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Microsoft Calculator A component of Microsoft Windows |
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Microsoft Calculator, commonly known as Calculator from the application's title bar, is a calculation application included in all versions of the Microsoft Windows operating system. It can be activated by the command "calc" on most Windows systems.
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History
It was first included with Windows 1.0 as a simple arithmetic calculator.
In Windows 3.0, a Scientific mode is added, which includes exponents and roots, logarithms, factorial-based functions, trigonometry (supports radian, degree and gradians angles), base conversions (2, 8, 10, 16), logic operations, Statistic functions such as single variable statistics and linear regression. In Windows 3.0 and Windows 3.1 its interface had a white background with 2D buttons.
In Windows 95 and later, it uses an arbitrary-precision arithmetic library, replacing the standard IEEE floating point library.[1] It offers bignum precision for basic operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division) and 32 digits of precision for advanced operations (square root, transcendental operators). Other changes include the use of 3d buttons.
In Windows ME, digit grouping is added. Degree and base settings are added to menu bar.
Windows 7
In Windows 7, separate Programmer, Statistics, Unit Conversion, Date Calculation, and Worksheets modes were added. Tooltips were removed.
In every mode (except Statistics) one can see the history of calculations.
The applet was redesigned to accommodate multitouch.
In Scientific mode, the base conversion functions were moved to the Programmer mode, and Statistics functions were moved to the Statistics mode.
On the right of the main Calculator one can add a panel with Date Calculation, Unit Conversion, and Worksheets.
The included Worksheets allow one to calculate a result of a chosen field based on the values of other fields. Pre-defined templates include calculating a car's fuel economy (mpg and L/100 km)[2], a vehicle lease, and a mortgage. In pre-beta versions of Windows 7, Calculator also provided a Wages template.
Features
Calculator has a simplified interface, small size, and can perform all of the functions of most four-function or scientific calculators. By default, the application is in the "Standard" mode, and functions as a four-function calculator. More advanced functions are available in "Scientific" mode, including logarithms, numerical base conversions, some logical operators, radian, degree and gradians support as well as simple single-variable statistical functions. It does not provide support for user-defined functions, complex numbers, storage variables for intermediate results (other than the classic accumulator memory of pocket calculators), automated polar-cartesian coordinates conversion, or support two-variables statistics, making it impractical to use with many engineering, physics or high school mathematics tasks. Calculator is not able to do "constant calculations". When a user wants to apply the same constant and operation many times, the second and following calculations can be done without retyping the operation and constant. So one can type: 2*7=[14] 3=[21] 4=[28] etc. Calculator ignores the number typed before the equal sign.
Some versions of Calculator have a way to automate long calculations. Writing a text file in Notepad or another text editor containing a number on the first row, then operators followed by numbers on the next row and pasting this content to calculator's textbox will result in it performing the described calculations. Most of Calculator's functions can be accessed with a specific letter or symbol — A full list can be found in Calculator's help file. This may not work correctly with all versions of Calculator, and depends on precise text formatting.
Many specialized keyboards have a "calculator" key, which launches Microsoft Calculator by default.
Microsoft Calculator Plus
It is a separate application for Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 users that adds a 'Conversion' mode over the Windows XP version of the Microsoft Calculator. The 'Conversion' mode supports unit conversion and currency conversion. Currency exchange rates can be updated using the built-in update feature, which downloads exchange rates from the European Central Bank.
See also
References
External links
- Microsoft Calculator Plus
- Windows 7 Feature Focus Calculator
- How to handle bugs in some Windows 3.* versions of Calc.exe
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