Microsoft app comparisons

Today I am comparing the functions of word processor, spreadsheet, presentation, and database applications using a day in my life as the main subject. I will start off with word processor. When using word processor, I felt like it was easy to type/ write what I was thinking about and using the functions above like “double spaced” and how the texts look helped a lot. The advantages that I thought were noticeable and worth pointing out the variety of items that you can use. Ranging from simple texts and changing fonts and sizes to placing some pictures/ graphs and changing layouts.           

There’s just so many different uses that the word processor can do. Some disadvantages that I say the word processor has is the fact that it can be very overwhelming and that you would need to pay for a license to use it. Although it is true that there’s many functions to use, if you don’t already know of it would be hard to learn unless taught to you. Even now, I still get overwhelmed with how much there is about word. In everyday tasks, the word processor is great for writing things down to doing assignments. An example is doing essays!  Microsoft word is “The most popular word processing program” So far for everything I had to write, it has been through the word processor!

 Moving forward to Microsoft Excel, the application itself is more complicated than Microsoft Word. You can still type out things, but it isn’t on a blank page like Microsoft word. Instead, there are cells that you input information into and can organize it according to your needs. Compared to word, Excel is great for numbers and data. It was very easy to calculate numbers and sort it in order just like part 2 of the assignment. Excel has charts and graphs to present data as well including percentages and more! Using Excel is mainly for data like in a company that’s trying to figure out money or percentages of supplies or how I use it at work is to make a schedule with people’s names and the tasks they will be doing for the day and using this application makes it very organized to follow. Unfortunately, using excel can be very difficult and complicated. Not understanding how it works is a big issue as well as having to pay for the usage of the program. For example, not knowing what to type to get the SUM of items is hard. For myself, I did not even know that using the “=” sign was an option to add numbers up automatically. That is just one of the examples but there are so many more.

  Using Microsoft PowerPoint presentation, I believe is the easiest to use. I believe it is a mix of both applications while not being too difficult to maneuver. You can type like word but on a different platform and include pictures and change texts if needed and you can include charts and graphs. Using PowerPoint is a great way for presentations like during meetings and events. The advantages of using PowerPoint are the simplicity of the program and the creativity it allows the user while still having a learning curve for certain actions. The disadvantages would be that there’s not “complicated” actions to do like how Microsoft Excel has.

Lastly, commenting on database applications, they are mainly used for storing, organizing, and managing large amounts of data! An advantage of database applications is that multiple people can access the data and have a better scope of it whether it be simple or complex. A disadvantage would be that it isn’t private and since everyone can see it they could possibly change the data unless it has restrictions on the people that can see it or use it. Database applications is useful for scenarios when trying to show everyone what is going on with large amounts of data!

In conclusion, all the software that I have spoken about is great to use and each has a learning curve to go through whether it is easier, like PowerPoint, or too hard and complicated like Excel. There’s so many uses for each one but depending on what you need, one will suit your needs better.