If you have even glanced at a spreadsheet before, then Quicksheet won't be too much of a challenge. Complex functions are a different matter, however. I really would advise reading about all the other features that are available before taking the big plunge and setting up a big, fancy, new spreadsheet.

You can export and import back and forth into Excel (versions 5.0, 95 and 97). HotSync works quite well. For Windows users, the developers included an Excel add-in, shown in Figure A, that allows you to create and change categories for the spreadsheet and even edit the file. They even promised me a Mac export-capable version sometime soon.

FIGURE B

Quicksheet adds it's own menu into Excel. Click picture for a larger image.

Minimum requirements for using Quicksheet are a 3Com Palm III, PalmPilot Professional, or IBM WorkPad with minimum of 150K available memory. Also don't forget the spreadsheets themselves will take up space as well. Lots of available space is needed for larger files. In the Tips and Tricks section of the manual, Cutting Edge mentions that the TRG's memory cards work well and allow you to work on larger spreadsheets. They also mention that HackMaster's EcoHack will also work in speeding things up, though the hack is by no means necessary for using Quicksheet. Work with HackMaster at your own risk, kiddies.

Using Quicksheet
Using Quicksheet is great. Selecting regions is a breeze, as is applying the formatting. Let's face it: the only person I know who reads the whole manual before playing with an application is my father -- and that's a whole 'nother can of worms. [My Dad outright refuses to read manuals, but for some reason seems to enjoy reading phone books. Dads. -- DG]

Intuitive interfaces and easily discoverable features are necessary things in this age of "Hey, instant gratification takes too long!"

You can have up to 15 sheets in a workbook that can be related to each other, but I found it's best to have one sheet per workbook. Not only can you link the spreadsheets, but you can also attach styles to specific cells before you fill them in with your information. Algebraic formulas using references to numerically formatted cells recalculate when the dependant cells are changed. Copy and pasting preserves the formatting and relations of the cells selected. For chronic goobers such as myself, they have cell locking which prevents me from changing the contents of a cell during those times when I experience moments of clinical brain death. This is also useful for creating forms with specific fields that can be filled in to compute a final value, such as a currency translator when you go to Paris and have to find out how many francs per dollar. (I'm going to Paris in April and that's probably the next spreadsheet I'll be building.)

The Palm OS Find button is supported for titles of the spreadsheets and within the application, they have built-in a find function for finding data within the spreadsheet itself. Beaming spreadsheets back and forth between Palm III's (with Quicksheet installed on both units, of course.) yields a fully functioning file. This could be especially useful for stockbrokers or doctors keeping track of stock information or patient charts.