Microsoft Excel 2013 Plain & Simple

I've been a computer aficionado since the 1980s. I build my own PCs and maintain them for others, but I'd never had occasion to become fluent in "Excel" until recently. I checked out several books, and I'm convinced that this is the best one for people with absolutely no experience in spreadsheet use. Microsoft seems to have replaced the "Plain & Simple" series with a somewhat more advanced "Step by Step" series but this book and its predecessors remain the best for versions up to and including 2013. Moderately familiar users will find it of little value. For example, there's only a page or so devoted to pivot tables. That's an "advanced" topic for beginners, but something for which a current Excel user would need much more coverage. Fortunately, there are books for such topics, and they might be a better choice for a beginner who intends to become an Excel expert, but this book would be my recommendation for beginning casual users.

This is one in a series of books that are renewed with each version of Office. The Excel one takes you from beginner status to some more difficult concepts. It has a useful overview of the new functions found in Excel 2013. It teaches how to write write and edit a formula and then has a section on how to debug the formula you wrote. There's a one page, but clear description of how to understand cell references and formulas in Excel. Then it teaches you how to use and name a range. A useful concept that often goes unused because people don't understand it.The graphics are screen prints with notations, which are extremely helpful to the visual learner, who finds page after page of text daunting. It also makes it very quick for any learned to grasp and use new concepts.A chapter is devoted to helping the reader customize Excel to make it easier to use for the functionality that you use most. The summarizing chapter not only gives a good look at using a Validation Rule, but also devotes two pages to Pivot Tables and then shows how to chart your data to impress your boss or others.This is a book that provides good value.

The information is great, but the book is a little difficult to navigate. Overall good purchase.

This was an easy how to guide for the spreadsheet program by Microsoft called Excel. The book covered not only the basics but more advanced topics and strategies of how to use the program. This book could be used by a computer beginner who just wants a way to organize their checkbook to the advanced user doing any number of eye-popping number analysis tricks. Whether you are just starting out or need a refresher course on the new features of the 2013 edition of Excel, pick this book up! It is a valuable resource.

Needed this book to continue working with Excel due to lots of changes in the software. Had the previous book and used it a lot. Love the fact that there are pictures to simply "show" what the page should look like. Plain and Simple are the words!!!

Easy to understand.

Item arrived quickly and as described.

Very pleased with the quality and the seller.

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because it has not been fully updated to Excel 2013. Many of the references relate to earlier versions of Excel and do not apply to Excel 2013

Average

no help