spreadsheets

The book is really a Bible... A lot of useful information for people that are beginning to use this spreadsheet. I also believe that this book could be a great asset for those who have a good understanding of the tool. It's easier to find a solution in the book's index than looking for it on the help feature of the software. I really have to recommend this book!

I usually avoid books about Microsoft software because I can usually muddle through and figure out what I want to do. If in doubt, I seek out a twelve-year-old who knows the answers. But this week I had a desire to create a unique chart for a client, and decided to see if Excel would help me make the chart. I had the good fortune to run across Excel 2003 Bible at the library, and took it home to skim. Within 45 minutes I had all the answers to my questions, and found a way to create a better chart than I had originally planned to make. That was well worth my time. I'm sure that I would never have found the alternatives on my own that the book pointed me to.

Intrigued by the help I got, I went back and read the simple sections as well. I was impressed by how thorough all of the material is. You are given many different ways to accomplish the same task, along with the pros and cons of why to go one way versus another. I also appreciated the many graphics in the book to show what the screens look like.

The book is also backed up with a CD to run simulations and a web site where you can get more help.

If you think you may ever want to do advanced applications of Excel, I strongly encourage you to read this book. I particularly liked the charting and analysis sections.

As I finished this book, I realized that I usually employ Excel to get tasks done faster . . . and hadn't given much thought to how to complete them better. I suspect that much data could be made more usable and valuable for me and others if I think about how to employ all of Excel's tools in advance.

Walkenbach's Web site is awesome (http://j-walk.com/ss/)...you should check it out! But I still find just about every one of his Excel books too valuable to pass up. This one is perfect...but I also love Excel 2003 Formulas. Office 2003's XML capabilities really intrigued me, and the Excel 2003 Bible didn't disappoint in helping me find out what this mean for me and my business. Walkenbach just shows how to make the most out of Excel more than any author I've been able to find.