Number-Crunching: Excel is the big-daddy of spreadsheet software, used by businesses all over the world and with hundreds of functions and features crammed into its Ribbon toolbar. See participants’ cursors as they’re editingįurther information and alternatives to Apple’s productivity tools:.

Share your spreadsheet publicly or with specific people.Edit a spreadsheet with others at the same time in Numbers on Mac, iPad, iPhone, and.The new version brings the following collaboration updates (among others): We’re pleased to see an update to the iWork suite, as real-time collaboration will help those working in teams, such as global teams in businesses and even students taking part in university group projects. Update 16 September 2016: Since our review, Apple has added real-time collaboration to its iWork suite. Pros: Free with new Macs, lots of help for new users, simple tools for creating charts and attractive layoutsĬons: Fewer functions and analytical tools than Excel, limited collaboration tools However, you can’t track changes made to a spreadsheet, and Numbers lacks the more comprehensive collaboration tools found in Google Sheets and Microsoft’s Office Online. How to open Apple Numbers files on a Windows PC.) The program includes tools for quickly creating 2D and 3D graphs and charts, and even interactive charts that can include simple animations to illustrate changes in data.Ĭollaboration: You can share your spreadsheets online with other people by using the online version of Numbers atĪnd the online program can warn you if there are conflicts between changes made by different people. A Numbers spreadsheet is really just a blank page where you can place data tables, text and graphics in any layout that you choose. Graphs And Charts: Apple describes numbers as “the most beautiful spreadsheet ever”, and it does put a lot of emphasis on its graphics tools.

And, of course, Numbers also allows you to import and export spreadsheets in Excel format if you need to.

Numbers doesn’t have the sheer range of functions that you’ll find in Excel, or support for advanced features such as pivot tables, but it provides a good basic set of functions that will be useful for home users, education and small businesses. As soon as you type ‘=’ into a cell, the Inspector palette on the right-hand side of the spreadsheet displays a list of available functions, and to help new users get started it even displays explanations and examples of how to use each function. Number-Crunching: Numbers is a good example of how the best Apple software takes difficult tasks and makes them look easy.

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