organization: Users can enter data into cells and organize it into rows and columns. They can also use tools like sorting and filtering to quickly find and manipulate specific data.

  • Formulas and functions: Excel includes a wide variety of formulas and functions that can be used to perform calculations on data. These include basic mathematical functions like SUM and AVERAGE, as well as more advanced functions like VLOOKUP and INDEX/MATCH.

  • Charts and graphs: Excel allows users to create a variety of charts and graphs to visually represent data. These include bar charts, line graphs, and pie charts.

  • Pivot tables: Excel's pivot table feature allows users to quickly summarize and analyze large amounts of data. Pivot tables can be used to group data, calculate totals and averages, and create cross-tabulations.

  • Macros: Excel allows users to record and save sequences of actions as macros. These macros can be played back to automate repetitive tasks.

  • Data connection: Excel can connect to external data source like SQL, Access, and other data sources.

  • Excel also has many other features like conditional formatting, data validation, templates, and more

Software purchase/subscription

Excel is part of the Microsoft Office Suite, which can be purchased or subscribed to in several ways:

  • One-time purchase: Users can purchase a one-time, perpetual license of the Office Suite, which includes Excel. This means they will own the software and can continue using it indefinitely, but will not receive any future updates or upgrades.

  • Office 365 subscription: Users can subscribe to Office 365, which is a cloud-based subscription service that includes Excel. With an Office 365 subscription, users will always have the most up-to-date version of Excel and other Office applications, and will have access to additional features such as online storage and collaboration tools.

  • Office 365 for Business: This is the same as Office 365 but is intended for business use, it offers more features and is designed for team collaboration.

  • Office 365 for Education: This is intended for educational institutions and students, it offers same features as Office 365 for business but at a lower cost.

  • Office for Mac: Excel is also available for Mac as part of the Office for Mac Suite. It can be purchased as a one-time perpetual license or as a subscription through Office 365.

It's worth noting that purchasing or subscribing to Excel also includes access to other Office applications, such as Word, PowerPoint, and Outlook.

In addition, Microsoft also offers a free online version of Excel, called Excel Online, which is available to anyone with a Microsoft account. This version includes basic functionality, but is limited compared to the full desktop version.