Microsoft Mathematics Add-in for Word and OneNote

[AlanMiller]

Just stumbled on this bie. It is available as standalone (buy) or Office add-in (free). Haven't tried it yet since I'm in Office 2003. More info at Microsoft Math - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

With the Microsoft Mathematics Add-in for Word and OneNote, you can perform mathematical calculations and plot graphs in your Word documents and OneNote notebooks.The add-in also provides an extensive collection of mathematical symbols and structures to display clearly formatted mathematical expressions. You can also quickly insert commonly used expressions and math structures by using the Equation gallery.The Microsoft Mathematics Add-in can help you with the following tasks:• Compute standard mathematical functions, such as roots and logarithms• Compute trigonometric functions, such as sine and cosine• Find derivatives and integrals, limits, and sums and products of series• Perform matrix operations, such as inverses, addition, and multiplication• Perform operations on complex numbers• Plot 2-D graphs in Cartesian and polar coordinates• Plot 3-D graphs in Cartesian, cylindrical, and spherical coordinates• Solve equations and inequalities• Calculate statistical functions, such as mode and variance, on lists of numbers• Factor polynomials or integers• Simplify or expand algebraic expressions

Supported Operating Systems:: Windows 7 Windows Vista with Service Pack 2 (SP2) Windows XP (32-bit) with Service Pack 3 (SP3) Windows Server 2008 R2 (64-bit) Windows Server 2008 with Service Pack 2 (SP2) Windows Server 2003 (32-bit) with Service Pack 2 (SP2)2. Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5 SP13. This download works with the following Office programs: Microsoft Word 2010 Microsoft OneNote 2010 Microsoft Office Word 2007

"Download details: Microsoft Mathematics Add-In for Word and OneNote"

Alan

Feel free to move this to "Other MS Office applications" if appropriate.

[HansV]

I tried it in Word 2007 a short while ago, but I deactivated it after a couple of days. The add-in apparently modifies Normal.dotm, so that each time I quit Word, I would be asked whether I wanted to save changes to the default template. It didn't matter whether I clicked Yes or No, the prompt would reappear next time. (I don't know whether this problem also occurs in Word 2010.)

Apart from that, it does work well - it is very easy to create a good-looking function plot, for example.

[AlanMiller]

Apart from that, it does work well - it is very easy to create a good-looking function plot, for example.

Just what I happened to be after. I might consider buying the standalone if I can justify it.

Alan

[diegol]

Whenever I have to pull off a nice plot I tend to resource to R. Not the easiest, most user-friendly, or quickest solution though. After (quite!) some getting used to it the cost of creating a new plot comes close to marginal. Since my need for graphs is not so frequent, it does however take me a little longer than it should.

BTW, thanks for the post!

[AlanMiller]

Whenever I have to pull off a nice plot I tend to resource to R. Not the easiest, most user-friendly, or quickest solution though. After (quite!) some getting used to it the cost of creating a new plot comes close to marginal. Since my need for graphs is not so frequent, it does however take me a little longer than it should.

BTW, thanks for the post!

Thanks Diegol... long time sin hablar! What is your main usage of this program? There seems to be a ton of Specialized Packages to go with it. In all, it looks like quite a significant piece of open source development.

Alan

[JoeP]

The add-in apparently modifies Normal.dotm, so that each time I quit Word, I would be asked whether I wanted to save changes to the default template. It didn't matter whether I clicked Yes or No, the prompt would reappear next time. (I don't know whether this problem also occurs in Word 2010.)

I have not seen this in 32-bit Word 2010.

Joe

[diegol]

Thanks Diegol... long time sin hablar!

Alas, yes! Sorry for the delay. Due to work and some changes going on on the personal side I've become quite busy. This situation is likely to last still a few months.

What is your main usage of this program? There seems to be a ton of Specialized Packages to go with it. In all, it looks like quite a significant piece of open source development.

When I first got to know R some 6 years ago I found it so unfriendly that I quit the idea of learning it. Later, about 3 years ago, I found some mentions of R on actuarial discussion forums and reconsidered trying to pick it up. I could then verify it was indeed unfriendly, at least for unsophisticated programming types like me. But when I looked better, I saw a very diverse, organized scientific community making contributions to the development of the software. As I read more, I could find articles and opinions prasing or otherwise favoring R's power. Some examples:

Data Analysts Captivated by R’s Power
R You Ready for R?
This post is rated R

So I determined myself to learn it, at least to a stage that would allow me to pick it up again when complex tasks showed up.

Due to its complexity, I needed a practical use for R so I could retain the basics. Not having much real-life use for it, I undertook to do all the computing behind my thesis in R. The learning process was frustrating many times, but at last I could finish my project.

The main features I tried to learn were those related to algebraic manipulation, probability distributions, pseudorandom number generation, plotting, database facilities, and a few actuarial packages (packages are to R similar to what add-ins are to Excel) in advanced development.

So going back to answer your question, I do not have much use for R in my current job. However, two months ago we had to consider several candidates in a selection process, so we designed a simple test they would have to go through. Some of the questions were based on graphs of probability density functions (percentiles or cumulative probability up to a certain percentile). Those graphs, we pulled off with R.