Summary

Microsoft Excel version 1.5 is described as a 'Complete Spreadsheet with Business Graphics and Database'.

This edition of Excel was published in 1988; the first version was released in 1985.

Excel is a descendant of Visicalc (1979), the very first spreadsheet program , then known as an electronic worksheet. It is one of the world's best selling computer programs, as of 2008.

The donor observed that PageMaker and the LaserWriter may have been the entry for Apple technology into the corporate world, but Microsoft Excel was the show-stopper. Suddenly, those in the finance arena without a technological background could work with financial models. He says that with the new (in 1984) Apple Graphical User Interface and Excel (1985), and because of the absence of a 'command-line' interface, finance professionals could just 'point and click' and achieve the financial models they desired.

A command-line interface allowed interaction with a computer operating system by typing commands to perform specific tasks. This contrasts with the use of a mouse and a graphical user interface.

Microsoft Excel was collected because of the initial and continued significance of this product in personal computing, and because it is representative of the use of the graphic user interface (GUI) introduced in 1983, even though the application itself was released in 1985 (this version of Microsoft Excel was released in 1988). Excel had a significant impact on the sales of the Macintosh into the business sector.

Part of a representative collection of hardware, software, trade literature and promotional material that documents the history of the Apple company, and its contribution to, and impact on the computer industry and society.

Physical Description

Microsoft Excel version 1.5: software package (unopened) consisting of boxed manual + 3.5 inch disk, The box is sealed in its cellophane wrapper.

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