Spreadsheet software is important for homes, students and businesses, so we’ve put together a lineup with something for all these arenas. We chose good-quality spreadsheet software, with a solid mix of paid-for and free products. To avoid oversimplifying things, we opted not to include very basic models that don’t provide anything other than a basic grid, and we haven’t included programs that aren’t secure, as spreadsheets often deal with sensitive or important data.
Although it is possible to download an.iso image of an XP installation CD, it is not recommended. Difference between something legit and something else riddled with malware. Pity since you presumably have the license, but that's just the way it is.
We looked at compatibility, versatility, features and available support to determine which spreadsheets deserved a spot on our lineup. If you need a complete office suite, take a look at our office software guide, where you’ll find a nice mix of free and priced options. On this site you will find articles related to spreadsheets as well as reviews of spreadsheet software.
Best Spreadsheet Software for Businesses
Microsoft Excel is our choice for the best spreadsheet software for businesses because of its versatility and functionality. Businesses need software they can rely on, and Excel fits the bill, helping you stay on track with simple or complex spreadsheets. There is an extensive range of formulas that you can use to make calculations or perform specific functions, and you can filter data according to your business needs.
This professional-grade software isn’t free, but it is available with a reasonable monthly subscription, and even after several decades, it’s still the most respected office spreadsheet solution. This software works across PC, Mac and mobile devices. With OneDrive, you can share and access your spreadsheets in the cloud from anywhere and work on them collaboratively. The majority of other file formats are compatible with Excel files, so should someone send you a file in another file format, Excel should be able to open it and render the contents correctly.
Microsoft Excel
Excel is part of the Microsoft Office suite and works well in conjunction with the other programs in the bundle. You can purchase Excel as a stand-alone product, as part of a desktop suite or as part of Office 365. It’s most functional and most cost-effective as part of the Microsoft Office desktop suite or as part of Office 365.
Read more here
Best Spreadsheet Software for Students
Many of these spreadsheet programs would serve schools and students well. However, LibreOffice Calc stands out because it’s free and open source, so there are no licensing restrictions. This means that schools can provide students with copies of the software and install the software across multiple PCs and laptops without significant expense, and without breaching any licensing terms that may be associated with similar software. Choosing a well-rounded free program also means that any student with a computer can access the software, so it puts every student on a level playing field. Additionally, because it’s open source, LibreOffice, including its Calc software, is a great educational tool for students working on digital and programming skills.
This spreadsheet software has plenty of features and is versatile enough to equal its biggest premium-cost rivals. It has an impressive selection of templates and allows students to create their own or import them from third-party sources. Students and teachers can also use extensions or add-ons designed to increase Calc’s versatility as an educational tool.
LibreOffice Calc
Calc is the spreadsheet software included with LibreOffice. It’s a popular choice for academic, home and business users looking for an inexpensive spreadsheet program because it’s open source. The whole office suite it comes in is free and doesn’t have any licensing restrictions.
Read more here
Best Spreadsheet Software for Home Users
For home users, Google Sheets is our first choice. Part of the Google Apps suite and connected to Google Drive, this spreadsheet software is versatile, free to use and user-friendly. You can easily create to-do lists, schedules and holiday shopping lists, then access them from any computer or mobile device with the Google Drive app. Because it has an array of formulas ready for use, along with a huge number of commonly used templates, this spreadsheet application makes it easy to keep track of home or business finances and to create budgets, calendars, planners, invoices and time sheets.
This is a web-based spreadsheet application, making it easy to access, and you get a generous amount of free cloud storage when you sign up. With its free, easy accessibility and simple usage, Google Sheets is attractive to all kinds of users. It’s easy to share your spreadsheets via email invitation or a link, as well as to set read-only, comment or edit permissions for each person you share with.
Google Sheets
Google Sheets is part of the Google Apps suite. Like the rest of the suite's productivity applications, it has a focus on easy collaboration and a simple, user-friendly interface. While it’s not available as a stand-alone application, you’ll likely find yourself using at least some of the other apps on a regular basis.
Read more here
Compatibility
Compatibility with Microsoft Excel files is key for any spreadsheet software, simply because so many people use that program to create spreadsheets. Therefore, the spreadsheet software you choose should be able to read and write XLS and XLSX files and render them correctly. Choose software that allows you to easily convert your files into PDF format if you want to ensure your spreadsheets cannot be easily altered without leaving an electronic footprint. Creating PDF files also reduces file sizes and lets you easily add password protection. If you create spreadsheets that you want to publish online, choose a program that lets you easily convert spreadsheets into HTML.
Versatility
How versatile your spreadsheet software should be depends entirely on what you want to use it for. If you’re a student or a professional wanting to impress with your presentation or data collation, you need to be able to integrate graphics and alter the fonts, colors and other aesthetic qualities. If you want simple visual representations of your collected data, you need to be able to easily create charts from your entries.
Consider whether you need remote or mobile access to your spreadsheets. If so, you need an easily shareable or cloud-compatible application. For those who work collaboratively, it’s important to have spreadsheet software that allows simultaneous editing and multi-user functionality. If all you want to do is save, email and print spreadsheets, a desktop-only program will suffice.
Features
The best spreadsheet software programs have extensive formula selections that are easily accessible. Your software should also have a variety of templates on hand for common spreadsheets so you don’t have to lay out budget sheets, calendars and planners from scratch every time. If you’re sharing or collaborating with other people, make sure you can lock or freeze specific columns so others can’t accidentally edit or overwrite them.
Also note how many rows and columns a spreadsheet can accommodate. Some are unlimited, while others restrict you to just 250. If you deal with complex or large quantities of data, choosing a spreadsheet application that features pivot tables makes sense, as they provide an easy way of summarizing data.
SupportBootable Windows Xp Iso Download
Whether you’re an advanced user or a novice, it's invaluable for your software to have a solid support system, including plenty of tutorials, step-by-step instructions and FAQs pages. Having email, phone and forum support at your disposal helps to ensure you don’t get stuck without a solution.
This article is also available as a PDF download.
Applying a service pack after every reinstallation of Windows XP is a schlep and a waste of time, especially in a business environment. That's why it's a good idea to have a copy of XP with the latest service pack already integrated into it—a process known as slipstreaming.
But that's not nearly the end of the story. What about adding all the subsequent hotfixes/updates Microsoft has released since Service Pack 2 for Windows XP was released eons ago (August 2004, to be exact)? There have been more than 120 since then. Downloading and installing every one of them is no fun; doing it every time for every new Windows installation is plain crazy.
Even so, you can't really take a chance on ignoring the updates. Venturing onto the Internet without the protection of the latest updates and patches is downright dangerous. Tests have shown that Windows vulnerabilities can be exploited within minutes after exposing such a system on the Net.
So wouldn't it be great if you could integrate all (or at least most) of those Microsoft updates right into a copy of XP, together with the latest service pack? Well, you can—and it's a relatively simple process. And once you've done it the first time, subsequent procedures (to make new CDs with the latest updates) is a walk in the park.
To top it all, you can even add some useful utilities to your customized version of Windows and make the disk bootable.
I'm going to walk you through the whole process of first slipstreaming your copy of XP with SP2, integrating most of the updates/hotfixes since the release of SP2 into your new installation pack, and then burning the image to a bootable CD.
Slipstreaming with SP2
Let's first slipstream XP with SP2:
If the process has been successful, a message to this effect will be displayed (Figure C).
Note
When you try slipstreaming using OEM disks from some big companies, you might run into the following error:
'This Service Pack cannot be integrated into a destination that also has integrated Software Updates.' My ipad mini won't download apps.
Not to worry, there are ways and means. A program called nLite will do the trick (although it needs the .NET framework).
Integrating post-SP2 updates
Now we're ready to integrate most of the post-SP2 updates, thanks to a guy called Ryan VanderMeulen. As Ryan says on his Web site, his update pack and Integrator software are 'designed to bring a Windows XP CD with SP2 integrated fully up to date with all of the latest hotfixes released by Microsoft since SP2's release. It accomplishes this task via direct integration, where files on the CD are directly overwritten by the updated files'. He also says: 'All necessary registry entries needed by Windows Update, QFECheck, and Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer are imported during Windows setup, meaning that the integration is transparent to Windows. Security Catalogs necessary for Windows File Protection to recognize the updated files as digitally signed are installed, once again ensuring maximum transparency to Windows. Since the updated files are being directly overwritten on the CD, this pack has the minimum possible amount of overhead associated with integrating hotfixes in comparison to other methods—both in space used on the CD and in Windows installation time.'
Sound good? It sure is!
Microsoft Windows Xp Sp2 Bootable Iso Download Free
A word of warning before you begin: Ryan strongly recommends that you start with a fresh XP installation source with no previous update packs integrated into it.
With that out of the way, let's get down to business.
Note
Ryan has several add-ons available. One includes some useful programs and utilities; another integrates Windows Genuine Advantage Validation (KB892130) into the XP install CD.
Creating a bootable CD
To make our bootable CD, we'll use Bart's approach. Bart Lagerweij, as you probably know, is the doyen of boot disks. I'll provide an overview of the steps, but if you want to read Bart's full instructions on how to create a bootable Windows XP CD, go here.
Other methods are available. If you already have a preferred way, by all means go ahead and use that. You can, for example, use IsoBuster and Nero Burning ROM 6 (you'll need at least version 5.5.9.0) or you can use nLite (but you'll need .NET framework installed).
I prefer Bart's way. Apart for a couple of small extras you need to download the first time, you won't need things like the full version of Nero and .NET like other methods. Besides, I just love to watch Bart's command-line magic.
Here are the essential steps:
Note
If you have a Windows XP CD from MSDN, edit the file i386txtsetup.sif:
and change the setup source path to:
Now you're ready to roll. Open a command prompt, go to the c:bcd folder, and type in and run one of the following commands (depending on whether it's XP Home or XP Pro):
bcd wxphome (For Windows XP Home edition)
or:
bcd wxppro (For Windows XP Professional)
This will start creating the bootable ISO image and burn it to a CD for you. Armed with this CD, reinstalling XP or installing it on new machines will be a breeze.
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