Re:Excel (Score 1)

I do agree on the fact that Excel is a great program, it always amazes me with all its built-in functions; but as with other Microsoft programs, it does has its flaws: first of all, it is a hassle to work in two different language versions of the program Excel itself. In other Office programs, this doesn't pose a problem, but in Excel the programmers have chosen to translate the functions usedin the cells. For exemple, when one would use "=SUM(A1:B12)" in the English version, one have to type "=SOM(A1:B12" in a Dutch version (notice the difference O/U according to the language). A less subtle exemple might be "=AVERAGE(A1:B12)" which would translate to "=GEMIDDELDE(A1:B12)". So if one (meaning "me") is used to work on an English version of Excel and that same person would have to make an Excel document say at work or at school where the native language is most often used, one has to look for the right words for the functions. That is what I find the major flaw of Excel, which also happens to make it more comprehensible for beginners who aren't native English speakers. I would rather like Excel to accept the English terms in every version of Excel (this wouldn't be that much of work, since an Excel file isn't language-dependent) and to have a language extension for each translated version with the renamed functions in it.

Then, second, one of the flaws, which I can't really attribute to Excel itself but to the ease of use of Excel: many users abuse Excel by making a database in it. I just hate when that happens, I personally prefer programs which have a much steeper and longer learning curve which causes the user to be less productive at start but in long term the user will know what he's doing and will be more trained to solve new problems on his own.