On Aug 14, 2023, Physfitfreak wrote on sci.physics
(in article <ubcq6o$2uj4$1@solani.org>):

> At work, at the area that I spent most of my time (and do most of the
> thinking), there is no internet access. Everywhere else in the god damn
> plant internet access is plenty, but with _only_ that exception. You
> should either be a genius to remember thousands of different little
> facts to do your job right (like many unbelievably smart and bright
> Hispanics that work there do), or be an old man like myself in need of
> using Excel to handle some of the stuff I want to do in the fastest and
> most accurate way _possible_. Cause those ideas that are now just
> "possibilities" go beyond my position responsibilities.
>
> So I took my little laptop to work. It has Excel 2016 on it now. Most
> stuff I did on Excel was on the 2010 version which came with a nice
> near-comprehensive offline help. But what do you know, last week I found
> out this 2016 version only has access to online help! Hehe :) How
> stupid of Microsoft - the "engineers" in it must've at last destroyed
> the last remnants of a physicist's mind behind the whole endeavor. You
> know that Microsoft became Microsoft not so much for Bill Gates'
> character behind it, but for his physicist partner's, don't you. The guy
> about whom Gates stays childishly silent all the time :) But he died.
> Let me check when. Perhaps the "engineers" dared to do such offense only
> after he died. Let me see..
>
> No, Allen died 2018. I don't know about the 2013 version. But 2010
> version had seen it necessary to have off-line help available and a good
> one too, but 2016 version for some second-world "engineer"ish reasons
> was denied of it. Or perhaps Allen was too sick or inactive already then
> to prevent such decisions. I don't know.
>
> Anyway, coffee is ready, so I come to the point. Any of you know of a
> source to download that off-line help as a module by itself? Perhaps
> (i.e. ideally) as a chm file? I think if I remember it right 2010 had a
> chm file format for its help-files.
>
> Google doesn't work much anymore. I spent 15 min or so and couldn't find
> what I needed. It has really become inferior to some foreign search
> engines, especially when it has a tendency to limit your access based on
> what it thinks it can sell you. Disgusting. But I don't have time now to
> see which foreign engine is better and go from there. A usenet query
> could work faster.

You could try the newsgroup microsoft.public.excel ?

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