<s>
Numbers	O
is	O
a	O
spreadsheet	B-Application
application	O
developed	O
by	O
Apple	O
Inc	O
.	O
as	O
part	O
of	O
the	O
iWork	B-Application
productivity	O
suite	O
alongside	O
Keynote	B-Protocol
and	O
Pages	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Numbers	O
is	O
available	O
for	O
iOS	B-Application
and	O
macOS	B-Operating_System
High	I-Operating_System
Sierra	I-Operating_System
or	O
newer	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Numbers	O
1.0	O
on	O
OS	B-Application
X	I-Application
was	O
announced	O
on	O
August	O
7	O
,	O
2007	O
,	O
making	O
it	O
the	O
newest	O
application	O
in	O
the	O
iWork	B-Application
suite	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
iPad	B-Device
version	O
was	O
released	O
on	O
January	O
27	O
,	O
2010	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
app	O
was	O
later	O
updated	O
to	O
support	O
iPhone	B-Device
and	O
iPod	B-Device
Touch	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
comparison	O
,	O
traditional	O
spreadsheets	B-Application
like	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Excel	I-Application
use	O
the	O
table	O
as	O
the	O
primary	O
container	O
,	O
with	O
other	O
media	O
placed	O
within	O
the	O
table	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Numbers	O
also	O
includes	O
features	O
from	O
the	O
seminal	O
Lotus	B-Device
Improv	I-Device
,	O
notably	O
the	O
use	O
of	O
formulas	O
based	O
on	O
ranges	O
rather	O
than	O
cells	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
it	O
implements	O
these	O
using	O
traditional	O
spreadsheet	B-Application
concepts	O
,	O
as	O
opposed	O
to	O
Improv	B-Device
's	O
use	O
of	O
multidimensional	O
databases	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Numbers	O
also	O
includes	O
numerous	O
stylistic	O
improvements	O
to	O
improve	O
the	O
visual	O
appearance	O
of	O
spreadsheets	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Numbers	O
works	O
in	O
a	O
fashion	O
somewhat	O
different	O
from	O
traditional	O
spreadsheets	B-Application
like	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Excel	I-Application
or	O
Lotus	B-Application
1-2-3	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
traditional	O
model	O
,	O
the	O
table	O
is	O
the	O
first-class	O
citizen	O
of	O
the	O
system	O
,	O
acting	O
as	O
both	O
the	O
primary	O
interface	O
for	O
work	O
and	O
as	O
the	O
container	O
for	O
other	O
types	O
of	O
media	O
like	O
charts	O
or	O
digital	B-Algorithm
images	I-Algorithm
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
effect	O
,	O
the	O
spreadsheet	B-Application
and	O
the	O
table	O
are	O
the	O
same	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
To	O
provide	O
a	O
large	O
workspace	O
,	O
conventional	O
spreadsheets	B-Application
extend	O
a	O
table	O
in	O
X	O
and	O
Y	O
to	O
form	O
a	O
very	O
large	O
grid	O
—	O
ideally	O
infinite	O
,	O
but	O
normally	O
limited	O
to	O
some	O
smaller	O
dimension	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
To	O
manage	O
this	O
complexity	O
,	O
Excel	B-Application
allows	O
one	O
to	O
hide	O
data	O
that	O
is	O
not	O
of	O
interest	O
,	O
often	O
intermediate	O
values	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Quattro	B-Application
Pro	I-Application
commonly	O
introduced	O
the	O
idea	O
of	O
multiple	O
sheets	O
in	O
a	O
single	O
book	O
,	O
allowing	O
further	O
subdivision	O
of	O
the	O
data	O
;	O
Excel	B-Application
implements	O
this	O
as	O
a	O
set	O
of	O
tabs	O
along	O
the	O
bottom	O
of	O
the	O
workbook	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
contrast	O
,	O
Numbers	O
does	O
not	O
have	O
an	O
underlying	O
spreadsheet	B-Application
in	O
the	O
traditional	O
sense	O
but	O
uses	O
multiple	O
individual	O
tables	O
for	O
this	O
purpose	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Whereas	O
a	O
typical	O
Excel	B-Application
sheet	O
has	O
data	O
strewn	O
across	O
it	O
,	O
a	O
Numbers	O
canvas	O
could	O
build	O
the	O
same	O
output	O
through	O
smaller	O
individual	O
tables	O
encompassing	O
the	O
same	O
data	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Consider	O
a	O
simple	O
spreadsheet	B-Application
used	O
to	O
calculate	O
the	O
average	O
value	O
of	O
all	O
car	O
sales	O
in	O
a	O
month	O
for	O
a	O
given	O
year	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
traditional	O
spreadsheets	B-Application
,	O
the	O
semantic	O
value	O
of	O
the	O
numbers	O
is	O
lost	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
the	O
spreadsheet	B-Application
is	O
unaware	O
of	O
the	O
user	O
's	O
desire	O
for	O
D	O
to	O
be	O
an	O
output	O
column	O
,	O
the	O
user	O
copies	O
that	O
formula	O
into	O
all	O
of	O
the	O
cells	O
in	O
D	O
.	O
However	O
,	O
as	O
the	O
formula	O
refers	O
to	O
data	O
on	O
different	O
rows	O
,	O
it	O
must	O
be	O
modified	O
as	O
it	O
is	O
copied	O
into	O
the	O
cells	O
in	O
D	O
,	O
changing	O
it	O
to	O
refer	O
to	O
the	O
correct	O
row	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Excel	B-Application
automates	O
this	O
later	O
task	O
by	O
using	O
a	O
relative	O
referencing	O
system	O
that	O
works	O
as	O
long	O
as	O
the	O
cells	O
retain	O
their	O
location	O
relative	O
to	O
the	O
formula	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
this	O
system	O
requires	O
Excel	B-Application
to	O
track	O
any	O
changes	O
to	O
the	O
layout	O
of	O
the	O
sheet	O
and	O
adjust	O
the	O
formulas	O
,	O
a	O
process	O
that	O
is	O
far	O
from	O
foolproof	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
During	O
the	O
development	O
of	O
Improv	B-Device
,	O
the	O
Lotus	O
team	O
discovered	O
that	O
these	O
sorts	O
of	O
formulas	O
were	O
both	O
difficult	O
to	O
use	O
and	O
resistant	O
to	O
future	O
changes	O
in	O
the	O
spreadsheet	B-Application
layout	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Using	O
the	O
car	O
example	O
,	O
the	O
formula	O
in	O
Improv	B-Device
would	O
be	O
average	O
per	O
car	O
=	O
total	O
income	O
/	O
cars	O
sold	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
downside	O
to	O
Improv	B-Device
's	O
approach	O
is	O
that	O
it	O
demanded	O
more	O
information	O
from	O
the	O
user	O
up-front	O
and	O
was	O
considered	O
less	O
suitable	O
for	O
"	O
quick	O
and	O
dirty	O
"	O
calculations	O
or	O
basic	O
list	O
building	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Numbers	O
uses	O
a	O
hybrid	O
approach	O
to	O
the	O
creation	O
of	O
formulas	O
,	O
supporting	O
the	O
use	O
of	O
named	O
data	O
like	O
Improv	B-Device
,	O
but	O
implementing	O
them	O
in-sheet	O
like	O
Excel	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
basic	O
operation	O
,	O
Numbers	O
can	O
be	O
used	O
just	O
like	O
Excel	B-Application
;	O
data	O
can	O
be	O
typed	O
anywhere	O
and	O
formulas	O
can	O
be	O
created	O
by	O
referring	O
to	O
the	O
data	O
by	O
its	O
cell	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Like	O
Improv	B-Device
,	O
this	O
formula	O
does	O
not	O
refer	O
to	O
the	O
physical	O
location	O
of	O
the	O
data	O
in	O
the	O
sheet	O
,	O
so	O
the	O
sheet	O
can	O
be	O
dramatically	O
modified	O
without	O
causing	O
the	O
formula	O
to	O
fail	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Similar	O
to	O
Improv	B-Device
,	O
formulas	O
can	O
be	O
represented	O
as	O
icons	O
in	O
Numbers	O
,	O
allowing	O
them	O
to	O
be	O
dragged	O
about	O
the	O
sheets	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
serve	O
a	O
function	O
similar	O
to	O
the	O
sum	O
that	O
appears	O
at	O
the	O
bottom	O
of	O
the	O
window	O
in	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Excel	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
another	O
nod	O
to	O
Improv	B-Device
,	O
the	O
Formula	O
List	O
shows	O
all	O
of	O
the	O
formulas	O
in	O
the	O
spreadsheet	B-Application
in	O
a	O
separate	O
area	O
and	O
allows	O
edits	O
in	O
place	O
or	O
easy	O
navigation	O
to	O
their	O
use	O
in	O
the	O
sheets	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
contrasts	O
with	O
Excel	B-Application
2007	I-Application
's	O
338	O
functions	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Many	O
of	O
the	O
functions	O
in	O
Numbers	O
are	O
identical	O
to	O
those	O
in	O
Excel	B-Application
;	O
missing	O
ones	O
tend	O
to	O
be	O
related	O
to	O
statistics	O
,	O
although	O
this	O
area	O
was	O
greatly	O
improved	O
in	O
Numbers	O
'	O
09	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Numbers	O
'	O
09	O
includes	O
a	O
system	O
for	O
categorizing	O
data	O
similar	O
to	O
pivot	B-Application
tables	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Pivots	O
were	O
introduced	O
in	O
Improv	B-Device
and	O
were	O
manipulated	O
by	O
dragging	O
the	O
category	O
headers	O
,	O
allowing	O
the	O
user	O
to	O
quickly	O
rotate	O
rows	O
into	O
columns	O
or	O
vice	O
versa	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
is	O
similar	O
functionality	O
to	O
a	O
pivot	B-Application
table	I-Application
but	O
lacks	O
the	O
ease	O
of	O
re-arrangement	O
of	O
the	O
Improv	B-Device
model	O
and	O
other	O
advanced	O
features	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Pivot	B-Application
tables	I-Application
were	O
later	O
added	O
to	O
Numbers	O
11.2	O
on	O
September	O
28	O
,	O
2021	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Like	O
other	O
products	O
in	O
the	O
iWork	B-Application
suite	O
,	O
Numbers	O
includes	O
a	O
variety	O
of	O
styles	O
and	O
layouts	O
designed	O
by	O
professional	O
illustrators	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Opening	O
an	O
Excel	B-Application
sheet	O
in	O
Numbers	O
results	O
in	O
a	O
display	O
with	O
smooth	O
fonts	O
,	O
a	O
clean	O
layout	O
,	O
and	O
color	O
selections	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
can	O
then	O
be	O
modified	O
,	O
optionally	O
using	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
supplied	O
templates	O
,	O
and	O
saved	O
out	O
to	O
Excel	B-Application
format	O
again	O
with	O
these	O
styles	O
intact	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Numbers	O
also	O
allows	O
sheets	O
to	O
be	O
emailed	O
in	O
Excel	B-Application
format	O
in	O
a	O
single	O
step	O
or	O
shared	O
through	O
Numbers	O
for	O
iCloud	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
They	O
did	O
point	O
out	O
several	O
common	O
issues	O
,	O
especially	O
problems	O
exporting	O
to	O
Excel	B-Application
and	O
the	O
inability	O
to	O
"	O
lock	O
"	O
cells	O
to	O
prevent	O
them	O
from	O
moving	O
when	O
the	O
table	O
is	O
scrolled	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Numbers	O
for	O
the	O
iPhone	B-Device
and	O
iPad	B-Device
have	O
received	O
similar	O
favorable	O
reviews	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Exports	O
to	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Excel	I-Application
,	O
but	O
lacks	O
certain	O
Excel	B-Application
features	O
,	O
including	O
Visual	B-Language
Basic	I-Language
for	I-Language
Applications	I-Language
(	O
absent	O
in	O
the	O
2008	B-Operating_System
version	I-Operating_System
of	I-Operating_System
Office	I-Operating_System
for	I-Operating_System
Mac	I-Operating_System
,	O
although	O
it	O
was	O
reintroduced	O
for	O
the	O
2011	B-Operating_System
version	I-Operating_System
)	O
and	O
pivot	B-Application
tables	I-Application
(	O
added	O
in	O
ver	O
11.2	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
