From the earliest times of counting on our fingers and toes, to the use of the abacus to desktop calculators -- working with numbers has come a long way.

And what's more: you can ramp up your Windows XP calculator with Microsoft Calculator Plus, and run applications your old pocket calculator never dreamed of. Best of all, this utility offered from Microsoft is absolutely free!

The Calculator applet that comes with Windows XP is basically the same as the one that came with Windows 3.0. If you've always wanted an updated Calculator applet with some more advanced features, you owe it to yourself to download and install Microsoft Calculator Plus.

Microsoft Calculator Plus has a vastly improved interface over the old version, and even has a feature that allows you to see through it when it is on the screen but not the active application. If you like, you can change the interface to Classic View, so it looks just like the native Windows XP Calculator while maintaining its advanced features.

In addition to the Standard and Scientific views, Calculator Plus provides you with a very comprehensive Conversion view. There are 11 conversion categories, which include such items as Length, Volume, Weight, and even Currency.

To update the available currency values, pull down the Edit menu, and select the Import ECB Exchange Rates command. While the layout and operation of the Currency conversion feature isn't always perfect it, does work.

Keep in mind that Microsoft Calculator Plus (to download) is a free product and not officially supported by Microsoft.

This tip applies to both Windows XP Professional and Windows XP Home.

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