Applications:

SigmaPlot 8.0 Offers Instant Access from Microsoft Excel

SigmaPlot 8.0, the latest version of the award winning technical graphing software from SPSS Inc, can be directly accessed from Microsoft Excel -- eliminating time-consuming cut-and-paste data preparation steps. SigmaPlot 8.0, which ships worldwide in mid-April, enables users to select SigmaPlot from the Excel menu and generate graphs from Excel worksheets, offering the ability to use data derived from in-cell formulas, store data and graphs in one convenient file and avoid time and date formatting problems.

"In researching the SigmaPlot market we learned that current and prospective customers rely on Excel to store and manipulate their data. With SigmaPlot 8.0, users never need to leave the familiar Excel environment. They can even click on the graph in their Excel worksheet and select options in SigmaPlot's graph editing dialog to make any changes," says Ken Kirsten, senior product manager, SPSS Science. "SigmaPlot 8.0 offers the best of both worlds -- keeping data in Excel and creating high-quality graphs with SigmaPlot."

SigmaPlot is used by more than 100,000 researchers worldwide in life sciences, environmental sciences, medical research, chemistry and engineering to create precise technical graphs. Flexible editing capabilities, which enable users to present their results more accurately, and versatile export options have made SigmaPlot a leader among graphing software.

In addition to the Excel integration, the latest version of SigmaPlot offers more editing flexibility and ease of use with new toolbar palettes. As with Microsoft Office applications and popular desktop publishing products, customers can use the palettes to selectively modify graph objects, such as individual bars and lines; or modify multiple objects from a graph or page simultaneously.

Other SigmaPlot 8.0 features include:

• Multiple levels of undo - undo several sets of changes and experiment with different annotations on the graph
• Auto Save - SigmaPlot 8.0 automatically saves a backup file every 10 minutes or the backup setting can be customized
• SPSS 11.0 Integration - access SigmaPlot seamlessly from SPSS; launch the graph wizard right from the toolbar
• Nudging - More graphical objects using arrows; nudge objects by one pixel
• On page text editing - type and edit text on the page; edit multiple text objects simultaneously
• Legend improvements - lock or unlock legends when making changes to worksheets, change column titles or use new data without resetting the legend labels
• Export dialog - supply the desired size of image and SigmaPlot calculates the optimal DPI
• Microsoft Windows XP and ME support

"SigmaPlot's direct interface with Excel, improved graphing and editing capabilities and integration with SPSS reflect the needs and work environments of our customers and prospects," says Ken Kirsten, senior product manager-SPSS Science. "Our objective is to integrate the sought after graphing capabilities of SigmaPlot in other applications to improve the user's workflow process."

"Hands down it is the most comprehensive and flexible software for generating scientific graphs," says Joel Culpepper, biostatistician, Office of Research, University of Maryland. "SigmaPlot provides an easy method for curve-fitting and plotting regression lines and graphs can easily be imported/copied into reports and presentations."

Pricing and availability

The North America commercial list price for SigmaPlot 8.0 is US$699. Upgrades are available to SigmaPlot 7.1 and 6.0 users for US $199, and to users of older versions for US $299. A variety of pricing programs, including special academic pricing, aggressive multiple unit pricing and site and network licensing, are available.

Both SigmaPlot and SPSS can be purchased on the Web at either the SPSS online software store at www.spss.com/store or at the SPSS Science online software store at www.spssscience.com/buy.cfm. The software is also available for purchase over the phone at 800-543-2185. For more information, please visit www.sigmaplot.com.

About SPSS Science

SPSS Science provides award-winning software designed for research and technical professionals. SigmaPlot delivers unmatched graphing capabilities for presenting technical data. In addition to SigmaPlot, SPSS Science products include statistical, image analysis, gel electrophoresis and data mining packages. Clementine, the leading data mining workbench, helps create powerful prediction models to find the fastest route to drug delivery.

About the SPSS Business Intelligence division

The SPSS Business Intelligence division helps people solve business problems using statistics and data mining. This predictive technology enables our customers in the commercial, higher education and public sectors to make better decisions and improve results. The SPSS Business Intelligence division software and services are used successfully in a wide range of applications, including customer attraction and retention, cross-selling, survey research, fraud detection, enrollment management, Web site performance, forecasting and scientific research. The SPSS Business Intelligence division's market-leading products include SPSS, Clementine, AnswerTree, DecisionTime and SigmaPlot.

About SPSS Inc

SPSS Inc headquartered in Chicago, IL, USA, is a multinational computer software company providing technology that transforms data into insight through the use of predictive analytics and other data mining techniques. The company's solutions and products enable organizations to manage the future by learning from the past, understanding the present, as well as predicting potential problems and opportunities.