I'm still using 2003 MS Excel for my facing curve analysis and curve generation.  One of the key features that makes elliptical curve fitting easier is the built-in solver add-on in Excel.  I can code my own in a spreadsheet if it has iterative recalculating features, but the built-in solver is handy and cleaner.
 
 Do I need to stick with Office 365 to get the solver feature or are there other options now?  Seems like most of the other choices just have basic spreadsheet features and no advanced stuff.

can't find a free option.  You could always rewrite your spreadsheet to not require the solver if you want to get away from Excel. 

Apache OpenOffice Product Description https://www.openoffice.org/product/index.html 
 
 https://www.openoffice.org/product/index.html 
 
 Apache OpenOffice Product Description https://www.openoffice.org/product/index.html Apache OpenOffice Product Description Compatible with other major office suites, Apache OpenOffice is free to download, use, and distribute. Download it now, a...
 
 
 
 View on www.openoffice.org https://www.openoffice.org/product/index.html 
 Preview by Yahoo 
 
 
  
 Open office is free, and the software is very feature laden. You may be able to cut and paste your excel in to calc, and the solver may work.
  
 Tom
  

This looks like what I was looking for.  My son moved to UCLA recently and left me his old laptop, which is newer than my current one.  I'll see if I can fire it up and test out OpenOffice on it for my needs.


> On Sep 29, 2014, at 4:56 PM, tnarigon@... [MouthpieceWork] <MouthpieceWork@yahoogroups.com> wrote:
> 
> Apache OpenOffice Product Description
> 
>    
> Apache OpenOffice Product Description
> Apache OpenOffice Product Description Compatible with other major office suites, Apache OpenOffice is free to download, use, and distribute. Download it now, a...
> View on www.openoffice.org
> Preview by Yahoo
>  
> 
> Open office is free, and the software is very feature laden. You may be able to cut and paste your excel in to calc, and the solver may work.
> 
>  
> 
> Tom
> 
>  
> 
> 

Be aware that not all functions of MS Excel will work in the Open Office Excel application, certain formula's just won't go (at least a few years back, when I tried to use it).
Peter.

To: MouthpieceWork@yahoogroups.com
From: MouthpieceWork@yahoogroups.com
Date: Tue, 30 Sep 2014 08:21:11 -0400
Subject: Re: [MouthpieceWork] Re: 2014 Spreadsheet Options














 

 



  


    
      
      
      
This looks like what I was looking for.  My son moved to UCLA recently and left me his old laptop, which is newer than my current one.  I'll see if I can fire it up and test out OpenOffice on it for my needs.


On Sep 29, 2014, at 4:56 PM, tnarigon@... [MouthpieceWork] <MouthpieceWork@yahoogroups.com> wrote:














 

 



    
      
      
      Apache OpenOffice Product Description
                             Apache OpenOffice Product Description   Apache OpenOffice Product Description Compatible with other major office suites, Apache OpenOffice is free to
download, use, and distribute. Download it now, a...              View on www.openoffice.org          Preview by Yahoo              
Open office is free, and the software is very feature laden. You may be able to cut and paste your excel in to calc, and the solver may work.
 
Tom
 



    
     

    










    
     

    
    






   		 	   		  

I had tried Open Office some years back when for some reason, MS Office stopped working on my computer and could not be repaired despite reinstallation with the disks.  

I found Open Office did not work well for any but the most simple documents.  Excell or Word documents with photos, or any special formatting were messed up beyond repair.  

Since Word and Excell are absolute necessities for what I do, I bought a new computer.

Paul

I have not tried Apache OpenOffice yet.  On the to-do list.  But I did some news searches and learned that there are 2-3 OpenOffice suites out there.  They splintered a few years back for various reasons and now each have their own development path.  A different one is favored by Linex users.

> On Oct 1, 2014, at 9:46 AM, tenorman1952@... [MouthpieceWork] <MouthpieceWork@yahoogroups.com> wrote:
> 
> I had tried Open Office some years back when for some reason, MS Office stopped working on my computer and could not be repaired despite reinstallation with the disks.  
> 
> I found Open Office did not work well for any but the most simple documents.  Excell or Word documents with photos, or any special formatting were messed up beyond repair.  
> 
> Since Word and Excell are absolute necessities for what I do, I bought a new computer.
> 
> Paul
> 
> 

Well I downloaded Apache OpenOffice and tried using my speadsheets in it.  The facing curve graph was compressed vertically ~10X and was unreadable.  All the parts of the built in solver look like they are there.  But it does not solve my facing curve fit.

> On Oct 1, 2014, at 9:46 AM, tenorman1952@... [MouthpieceWork] <MouthpieceWork@yahoogroups.com> wrote:
> 
> I had tried Open Office some years back when for some reason, MS Office stopped working on my computer and could not be repaired despite reinstallation with the disks.  
> 
> I found Open Office did not work well for any but the most simple documents.  Excell or Word documents with photos, or any special formatting were messed up beyond repair.  
> 
> Since Word and Excell are absolute necessities for what I do, I bought a new computer.
> 
> Paul
> 
>