Alternatives to microsoft excel spreadsheet?

Look for OpenOffice. This is a suite of applications similar to and compatible with Microsoft Office. It's made by Oracle, and is free. Most functions are similar, though some are clumsier, and I've come across a few that I wanted that it didn't have.

thanks for the suggestion. ill check it out.

Also try LibreOffice. Made by the original developers of OpenOffice that left when Oracle took it over. Unlike OpenOffice, LibeOffice can read .xlsx files (OpenOffice only reads .xls, I believe). Some say since Oracle has had OpenOffice, the quality of the software and the frequency of updates have gone downhill.

If you're a student you can probably get a discounted version through your school. I got MS Office for $10.

Libre in a great fork of Open Office. OO is stable and is from Oracle. Oracle owns Javasoft. The Oracle/Fujitsu SPARC T3 is the fastest single supercomputer chip in the world.

3 billion mobile phones run Java today. 31 times more Java phones shipped in 2010 than Apple and Android combined. 1.1 billion desktops run Java.

OpenOffice can read .xlsx as well. Has been able to for a while. At this point, LibreOffice and OpenOffice are not that different, though they will start diverging in the future.

If you need something simple and free, and have a constant internet connection, Google Docs can probably do what you need.

If you need something more advanced, need it to look more like MS Office, or can't rely on a constant internet connection, LibreOffice or OpenOffice are both good.

I'd recommend LibreOffice. They're publishing some innovative ideas, and more importantly, Oracle is an anti-opensource company that is slowly ruining all the products they acquire. OpenOffice may suck in a year or two.

With google docs, the file is saved on a server not my computer right? This could be good in case I need to access the file from elsewhere or in case my computer crashes. Anything privacy concerns about google??

did your computer come with MS Works? The spreadsheet is a dumbed down version of Excel but good enough for the basics.

Where did you get your laptop?

I didn't buy mine at a store but had a local computer guy build one for me. I paid about 700 and he loaded in Microsoft Office as part of the deal.

This was a couple of years ago.

Office is pretty damn expensive considering it is ancient software.

But ya have to have it and it is one of the last remaining pillars holding up the mighty Microsoft empire.

Once that is obsolete they'll be all done.

Had Some Myself wrote:

Look for OpenOffice...

Go with LibreOffice which is the continuing open source version (fork) of OpenOffice.

Oracle owns OpenOffice now, after buying Sun. OpenOffice is morphing into a paid application suite. Oracle is profit-centric. Free stuff is not something Larry Ellison, who runs Oracle, believes in.

LibreOffice is in beta form, but it is as good as the last version of OpenOffice prior to the divorce between the OpenOffice developers who want to remain open sources, and Oracle which want to sell the product.

Sorry, missed ebrnner's post. +1 to going with LibreOffice.

Had Some Myself wrote:

Look for OpenOffice. This is a suite of applications similar to and compatible with Microsoft Office. It's made by Oracle, and is free. Most functions are similar, though some are clumsier, and I've come across a few that I wanted that it didn't have.

I'm using OpenOffice for my Master's Thesis. This should be enough proof right there. It is great--Highly recommended.

Open Office

Openoffice is fine. For some things google docs spreadsheet works well. It has the advantage of being hosted elsewhere, so you can get at your stuff from anything with a web connection (I sometimes add data to such spreadsheets from my 'phone).