Most spreadsheets available today make use of Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE) which enables links to be created between the spreadsheets and other Windows applications. Object Linking and Embedding (OLE), also commonly found among spreadsheet programs, enables users to insert an entire object into a spreadsheet. Sometimes users use OLE to insert a picture from a graphics file, or an entire word processing document. Similarly, OLE enables spreadsheets and spreadsheet graphs to be inserted into other Windows applications, such as word processors (Stinson, February 8, 1994, p. 162).
The Windows environment has become increasingly popular as users seek friendly interfaces that preclude a large investment in training and learning new programs. The Windows environment borrows heavily from the Apple Macintosh, and uses icons to represent programs, and within applications, icons to represent commands. Both 1-2-3 for Windows and Excel make heavy use of icons within their applications in order to offer a better user interface, with the result that users of one program become familiar with the icons and steps required to complete common tasks in that program.
Lotus 1-2-3 release 4.01 for windows features a version manager, database queries, in-place cell and chart editing and 24-hour support. Clicking the right mouse button brings up a shortcut menu that is context sensitive to the current selection. Cell properties can be modified by using a status bar located at the bottom of the screen, and the icons change automatically based on the operations that the user is performing. One set of icons is displayed at any one time; the user can see other icons by clicking the mouse. This version supports drag-and-drop copy and move operations and in-cell editing (formerly, users edited cells using an edit line above the spreadsheet).
The version manager that 1-2-3 offers enables users to store and manage different versions of the same work...