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From: zimmer@calvin.stanford.edu (Andrew Zimmerman)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.next
Subject: Spreadsheets
Message-ID: <1991Apr13.115926.4528@neon.Stanford.EDU>
Date: 13 Apr 91 11:59:26 GMT
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    While some of you are worrying about whether NeXT will switch to the 88110
or stay with the 68040, and what that would mean to your software investment,
I worry about whether NeXT will be around in a few years.  No matter what the
technical merit of a machine, its success depends on the software that is
available for it, and not just any software, but the big 3.
    Spreadsheets
    Wordprocessing/Desktop Publishing
    Databases

    In terms of wordprocessing, NeXT has TeX, FrameMaker, WordPerfect, and a
few other tools (ie Drawing programs).  Not only are these nice packages,
but they are compatible with the rest of the world.

    In terms of Databases, I understand that the NeXT has Sybase.  I don't
use databases, so I will leave further comment to those that do.

    Now, spreadsheets.  Right now, there is only one that you can get, Improv.
(I know about Wingz, but last I talked to Informix, it wasn't shipping for
the 040).  I have a lot of problems with Improv.  
   1.  It lacks some graph types that many people want.
   2.  I tried to use it just as a spreadsheet.  It did not seem obvious to
me how to use it.  Something as simple as swapping two rows took me 20 
minutes to figure out.  And even then, I had to do a copy and then a delete.
Copying a row caused all of the formulas to break.  Changing the name of the
row to the name of the other deleted row didn't help, the formula was still
in error.  All I had to do to fix the formula was to delete any character,
and then type in the exact same character.  I finally gave up when I had
problems with the IRR formula.  It seems that all of the cash flows have to
be in the same category which for my application was not what I wanted.
(I don't like the IRR functions that come with any of the major spreadsheets,
but thats a different issue)
But, the worst thing about Improv is that it is not compatible with other
spreadsheets.
(Yes, it can almost import 1-2-3 spreadsheets, but it is not compatible)

    I feel that lack of a compatible spreadsheet will be the downfall of NeXT.
It will prevent businesses from moving from IBM/PC's and Mac's to NeXT's.  
Instead, they will go to high end PC's, or high end Macs, or Sun machines.
All of these run industry standard software.  

    I just hope that NeXT realizes the need for a standard spreadsheet, and
gets either Lotus to port 1-2-3, or Microsoft to port Excel to the NeXT.
WingZ is not a bad product, but it lacks features that both of the above 
support.

Andrew
zimmer@calvin.stanford.edu