Macworld: Excel for Mac 2008 vs. Numbers ‘08
May 6th, 2008 | by Michael |
Rob Griffiths, writing in Macworld, has a side be side comparison of Excel 2008 and Numbers ‘08. He created the same project - a sales-tracking spreadsheet - in each program, in order to test their individual strengths and weaknesses.
In the end, he found Excel to be superior to Numbers in most aspects, with the exception of the ablilty to create attractive layouts in Numbers.
In general, I found it much simpler to work with Excel in all phases of my sample project. Although Numbers has some stunning templates, its shortcomings make it more difficult to use when you leave template-land. Those failings include its inability to simply show a formula’s variables as you enter it; its lack of keyboard support in selecting ranges when you’re entering formulas; its lack of custom number and date formats; and its limited conditional formatting abilities. There’s no doubt that I can create a prettier spreadsheet in Numbers, but Excel offers more formulas, features, and tools to help with actually building the spreadsheet.
I agree that for most power users, Excel is the way to go for day to day “functional” spreadsheet use. I also agree that Numbers is the way to go if you wish to present your data in the most appealing manner.
Strangely, Macworld only rated Excel 2008 three mice, while giving Numbers ‘08 three and a half mice. Normally, I would think this was due to the natural variance of reviewers opinions, but in this case Mr. Griffiths was the reviewer each time!
Regardless, I think it is important to remember that Numbers ‘08 is the “version 1″ software, whereas Excel has been under constant development for many years. Numbers ‘08 does an adequate job for what it is: a consumer grade spreadsheet program.
Tags: apple, excel, mac, macworld, numbers, osx
