Know any good mini-spreadsheets for XP?
August 7, 2009 9:03 PM Subscribe
Can you recommend a mini-spreadsheet program for Windows XP, preferably freeware? It will be running on a tiny laptop in a place with no internet access, so OpenOffice is too big and online solutions are too... online.
I'm imagining a sort of super-stripped-down Excel: No macros or fanciness, just the ability to enter numbers and strings in a table, add them up, and export to a real-Excel-readable format for later collation on a desktop PC.
I'm hoping for recommendations of specific software and places to get it from, rather than "Here's the 'spreadsheet' section of VersionTracker, there are hundreds" — I'm an OS X guy, I have no intuitive feel for choosing and obtaining Windows software. Thanks in advance.
I'm imagining a sort of super-stripped-down Excel: No macros or fanciness, just the ability to enter numbers and strings in a table, add them up, and export to a real-Excel-readable format for later collation on a desktop PC.
I'm hoping for recommendations of specific software and places to get it from, rather than "Here's the 'spreadsheet' section of VersionTracker, there are hundreds" — I'm an OS X guy, I have no intuitive feel for choosing and obtaining Windows software. Thanks in advance.
Gnumeric is a Linux spreadsheet program that also runs on Windows. It should fit the bill.
posted by nasreddin at 9:09 PM on August 7, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by nasreddin at 9:09 PM on August 7, 2009 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: It does just barely squeeze on the HDD, but it runs very poorly. This is not a fancy laptop, trust me. It is probably inferior to most of the cellphones that will be sold today around the world. So since all we need to do is type in numbers, we figure there must be a smaller, nimbler solution. I want the Notepad of spreadsheets, not the Word (or even the WordPad).
posted by No-sword at 9:11 PM on August 7, 2009
posted by No-sword at 9:11 PM on August 7, 2009
If you're that cramped for space, have you considered looking for a DOS spreadsheet application? I'm thinking something like an old version of Lotus 1-2-3...
On a quick search, you can actually get the original VisiCalc!
posted by arrjay at 9:20 PM on August 7, 2009
On a quick search, you can actually get the original VisiCalc!
posted by arrjay at 9:20 PM on August 7, 2009
Crazy idea: text editor and coreutils for win32. Just use a file format of comma delimited lines, and cut to handle grabbing a specific column.
This is literally the notepad of spreadsheets. I'm not sure where to find a good tool to do actual calculations via stdin however.
posted by pwnguin at 9:31 PM on August 7, 2009
This is literally the notepad of spreadsheets. I'm not sure where to find a good tool to do actual calculations via stdin however.
posted by pwnguin at 9:31 PM on August 7, 2009
Seconding gnumeric. Much less weighty than OOo Calc.
posted by flabdablet at 9:36 PM on August 7, 2009
posted by flabdablet at 9:36 PM on August 7, 2009
Gnumeric is likely your best bet. Wikipedia says your options are limited.
The only other thing a quick search pulls up for me is this random thing, which, as a Win3.1 program, is going to be incredibly lightweight. It does calculations and exports to an old Excel format. Should work. Throw the archive at a virus scanner before using it, please. I don't want you blaming me if some ancient virus takes over your computer and tries to delete all your .wav files.
posted by whatnotever at 9:44 PM on August 7, 2009
The only other thing a quick search pulls up for me is this random thing, which, as a Win3.1 program, is going to be incredibly lightweight. It does calculations and exports to an old Excel format. Should work. Throw the archive at a virus scanner before using it, please. I don't want you blaming me if some ancient virus takes over your computer and tries to delete all your .wav files.
posted by whatnotever at 9:44 PM on August 7, 2009
What about "Simple Spreadsheet"?
Or, "PySpread"?
(Got these links from SourceForge)
posted by jkaczor at 10:21 PM on August 7, 2009
Or, "PySpread"?
(Got these links from SourceForge)
posted by jkaczor at 10:21 PM on August 7, 2009
Do you truly need a spreadsheet, or instead could you make do with a software-based scrolling calculator?
posted by jkaczor at 10:27 PM on August 7, 2009
posted by jkaczor at 10:27 PM on August 7, 2009
num-utils, a set of tools to do calculations via stdin.
So basically, comma separated files, cut to select fields to operate on and num-utils to do the processing. If you need to do equations from equations though, it gets much, much uglier. I need to get off my butt and write a node editing GUI tool for unix pipes.
Pyspread seems pretty new; it requires a newer version of wxGTK than I have in the latest stable Ubuntu.
posted by pwnguin at 10:36 PM on August 7, 2009
So basically, comma separated files, cut to select fields to operate on and num-utils to do the processing. If you need to do equations from equations though, it gets much, much uglier. I need to get off my butt and write a node editing GUI tool for unix pipes.
Pyspread seems pretty new; it requires a newer version of wxGTK than I have in the latest stable Ubuntu.
posted by pwnguin at 10:36 PM on August 7, 2009
+1 for Spread32.
It takes up 110kb of HDD space, and uses 3,160k of RAM. It does the job pretty well, too.
posted by Solomon at 2:11 AM on August 8, 2009 [1 favorite]
It takes up 110kb of HDD space, and uses 3,160k of RAM. It does the job pretty well, too.
posted by Solomon at 2:11 AM on August 8, 2009 [1 favorite]
I have not tried Gnumeric, but one other good answer to the question (without having to deal with a command line, etc.) is GS-Calc.
posted by yclipse at 2:26 AM on August 8, 2009
posted by yclipse at 2:26 AM on August 8, 2009
MS Works is a lightweight version of MS Office - it has a spreadsheet too, called "MS Works Spreadsheet". Maybe that'll do you?
posted by Salvor Hardin at 4:18 AM on August 8, 2009
posted by Salvor Hardin at 4:18 AM on August 8, 2009
I used to use GS-Calc on some woefully underpowered laptops years ago. Works great. And cheap.
posted by jdfan at 8:47 AM on August 8, 2009
posted by jdfan at 8:47 AM on August 8, 2009
If the issue with OpenOffice is one of installation or hard drive space, you can run Open Office off of a thumb drive courtesy of Portable Apps
posted by exparrot at 7:47 AM on August 10, 2009
posted by exparrot at 7:47 AM on August 10, 2009
Response by poster: Thanks, y'all. Field has been narrowed to Gnumeric and Spread32, and the actual people doing the data entry will decide the winner. (We decided that any risk to our .wavs was unacceptable.) Sorry for delayed best answering.
posted by No-sword at 3:23 PM on August 10, 2009
posted by No-sword at 3:23 PM on August 10, 2009
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posted by Chocolate Pickle at 9:05 PM on August 7, 2009