What is Microsoft Excel?

Microsoft Excel is a spreadsheet program that allows you to store, organize, and analyze data in a tabular format. We can also use Excel to create charts, graphs, pivot tables, and perform calculations using formulas and functions. Excel is part of the Microsoft Office suite of software, and it works on Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, and iPadOS devices. Some of the benefits of using Excel are:

• It can handle large amounts of data and perform complex calculations quickly and accurately.
• It can help you visualize data trends and patterns using various types of charts and graphs.
• It can help you automate tasks and simplify workflows using macros and VBA (Visual Basic for Applications) programming.
• It can help you collaborate with others and share data using cloud-based services like Microsoft 365.

The first version of Excel was released for the Mac in 1985 and the first Windows version was released in November 1987.

• Developer(s)             :           Microsoft
• Initial release           :           1987
• Operating system     :           Microsoft Windows
• Type                            :           Spreadsheet

Early History Of Microsoft Excel

Multiplan was an early spreadsheet program developed by Microsoft. Initially known as “Electronic Paper“, that was introduced in 1982.

Multiplan was released first for computers running CP/M card. It was developed using a Microsoft proprietary p-code C compiler. In France, Multiplan was also released for the Thomson computers in 1986.  

CP/M, standing for Control Program for Microcomputers, is a mass-market operating system created in 1974 by Gary Kildall.

Despite the release of Microsoft Chart, a graphics companion program, Multiplan continued to be outsold by Lotus 1-2-3. Lotus 1-2-3 is a discontinued spreadsheet program from Lotus Software was hugely popular in the 1980s.

Multiplan was replaced by Microsoft Excel, which followed some years later on both the Apple Macintosh (1985) and Microsoft Windows (1987).

The first Windows version was labeled “2” to correspond to the Mac version. This included a run-time version of Windows

Different Versions of Microsoft Excel