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View Full Version : alternative to Xcel?!



wilnin
Mar 27, 2003, 02:16 PM
Hi there, i was wondering if anybody knew if there is any realistic alternative to M$ excel? I mean, in my work i use it everyday, but i'm REALLY fed up with the continuous crashes, delays, problems... that excel generates (moreover ONLY on my mac, because on the PC everything is "pretty much OK", at least as far as M$ may be "OK").

I think i heard some time ago about a product but now i can't remember what it was.

Thanks in advance to help me "free myself" from M$ ;-)

Wilfrid


Freg3000
Mar 27, 2003, 02:42 PM
Pray for iWorks, with Document, Keynote, and importantly for you.......Spreadsheet.

That's the best I can do is that. Actually, you might want to check out ThinkFree Office (http://www.thinkfree.com/) or Open Office (http://www.openoffice.org/).

Good Luck.
MacsRgr8
Mar 27, 2003, 02:58 PM
I prefer ThinkFree to OpenOffice, due to the fact OpenOffice needs Apple's X11 to run. It's ugly, but its free.
Doesn't ThinkFree's Office run in a java runtime environment? I thought so, meaning you need a pretty fast Mac to run this suite comfortably. But it's very cheap, and quite nice looking too.
pantagruel
Mar 27, 2003, 03:20 PM
i think soon Apple will release the rest of the office programs to follow up appleworks, like keynote which is already out, so when that happens you should have an awesome alterantive to xcel, but who knows when it will be released.
XnavxeMiyyep
Mar 27, 2003, 04:02 PM
AppleWorks spreadsheet isn't that bad. It's actually better at math than Excel.
bousozoku
Mar 27, 2003, 05:48 PM
I use ThinkFree Office whenever I need MS Office-compatibility. It's quite good and has similar capabilities. Yes, it runs in Java, but it feels as though they've tied it in with Cocoa where speed was an issue. It runs sweetly.
NavyIntel007
Mar 27, 2003, 06:06 PM
Originally posted by XnavxeMiyyep
AppleWorks spreadsheet isn't that bad. It's actually better at math than Excel.

But a warning, formulas do not update themselves in Appleworks like they do in Excel. Well, at least they didn't when I tried.
XnavxeMiyyep
Mar 27, 2003, 06:09 PM
Spreadsheet uses more formulas though
wilnin
Mar 28, 2003, 01:41 PM
Well this has been the first time i uses such a discussion forum and i must say i am amazed at your kindness.Thanks to all for your help!

I've checked out Think free office, and although it works well (and looks good :-) it really is tooooo slow on my mac to be really used for work (I have an "old" PBG G4 667). Such a shame!!!

As far as the open office goes, i've had a look at it, but this X11 stuff kind of scare me (i am not even sure i've understood what it was exactly). And i don't feel like installing it on my mac...

So i guess i'm still stuck with excel :-( at least for a while.
Please, Apple, develop something soon ;0)

Wilfrid
FattyMembrane
Mar 28, 2003, 07:37 PM
there's a cocoa app called "mesa" that does spreadsheets. i've never tried it but it is supposed to have some xcel compatability. you can find it on versiontracker.com
Cecret
Mar 28, 2003, 09:18 PM
Is excell for mac really that bad???
bousozoku
Mar 28, 2003, 09:30 PM
Originally posted by FattyMembrane
there's a cocoa app called "mesa" that does spreadsheets. i've never tried it but it is supposed to have some xcel compatability. you can find it on versiontracker.com

I'm surprised to hear that Mesa is still around. After 10 years or so, they still haven't found an audience. It was the first commercial, maybe just the first, spreadsheet on OS/2.