Microsoft Windows
Excel 2.0 is the first version of Excel for the Intel platform. Versions prior to 2.0 were only available on the Apple Macintosh.
Excel 2.0 (1987)
The first Windows version was labeled "2" to correspond to the Mac version. This included a run-time version of Windows.
BYTE in 1989 listed Excel for Windows as among the "Distinction" winners of the BYTE Awards. The magazine stated that the port of the "extraordinary" Macintosh version "shines", with a user interface as good as or better than the original.
Excel 3.0 (1990)
Included toolbars, drawing capabilities, outlining, add-in support, 3D charts, and many more new features.
Excel 4.0 (1992)
Introduced auto-fill.
Also, an easter egg in Excel 4.0 reveals a hidden animation of a dancing set of numbers 1 through 3, representing Lotus 1-2-3, which was then crushed by an Excel logo.
Excel 5.0 (1993)
With version 5.0, Excel has included Visual Basic for Applications (VBA), a programming language based on Visual Basic which adds the ability to automate tasks in Excel and to provide user-defined functions (UDF) for use in worksheets. VBA is a powerful addition to the application and includes a fully featured integrated development environment(IDE). Macro recording can produce VBA code replicating user actions, thus allowing simple automation of regular tasks. VBA allows the creation of forms and in‑worksheet controls to communicate with the user. The language supports use (but not creation) of ActiveX (COM) DLL's; later versions add support for class modules allowing the use of basic object-oriented programming techniques.
The automation functionality provided by VBA made Excel a target for macro viruses. This caused serious problems until antivirus products began to detect these viruses. Microsoft belatedly took steps to prevent the misuse by adding the ability to disable macros completely, to enable macros when opening a workbook or to trust all macros signed using a trusted certificate.
Versions 5.0 to 9.0 of Excel contain various Easter eggs, including a "Hall of Tortured Souls", although since version 10 Microsoft has taken measures to eliminate such undocumented features from their products.
5.0 was released in a 16-bit x86 version for Windows 3.1 and later in a 32-bit version for NT 3.51 (x86/Alpha/PowerPC)
Excel 95 (v7.0)
Released in 1995 with Microsoft Office for Windows 95, this is the first major version after Excel 5.0, as there is no Excel 6.0 with all of the Office applications standardizing on the same major version number.
Internal rewrite to 32-bits. Almost no external changes, but faster and more stable.
Excel 97 (v8.0)
Included in Office 97 (for x86 and Alpha). This was a major upgrade that introduced the paper clip office assistant and featured standard VBA used instead of internal Excel Basic. It introduced the now-removed Natural Language labels.
This version of Excel includes a flight simulator as an Easter Egg.
Excel 2000 (v9.0)
Included in Office 2000. This was a minor upgrade, but introduced an upgrade to the clipboard where it can hold multiple objects at once. The Office Assistant, whose frequent unsolicited appearance in Excel 97 had annoyed many users, became less intrusive.
Excel 2002 (v10.0)
Included in Office XP. Very minor enhancements.
Excel 2003 (v11.0)
Included in Office 2003. Minor enhancements, most significant being the new Tables.
Excel 2007 (v12.0)
Included in Office 2007. This release was a major upgrade from the previous version. Similar to other updated Office products, Excel in 2007 used the new Ribbon menu system. This was different from what users were used to, and was met with mixed reactions. One study reported fairly good acceptance by users except highly experienced users and users of word processing applications with a classical WIMP interface, but was less convinced in terms of efficiency and organisation. However, an online survey reported that a majority of respondents had a negative opinion of the change, with advanced users being "somewhat more negative" than intermediate users, and users reporting a self-estimated reduction in productivity.
Added functionality included the SmartArt set of editable business diagrams. Also added was an improved management of named variables through the Name Manager, and much improved flexibility in formatting graphs, which allow (x, y) coordinate labeling and lines of arbitrary weight. Several improvements to pivot tables were introduced.
Also like other office products, the Office Open XML file formats were introduced, including .xlsm for a workbook with macros and .xlsx for a workbook without macros.
Specifically, many of the size limitations of previous versions were greatly increased. To illustrate, the number of rows was now 1,048,576 (220) and columns was 16,384 (214; the far-right column is XFD). This changes what is a valid A1 reference versus a named range. This version made more extensive use of multiple cores for the calculation of spreadsheets; however, VBA macros are not handled in parallel and XLL add‑ins were only executed in parallel if they were thread-safe and this was indicated at registration.
Excel 2010 (v14.0)
Included in Office 2010, this is the next major version after v12.0, as version number 13 was skipped.
Minor enhancements and 64-bit support, including the following:
- Multi-threading recalculation (MTR) for commonly used functions
- Improved pivot tables
- More conditional formatting options
- Additional image editing capabilities
- In-cell charts called sparklines
- Ability to preview before pasting
- Office 2010 backstage feature for document-related tasks
- Ability to customize the Ribbon
- Many new formulas, most highly specialized to improve accuracy
Excel 2013 (v15.0)
Included in Office 2013, along with a lot of new tools included in this release:
- Improved Multi-threading and Memory Contention
- FlashFill
- Power View
- PowerPivot
- Timeline Slicer
- Windows App
- Inquire
- 50 new functions
Excel 2016 (v16.0)
Included in Office 2016, along with a lot of new tools included in this release:
- Power Query integration
- Read-only mode for Excel
- Keyboard access for Pivot Tables and Slicers in Excel
- New Chart Types
- Quick data linking in Visio
- Excel forecasting functions
- Support for multi-selection of Slicer items using touch
- Time grouping and Pivot Chart Drill Down
- Excel data cards