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Microsoft Excel

Webopedia Staff
Last Updated May 24, 2021 7:48 am

Microsoft Excel is a spreadsheet program included in the Microsoft Office suite of applications. Spreadsheets present tables of values arranged in rows and columns that can be manipulated mathematically using both basic and complex arithmetic operations and functions.

In addition to its standard spreadsheet features, Excel also offers programming support via Microsoft’s Visual Basic for Applications (VBA), the ability to access data from external sources via Microsoft s Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE), and extensive graphing and charting capabilities.

Microsoft Excel Release History

Microsoft Excel was first released for Macintosh systems in 1985, followed by the first Windows version in 1987. The following is a list of Excel releases for Windows:

Excel 2.0 (1987)
Excel 3.0 (1990)
Excel 4.0 (1992) – Included in Microsoft Office 3.0
Excel 5.0 (1993) – Included in Microsoft Office 4.0
Excel 95 (1995) – Included in Microsoft Office 95
Excel 97 (1997) – Included in Microsoft Office 97
Excel 2000 (2000) – Included in Microsoft Office 2000
Excel 2002 (2002) – Included in Microsoft Office XP
Excel 2003 (2003) – Included in Microsoft Office 2003
Excel 2007 (2007) – Included in Microsoft Office 2007
Excel 2010 (2010) – Included in Microsoft Office 2010
Excel 2013 (2013) – Included in Microsoft Office 2013