Microsoft Office Excel 2003 for Windows [Paperback]

Maria Langer (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0321200381 | ISBN-13: 978-0321200389 | Publication Date: January 3, 2004 | Edition: 1

You may not notice it immediately¿since the newly revised Excel doesn¿t look much different than its predecessor¿but the addition of XML support means there¿s a whole lot that¿s new under the hood of the world¿s most popular spreadsheet program. To tap its power quickly, you need this Visual QuickStart Guide. In these pages, veteran author Maria Langer provides step-by-step instructions for the full gamut of Excel tasks: from worksheet basics like editing, using functions, formatting cells, and adding graphics objects, to more advanced topics like creating charts, working with databases, and Web publishing. She also explains how to save an Excel document in XML and open an XML document in Excel. As with all Visual QuickStart Guides, clear, concise instructions and lots of visual aids make learning easy and painless.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

You may not notice it immediately-since the newly revised Excel doesn't look much different than its predecessor-but the addition of XML support means there's a whole lot that's new under the hood of the world's most popular spreadsheet program. To tap its power quickly, you need this Visual QuickStart Guide. In these pages, veteran author Maria Langer provides step-by-step instructions for the full gamut of Excel tasks: from worksheet basics like editing, using functions, formatting cells, and adding graphics objects, to more advanced topics like creating charts, working with databases, and Web publishing. She also explains how to save an Excel document in XML and open an XML document in Excel. As with all Visual QuickStart Guides, clear, concise instructions and lots of visual aids make learning easy and painless.

About the Author

Maria Langer has written numerous books, including Excel 2002 for Windows: Visual QuickStart Guide, Mac OS X 10.2 Advanced: Visual QuickPro Guide, Word 2002 for Windows: Visual QuickStart Guide and many more. When not writing books, Maria can be found touring the Arizona skies in her helicopter!

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Peachpit Press; 1 edition (January 3, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0321200381
• ISBN-13: 978-0321200389
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #461,624 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #15 in Books > Computers & Technology > Microsoft > Spreadsheets

More About the Author

Maria Langer has been a freelance writer since 1990. She has written more than 75 books and hundreds of articles about using computers, software, and online services. She provides support for her work, as well as new content, on the Maria's Guides website. These days, she also writes about aviation and travel for a variety of print and online publications.

Maria is also a commercial helicopter pilot and owner of Flying M Air, a helicopter tour and charter company based in Arizona. Her company offers tours, day trips, multi-day excursions, and aerial photography services throughout the southwest.

And if that's not enough to keep her busy and out of trouble, she's also a serious amateur photographer. She shows off her best work on her photo gallery, Flying M Photos.

Maria blogs at Eclectic Mind, her personal journal of thoughts and experiences.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars She did cover all the bases, but the book is 15 chapters of mediocrity., April 29, 2008

By 

Anthony Stratton "Both decorative and functio... (Chaska, Minnesota) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Microsoft Office Excel 2003 for Windows (Paperback)

I have been diligently working my way through this book, but it's been tough going. This book has 15 chapters and Maria did at least cover all the basics of Excel. Alas, that's all the good news.

This book does not have any exercises. You just get generic descriptions of - If you wanted to make a graph, you would click on these buttons and access these features. That's the biggest thing, the writing style is so general and vague. The writing is not hands on or specific. And the style isn't lively; it doesn't pull you in so you want to keep reading. At least the Dummies books I've read have some humor in them and the writing is usually engaging. On the other hand, at least the writing style avoids the convoluted techno-babble I read in an Access book written by a group of people from Microsoft. (Robert Heinlein wrote, "A committee is the only form of life with 28 legs and no brain.")

The book doesn't offer you any data to work with, aside from what you see in the screen captures. So I'm left to make up my own examples, which is extra challenging the first time through using a function or whatever it is.

There are lots of screen captures of spreadsheets, but the text doesn't describe what's happening specifically with the spreadsheets. The text is too general, so it's not helpful in a major way. It doesn't rank up there with books that are full of Excel boot camp exercises. Those are my private thoughts.

Oddly, she hasn't mastered the future or past tense.
From page 171:
I explain how to set the scale for an axis later in this chapter.
I define the three axes on the previous page.

She doesn't know how to say `will explain' or `defined,' ever. The book is rife with these notes and they're always in the present tense. Not a huge deal, but one would think an author and an editor would know how to use the future and past tense.

Out of all the Excel 2003 books I've looked at, the one I like the best is Excel 2003 Personal Trainer. It has exercises that I can do along with the book, well done! And it even has a disk full of sample spreadsheets to experiment upon. And the writing is chatty and alive! When working through chapter after chapter, that is especially welcome.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A great way to learn Excel, January 28, 2008

By 

Timohuatl (San Francisco) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Microsoft Office Excel 2003 for Windows (Paperback)

I have always felt like the Visual Quickstart Guides were the best user guides on the market. This one doesn't disappoint. While the early chapters were for computer users with remedial skills, the book progresses slowly and clearly. It's easy to find what you want. The instructions and illustrations are simple to follow, clear, and well integrated. I've been using it for a couple of years, adding more and more skills to my repetoire as I've needed them, and this guide has never let me down.