"vicki" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
>
> ive recently bought a laptop with windows xp but i do not hav excel, i
> cannot afford to buy a microsoft office installation pack. any ideas on
> what else i can do??
>
>
> --
> vicki

Open Office 2 (1.9 Beta) will do everything the normal user of Excel needs,
is free, and will edit and save in Excel format.

Open Office (openoffice.org) 49MB won't do macros, you will also need to
pick up Java at sun.com 9MB

If you are starting college in the Fall you would qualify for a student discount
through the univ. bookstore.

If you are working then a laptop generally can be used in addition to a desktop,
you would have to check at work to find out what is in their contract license.

People do sell and purchase Excel on EBay, would suggest Excel 2000 make sure
it is a packaged by Microsoft and not a OEM version.

Generally you want to buy your computer with what you want or know ahead
of time what it is going to cost you with everything that you need. Buying
MS Office installed with your computer (OEM) is a lot cheaper than buying it separately
(though you are stuck with OEM help, rather than Microsoft).

---
HTH,
David McRitchie, Microsoft MVP - Excel [site changed Nov. 2001]
My Excel Pages: http://www.mvps.org/dmcritchie/excel/excel.htm
Search Page: http://www.mvps.org/dmcritchie/excel/search.htm

"Gordon" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> "vicki" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> >
> > ive recently bought a laptop with windows xp but i do not hav excel, i
> > cannot afford to buy a microsoft office installation pack. any ideas on
> > what else i can do??
> >
> >
> > --
> > vicki
>
> Open Office 2 (1.9 Beta) will do everything the normal user of Excel needs,
> is free, and will edit and save in Excel format.
>
>

The OP can also get the Student/Teacher version at her local Software store
(even BestBuy).

I'd phone first to compare prices.

And watch the Sunday advertisements for sales!

David McRitchie wrote:
>
> Open Office (openoffice.org) 49MB won't do macros, you will also need to
> pick up Java at sun.com 9MB
>
> If you are starting college in the Fall you would qualify for a student discount
> through the univ. bookstore.
>
> If you are working then a laptop generally can be used in addition to a desktop,
> you would have to check at work to find out what is in their contract license.
>
> People do sell and purchase Excel on EBay, would suggest Excel 2000 make sure
> it is a packaged by Microsoft and not a OEM version.
>
> Generally you want to buy your computer with what you want or know ahead
> of time what it is going to cost you with everything that you need. Buying
> MS Office installed with your computer (OEM) is a lot cheaper than buying it separately
> (though you are stuck with OEM help, rather than Microsoft).
>
> ---
> HTH,
> David McRitchie, Microsoft MVP - Excel [site changed Nov. 2001]
> My Excel Pages: http://www.mvps.org/dmcritchie/excel/excel.htm
> Search Page: http://www.mvps.org/dmcritchie/excel/search.htm
>
> "Gordon" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> > "vicki" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> > news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> > >
> > > ive recently bought a laptop with windows xp but i do not hav excel, i
> > > cannot afford to buy a microsoft office installation pack. any ideas on
> > > what else i can do??
> > >
> > >
> > > --
> > > vicki
> >
> > Open Office 2 (1.9 Beta) will do everything the normal user of Excel needs,
> > is free, and will edit and save in Excel format.
> >
> >

--

Dave Peterson

David McRitchie shared this with us in microsoft.public.excel.newusers:

> Open Office (openoffice.org) 49MB won't do macros,

David,

That is *not* true! OpenOffice /will/ do "macros". Just fire up any
OpenOffice app and go to Tools --> Macros. You see?

Currently OpenOffice has support for:
* OpenOffice.org Basic
* Python
* BeanShell
* JavaScript

That means compared to MSOffice 3 programming/scripting languages more
to choose from!

OpenOffice.org Basic is essentially the same as Visual Basic for
Applications - but the MSOffice and OpenOffice object models are
totally different, so any VBA macro would have to be converted to use
the new objects. The algorithms (the "real" programming goo) would
remain the same.

--
Amedee Van Gasse