Excel's Initial Release
Excel was first released in 1985 for the Macintosh. Surprisingly, it wasn't available for Windows until two years later, which helped solidify its market dominance over rival spreadsheet programs.
PivotTables: Data Mastery
Introduced in 1993, PivotTables revolutionized data analysis in Excel. They enable users to dynamically arrange and summarize large datasets, which was a game-changer for financial analysts and marketers.
Conditional Formatting Insights
Conditional Formatting, added in 1994, lets users apply formatting that changes based on cell values. This feature unveils hidden patterns, making data visually accessible even to those with minimal analytical experience.
Real-time Collaboration
Excel 2016 brought real-time co-authoring to the table. Teams around the globe can now work simultaneously on the same workbook, a feature once exclusive to Google Sheets.
Excel and Artificial Intelligence
Microsoft integrated AI in Excel's functions, like Ideas. This feature, launched in 2018, provides automated insights, recognizing patterns, trends, and outliers in your data.
XLOOKUP Replaces VLOOKUP
Excel's XLOOKUP, released in 2020, is set to replace VLOOKUP. It simplifies the lookup process by combining the capabilities of VLOOKUP, HLOOKUP, and INDEX/MATCH into one powerful function.