Microsoft Excel or Microsoft Office Excel is a spreadsheet application program spreadsheets created and distributed by Microsoft for Microsoft Windows operating system and Mac OS. This application features calculation and graphing tools which, along with Microsoft’s strategy of aggressive marketing, make Microsoft Excel as one of the most popular computer programs used in the microcomputer to the present. Even today this program is the spreadsheet program most commonly used by many parties, both in Windows-based PC platform and platform-based Macintosh Mac OS, since version 5.0 was published in 1993. This application is part of the Microsoft Office System, and the final version is the version of Microsoft Office Excel 2007 is integrated in the package Microsoft Office System 2007.
History
In 1982, Microsoft made a spreadsheet program called Multiplan, which is very popular in systems CP / M, but not in MS-DOS system since there was standing rival, the Lotus 1-2-3. This makes Microsoft began development of a new spreadsheet program called Excel, in order, as claimed by Doug Klunder, ‘do everything 1-2-3 does and do it better / do what you do 1-2-3 and better “.
The first version of Excel was released for the Macintosh in 1985 and its Windows version followed (numbered version 2.0) in November 1987. Lotus was late to the market down a spreadsheet program for Windows, and in that year, Lotus 1-2-3 is still based MS-DOS. In 1988, Excel had started to shift in market share 1-2-3 spreadsheet program and make Microsoft as one of the company’s software developer for a reliable personal computer. This achievement confirms Microsoft as a very strong competitor for the 1-2-3 and they develop even better. Microsoft, using its superiority, the average release a new version of Excel once every two years, and versions of Excel for the Windows platform is Microsoft Office Excel 2007 (Excel 12), while for the Macintosh (Mac OS X), is the latest version of Microsoft Excel 2004.
In the early days of launch, Excel became the target demand by another company in the finance industry is already selling a software which also has the name of Excel. Finally, Microsoft had ended with the defeat of the lawsuit and Microsoft Excel to change the name to “Microsoft Excel” in all press releases and documents Microsoft. However, in practice, it is ignored and even Microsoft Excel buy from companies that previously required them, so the use of Excel name alone will not bring any more trouble. Microsoft also often use the letters XL as shorthand for the program, which although no longer common, the icons used by the program still consists of two letters (although given some of the style of writing). In addition, the default extension of spreadsheets created by Microsoft Excel is a *. xls.
Excel interface offers many advantages compared with a spreadsheet program that preceded it, but the essence remains the same as VisiCalc (spreadsheet software was first known): Tues, arranged in rows and columns, and contain data or formulas containing references to absolute or relative reference to cell another.
Excel is the first spreadsheet program that allows users to define the appearance of their spreadsheet edit: fonts, character attributes and cell appearance. Excel also offers a back calculation of cells intelligently, where only cells associated with these cells, which will be updated nilanya (where spreadsheet programs others will recalculate all the time or waited for a specific user command). In addition, Excel also offers graphics processing features are very good.
When first bundled into Microsoft Office in 1993, Microsoft had redesigned the user interface used by Microsoft Word and Microsoft PowerPoint to match the look of Microsoft Excel, which then becomes the application of the most popular spreadsheet.
Since 1993, Excel has a programming language Visual Basic for Applications (VBA), which can add the ability to perform Excel automation in Excel and also adds functions that can be defined by the user (user-defined functions / UDF) for use in in the worksheet. In the next version, even Microsoft added a fully featured integrated development environment (IDE) for language VBA for Excel, making it easier for programmers to do it the program. In addition, Excel can also record all user actions into macros, thus allowing simple automation of regular tasks. VBA allows the creation of forms and controls contained in the worksheet to be able to communicate with the user. Language supports use ActiveX DLL / COM, but not creation. Later versions add support for class modules allowing the use of object-oriented programming techniques in VBA.
Automation functions provided by VBA to make Excel as a target of macro viruses. This is a very serious problem in the corporate world until antivirus products began to add support to detect and clean macro viruses from Excel file. Finally, belatedly, Microsoft is also integrating the function to prevent abuse by disabling macros macros as a whole, or menngaktifkan activate macros when the workbook, or to trust encrypted macros using a trusted certificate.