Differences between Microsoft Excel and Lotus 1-2-3

Select first, then choose a command    In Lotus 1-2-3, you choose a command and then specify a range that the command will affect. In Excel, you select the cell, range, or object you want to work with and then choose a command to perform an action. For example, if you want to format a range of cells, select the cells and then click Cells on the Format menu.

Keys for moving around a worksheet    The navigation keys you use to move around a worksheet differ between Excel and Lotus 1-2-3. For example, if you press the HOME key in Lotus 1-2-3, the cell in the upper-left corner of the worksheet is selected; in Excel, the first cell of the current row is selected. You can change the navigation keys in Excel to move around the worksheet in the same way as Lotus 1-2-3.

Parsing text from one column to several    In Lotus 1-2-3, you use the Parse command to separate text strings in one column across several columns. When you open a text file in Excel, the Text Import Wizard will assist you in parsing the data into columns. If you need to parse data in one column across several columns on the worksheet, use the Text to Columns command (Data menu).

Macros    Excel 2000 and later versions of Excel do not run Lotus 1-2-3 macros. If you want to rewrite Lotus 1-2-3 macros for Excel, see Visual Basic Help.

Many Lotus 1-2-3 functions have Microsoft Excel equivalents. However, Microsoft Excel uses different calculation rules than Lotus 1-2-3 when evaluating text in formulas, certain database criteria, and the value of certain logical operators.

The following Microsoft Excel functions have no equivalents in Lotus 1-2-3 Release 3.1 or earlier, or in Lotus 1-2-3 for Windows Release 1.0. If you save a workbook in one of these formats, these functions are replaced with the resulting value of the function.

Note  This list does not include many Microsoft Excel add-in functions and statistical functions that do not have Lotus 1-2-3 equivalents.

The following table lists Lotus 1-2-3 terms and equivalent Microsoft Excel terms. The Excel term may not be an exact equivalent of the Lotus 1-2-3 term, but you can use it to look for more information in Help.

Excel displays workbooks that contain worksheets in a window. By default, the menu bar, the formula bar, and the Standard and Formatting toolbars are displayed at the top of the window. At the bottom of the window, the status bar displays different indicators about the current working environment.