When you see the file extension XLS it means that the file format is saved in the Microsoft Office Excel software program, which is a spreadsheet application based on the macro programming language VBA (Visual Basic for Applications). Excel has a number of useful features including multiple worksheets, formulae cells and also graphs and tables. It is useful both in home and business scenarios for simple tasks such as creating basic accounts tables and monthly budgets, or more complex spreadsheets that can track and display staffing resources and annual income and expenditure.

You may also see Excel workbooks saved under a number of other file extensions such as:

• XLSX –the default Excel 2007 format, which does not support macros.
• XLSM – this indicates an Excel Macro-enabled Workbook.
• XLSB – also an Excel Macro-enabled Workbook, but this stores information in binary form to improve loading and saving efficiency, and is essential for large, complex spreadsheets with multiple worksheets.
• XLTM – this is the basic Excel Macro-enabled Template, which forms the basis for workbooks.
• XLAM – the Excel add-in function, with adds extra functionality and tools to basic macro enabled workbooks.

The XLS file extension is useful for businesses as it is based on a proprietary file format storage system, which means that the person creating the spreadsheet can lock worksheets (read only) to prevent tampering, or can set a password so that it can only be opened by authorised personnel. Excel is one of most widely used spreadsheet software programs in the world, but it has been heavily criticised over the years for a number of inherent faults:

· Reliability – studies into Excel spreadsheets have shown that in an extremely high percentage of cases, (up to 94% in a standard study), worksheets commonly contained small errors that often went undetected by the administrator.
· Practicality – Excel spreadsheets have a number of limitations, which can reduce their practical application. For example there are thousands of cell formula types, which can make it difficult and complicated trying to set up working spreadsheets. Also creating complex worksheets is time consuming and technically challenging, with detailed programming required that often has to be implemented one cell at a time.
· Productivity – even small changes to complex spreadsheets (changing a formula or adding a new start time) can require significant manual input, and each individual change increases the risk of errors occurring. This means that updating and maintaining large spreadsheets can be labour intensive, and the risk of losing previous work by accidentally corrupting the existing worksheet is unacceptably high.

You may also encounter errors when trying to open up files with XLS file extension. This may be because you do not have the correct program (Microsoft Excel) installed on your system, or it may be a registry related error. If it is a registry problem you will need to download one of the free performance scanning programs that are widely available online, which will be able to identify where the registry error has occurred and also provide guidance on resolving the problem.

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