Talk:Comparison of spreadsheet software

message: This article in its current form is limited to desktop spreadsheet applications.  Shan't we include online spreadsheets as listed on list of online spreadsheets here as well?  --Pkchan 04:26, 20 December 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: I also believe that all current (and perhaps some historical?) spreadsheets should be compared, regardless of platform. The article as it stands implies that on-line spreadsheets are almost irrelevant whereas, in reality, they are leading the way to functionality impossible with single user, stand-alone, workstation productsken (talk) 04:53, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

text: Also agree. Nowadays, online spreadsheets are incredibly popular and they have absolutely earned their place alongside Excel. --Forresthopkinsa (talk) 23:40, 14 March 2019 (UTC)

text: I worked on a fully interactive, WYSIWYG, networked, multi-user spreadsheet as early as 1974 for ICI (Imperial Chemical Industries, in Northwich, UK). This preceded Visicalc by 5 or 6 years for instance. My Wikipedia contributions about it were deleted because of "original research" and undeserved negative comments from the status quo (the supposed "inventors"). There are at least 6 people still alive who can testify to its origin, efficacy, longevity (1974-2001) and its total absence of bugs. 
Here is a link to my own 'blog' on the product that has recently been updated to include a feature-by-feature 'comparison of early spreadsheets' 
 
* http://www.editgrid.com/user/ken/HISTORY_OF_SPREADSHEETS   (see especially "Comparison" sheet)
Some supposed spreadsheets were in reality, little more than batch "compile-and-go" or early specialized 4GL symbolic languages rather than, in any way, like modern spreadsheets. The Works records System at ICI however stands out in possessing all of the required attributes of what would, still today, be considered a spreadsheet. It also did many things that even modern spreadsheets don't do and didn't suffer from one of the major problems of modern day spreadsheets - accidental overkeying of a formula with an absoluyte value with impunity.
However, seemingly, the unnamed 1980's product you mention appears a little too late in the history to be very important because interactive PC based products began to appear in 1979/80 (Visicalc). 
The world definitely didn't begin with microprocessors and much of what had already been learned on mainframes had to be re-learned by PC programmers because of the lack of good education and/or published material. Much of it, unfortunately in fact, has still not been learned!ken (talk) 07:07, 16 July 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Online spreadsheets? 

message: Where's Lotus 1-2-3? - MSTCrow 19:03, 20 July 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Should we add it ? 
Sanjiv swarup (talk) 02:12, 5 June 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Lotus 1-2-3? 

message: Or how about Quattro Pro?
Above statement was by User:205.210.232.62.  I totally agree with the editor's sentiment, anyway! Dogru144 05:30, 31 July 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  [[Quattro Pro]] ??? 

message: It would be very informative if there were a table showing categories of functions available (engineering, financial and what-so-ever) and size of spreadsheets.FlavianusEP (talk) 21:51, 6 December 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  may we add a comparison of spreadshet and calculation features? 

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thread_title: Image copyright problem with File:Microsoft Office Excel 2007.png

message: This paragraph just sounds like marketing, no? "...can be a mind-numbing exercise...", especially.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 131.111.1.66 (talk) 12:50, 11 December 2009 (UTC)
thread_title: Spreadsheet Comparison

message: There should be a comparison of maximum number of rows and columns in a sheet, maximum number of sheets, maximum number of data elements in a sheet, maximum number of data elements in a graph, maximum number of data elements in a series on a graph, maximum file size.
—DIV (138.194.12.32 (talk) 06:28, 13 July 2010 (UTC)
replies: text: Agreed. Regards, SunCreator (talk) 01:43, 30 July 2010 (UTC)

text: Agreed. Regards, RScheiber (talk) 19:08, 16 August 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  Size 

message: May I note that the page is a comparison of *spreadsheet software* (which is rather lacking, but that's beside the point), not a list to advertise spreadsheet comparison software. This section should be removed.
88.108.107.235 (talk) 21:53, 25 February 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  Section "Spreadsheet comparison tools" 

message: # Looks way too much like an advert for Google apps Most people use Microsoft office or openoffice calc - and especially so for serious or professional use.  The online stuff should have a lower ranking in the page order and in all seriousness google apps is not used as frequently and is still more of a toy or gimmick than an every day tool for the mass population.  This may change in the future, but data security issues and national interests mean that online application platforms are unsuitable for use by governments or commercial organisations because of the sensitive and confidential data that they handle or store.
# Does it actually compare very much? How user friendly are they? Can you get started quickly and continue to learn or do you have to do a course before going anywhere near the software? How stable is the software?  Is it buggy?  Does it crash often or not?  How often are bugs fixed?  What is the support like?
# What are the limitations of these various packages? What can be imported, exported?  Max rows, Max columns, ability to import and merge data from other software? What hardware is required? (Windows xp when it first came out required just a few hundred mb of ram but now it requires a gigabyte of ram if you want to surf the net with a modern browser without your hard drive having a fit and dying)
# How practical are they?  It is easy to claim crazy limits wrt columns or rows etc but when they start to get filled with data or formulas the software can rapidly become unstable or unusable.  If you are digging a hole you can use a spade or a JCB but for different jobs a different tool is more appropriate.  So, which packages are suitable for netbooks and small stuff and which packages are the heavyweights suitable for finacial modelling, forecasts, large scale number crunching with millions of cells.
....just a few ideas to get someone started on what a page like this should be about.  None of us want the sales manual.  None of us want a geeky argument about ideas or philosophies but we want to be able to get some information on what alternatives there are to our existing packages.  Or, when choosing a new package which ones are good when for example case 1: we have a limited budget and are doing a school project or case 2: when our job is on the line and we have a deadline to meet.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.22.41.72 (talk) 22:25, 26 October 2011 (UTC)
replies: text: I probably would have silently disagreed with your first point in 2011, but in 2019 it's completely indefensible. At this point, it appears that the article has overcorrected -- the absence of Google Sheets in the list is immediately noticeable. Even in response to your other points, Google Sheets holds its own against the other softwares in this list, especially for the question of usability on a netbook. --Forresthopkinsa (talk) 23:40, 14 March 2019 (UTC)
thread_title:  Problems with this page 

message: I suggest comparisons of online (web-based) spreadsheets topic.Manzzzz(talk) 03:13, 23 December 2013 (UTC)
thread_title:  suggesting comparisons of online (web-based) spreadsheets. 

message: Hi, anybody knows where I can find that software to know about it and download?  — Preceding unsigned comment added by Rro4785 (talk • contribs) 01:49, 27 December 2015 (UTC)
thread_title:  Spready Software