Reasons why Lotus was better than Excel

[RoryA]

Loads
Of
Trouble
Usually
Serious

 

[DominicB]

To be fair, if you check tools --> options --> transition --> "Transition formula entry", you can get that same functionality in Excel.

But it plays havoc with your dates though ...
I discovered this option back in XL97 after years of Lotus use, and turned it off again about a minute later never to be used again. I'd rather put up with the inconvenience of having to put an "=" before impromptu sums.

DominicB

 

[Gerald Higgins]

But it plays havoc with your dates though ...

In what way ? I've played around with it a little, and can't find anything wrong with dates.

 

[Gerald Higgins]

I found what you mean. I had problems with times.

 

[DreamAlchemist]

YOu can customize the default 56 colors by going tools options and then pick from the 16,777,216 colors available.

 

[Gerald Higgins]

YOu can customize the default 56 colors by going tools options and then pick from the 16,777,216 colors available.

er . . . didn't I say that in the OP ?

 

[xenou]

I think I'd be happy with 128 colors - I'm always looking for a "shade in between" - something between those pastels and fluorescents. I agree that I'd rather have more in-built colors - and I'd use custom colors more often if I knew they wouldn't be lost when the sheet is copied to a new workbook.

Alex

 

[milesUK]

I found the rulers very useful; at the time we produced lots of printable forms with Lotus 123.

Another useful feature was the ability to print different ranges in one go on the same page ; that one I really miss. There is a workaround but it's not straighforaward.

 

[DominicB]

Why does everyone refer to it as "Lotus", when the product name is actually 1-2-3?

Lotus (prior to its acquisition by IBM) was a company, so surely it's like referrring to Excel as "Microsoft" ... ?

DominicB

 

[Domski]

Why does everyone refer to it as "Lotus", when the product name is actually 1-2-3?

Lotus (prior to its acquisition by IBM) was a company, so surely it's like referrring to Excel as "Microsoft" ... ?

DominicB

And a position prior to that