- Microsoft Excel celebrates 40 years as the spreadsheet that reshaped business and personal computing
- New AI-run tools and creative communities are expanding Excel’s uses far beyond accounting
- Google Sheets presents the most serious challenge to Excel’s dominance
Microsoft Excel recently celebrated its 40 -year anniversary (although with old software it can often be difficult to determine an actual launch date), cementing its place as one of the most recognizable pieces of software in the world.
From finance departments to classrooms, Excel has become a universal spreadsheet tool for organizing, analyzing and presenting data. Everyone in an office environment has probably encountered it if they have not mastered it fully.
The idea of the modern spreadsheet began in 1979 with Visicalc, created by Dan Bricklin and Bob Frankston to Apple II. It became one of the first killer apps that convinced companies to buy computers just to run it.
Excel is distinguished
Visicalc’s early success faded after Lotus 1-2-3 introduced features such as macros that allowed users to automate repeated tasks. Lotus soon dominated the market, only to be overtaken by Microsoft.
Excel first appeared at Apple Macintosh in 1985. It sported a graphic interface from the start, as opposed to its text -based competitors.
Microsoft then ported Excel to Windows, where it quickly got a seat against Lotus and Borlands Quattro Pro.
In the early 1990s, Excel had established himself as the clear market leader, a position it has held to ever since.
Over the years, Excel has won features that extend far beyond simple talking.
The introduction of Visual Basic for applications in the 1990s allowed users to write customized features and automate complex workflows.
Later updates included Pivot tables, 3D charts and eventually the tape interface that changed how users navigated commands.
While the business remains its core, Excel’s reach is stretched into unexpected areas.
“There are so many fascinating ways in which people use Excel – far beyond the typical financing or accounting scenarios,” said Cuong Pham, who manages a global society of fans. Users have built art, games and even music inside its ranks and columns.
Excel has also inspired competitions. Latvian consultant Andrew Grigolyunovich founded the Excel World Cup, which became an Arena event in Las Vegas.
Today, Excel Copilot and AI features such as Agent Mode, where users can generate full spreadsheets through simple prompts, and we can expect Microsoft to add more such functionality in the future.
However, Excel’s dominance is no longer what it once was. Google Sheets, for example, has become the chosen spreadsheet in many classrooms and small businesses with its cloud integration and real-time collaboration.
Its lighter, browser-based approach appeals to a generation less bound to desktop software and of course it is free.
Microsoft has answered with Excel on the web, which reflects much of the traditional program while adding online access, but she is still the standard setting for many who start their work in a browser.
When Excel turns 40, it faces the challenge of adapting to a future where DataVilet is increasingly happening in shared online environments.
How well Microsoft integrates AI and advanced collaborative features into its software -stalwart could decide whether it continues to lead or share the stage with Google Sheets.
