Among the many programs and platforms currently offered by the software giant, Microsoft, there are more some more popular and successful than others. This is the case, for example, of Windows 10, or of the applications that make up the Office suite .
In fact, in these lines we are going to focus on two of its most used solutions around the world for many years. As you know, when we talk about the office suite par excellence of the firm, we are referring specifically to Office. This is a powerful productivity suite that is made up of a good number of programs and solutions. These are responsible for meeting the needs of most users.
Office, a productivity suite for all types of users
Furthermore, we could say that the programs that are part of the aforementioned office suite are capable of working in all kinds of environments. Thus, these applications are widely spread in offices, educational settings , or in the homes of many around the globe. Depending on the needs of each one, users can opt for one type of work or another using the corresponding application.
But if there are two of these that could be considered as the most widespread and used in general terms, those are Word and Excel. It is true that for example, in the case of needing to create a multimedia presentation, we can also use PowerPoint, for example. Not to mention other widely used platforms such as Outlook, OneDrive, Skype or OneNote. But if there is something that normally characterizes Office, those are Word and Excel.
As most of you may already know first-hand, the first of the programs we mentioned to you is a powerful word processor. At the same time, Excel is an application that focuses on working with numerical data. However, and mainly due to their functionality, both programs go much further. Both have a huge number of features that have been integrated over the years and updates. All this is distributed among the different menus and submenus that we find in their respective user interfaces.
However, in large part due to its huge use worldwide, sometimes, especially less experienced users, confuse both solutions.
When is it preferable to use Microsoft Word
It is true that both Word and Excel are two programs that are part, as we mentioned, of the office suite of software giant Office . However, each of these two solutions is focused on a certain type of use. It must also be admitted that both programs share some functions, keyboard shortcuts, interfaces, etc .; which can cause some confusion in some.
However, despite all this, when starting work, we must be very clear about the application that will best help us at that moment. Let’s start with Word, a versatile multitasking word processor that has a multitude of functions and elements to use. However, despite all that the program proposes, in reality and as we say, it focuses on word processing. It is true that here we can implement tables, graphs , photographs, equations, video , etc.
But we must bear in mind that all this that we mentioned to you are nothing more than elements that are used to enrich or support the central work. And it is that this is none other than the text that we write or edit from the aforementioned program. For all this, Word itself offers us all kinds of functions that allow us to work with the words, paragraphs and pages that we generate from here.
Also keep in mind that thanks to the templates that Word offers us , we can create all kinds of documents, even with spectacular designs . But despite all this, what should be very clear is that this is an application focused on word processing, basically.
Situations in which it is preferable to use Microsoft Excel
Say that this is a program in which, as in the previous case, you can write and edit documents centered on the text. However, largely due to its user interface, this type of use is not the most appropriate in this case, far from it. Those of you who have ever worked, or at least accessed Excel, will know that its interface is entirely covered with small cells. Here you can enter all kinds of data, including the mentioned texts, since they can be resized.
However, despite all this, this is a program that was designed so that we can work in the best way with numerical data. Thus, we can perform all kinds of numerical operations thanks to the functions and formulas that we can use in the program. In this way, this interface divided into thousands of cells, facilitates the use and placement of all kinds of numerical values. Here, as in the previous case, we can also make use of graphics, or photos, among other elements. However, together with the texts, these should be taken as complementary elements to the numbers, formulas and operations that are usually included in Excel sheets.
Also keep in mind that this is a program suitable for all types of users and accounts. With this what we mean is that it can be used to perform simple calculations, even to keep the accounting of an entire company. Of course, its use at an advanced level is not easy, as for example it could happen with the aforementioned case of Word. And is that we have in Excel a huge number of formulas and functions , each with its structure and format.
Thus, as we can see, although they are both two office programs, their use is well differentiated, although there are users who continue to confuse them. In short, if we want to work with texts, both in their creation and editing , Word is the most common proposal. However, in the event that we are going to focus on working with numbers, accounts , formulas, etc .; Excel is what you are looking for.