Calculator: More Than Meets the Eye

March 9th, 2008 at 3:00 PM - Tips by Jeff Gamet

Appleis Calculator application is pretty handy for basic mathematic calculations, but by default it doesnit do much for the scientific or programmer types out there. With a quick switch, however, it can handle those tasks, and it even supports Reverse Polish Notation, too.

To switch to an alternate view in the Calculator application, just choose View > Scientific, or View > Programmer. Each view displays an alternate feature set geared toward either scientific or programmer-related equations.

You can jump back to the standard Calculator view by choosing View > Basic. All three modes also support RPN, or Reverse Polish Notation, so most everyoneis calculating needs can be handled with Appleis seemingly simple Calculator application. You can enable RPN mode by choosing View > RPN Mode.

If you need even more than Calculator can offer, take the free Magic Number Machine for a spin. It offers support for large expressions, and includes data drawers for statistical data, linear regressions and gaussian elimination. It also does a good job with complex and hexadecimal numbers and displays your equations as you enter them.

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