Microsoft Excel History
| Version | Released | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1985 | Version 1, for the Macintosh was released. |
| 2 | 1987 | The first Windows version was labeled "2" to correspond to the Mac version. This included a run-time version of Windows. |
| 3 | 1990 | Included toolbars, drawing capabilities, outlining, add-in support, 3D charts, and many more new features. |
| 4 | 1992 | The first "popular" version. Included lots of usability features. |
| 5 | 1993 | A major upgrade. Included multi-sheet workbooks and support for VBA. |
| 7* | 1995 | Known as Excel 95. The first major 32-bit version of Excel**. Feature-wise, it's very similar to Excel 5. |
| 8 | 1997 | Known as Excel 97. A new interface for VBA developers, UserForms, data validation, and lots more. |
| 9 | 1999 | Known as Excel 2000. Can use HTML as a native file format, "self-repair" capability, enhanced clipboard, pivot charts, modeless user forms. |
| 10 | 2001 | Known as Excel 2002, this is part of Office XP. It has a long list of new features, but most of them will probably be of little value to the majority of users. Perhaps the most significant feature is the ability to recover your work when Excel crashes. This version features product activation technology (i.e., copy protection). Please consider the ramifications of this before deciding whether to upgrade. Read John Walkenbach's Excel 2002 Review at PC World. |
| 11 | 2003 | It's called Microsoft Office Excel 2003. The new features in this version are: (a) improved support for XML, (b) a new "list range" feature, (c) Smart Tag enhancements, and (d) corrected statistical functions. Most users will not find the upgrade worthwhile. Read John Walkenbach's Excel 2003 Review. |
Source: http://www.j-walk.com/ss/excel/index.htm