‘I grew up with it’: readers on the enduring appeal of Microsoft Excel

From baby names to wedding planning, fans of the 40-year-old spreadsheet program reveal how it has transformed their lives

“I’m a boring man,” says Mike Elwin, an energy management consultant from Warrington. “My friends think it’s ridiculous how much I use Microsoft Excel. But it’s a dead handy tool.”

Elwin, 56, has long used Excel to organise his life – from mapping finances, to plotting medical test results, to monitoring his household energy use. When his son was born in 2007, he made a spreadsheet for the feeding schedule.