difference between + or = in entering a formula

[Lencastre]

Hello

I'm a long time MS Excel user and working with it on a daily basis, I
find myself puzzled with it sometimes.

For instance,... What is the difference when entering a formula with a
+ or an = sign?

For me it's a single keystroke to enter it with the + sign. And when I
do that sometimes it will just yield the result and overwrite the
formula like so:

+600/12

yields

50 both displayed in the cell and the cell's formula

whereas

=600/12

yields

=600/12 as the cell's formula and 50 displayed in the cell.

Any ideas?

TIA

Best regards
L.

PS: Prolly this is very newbie question to ask and prolly should
RTF(ine)M.

 

[Dave Peterson]

Lotus 123 liked formulas to start with some operand. Most people used +.

MS wanted to make it easy for people to dump Lotus 123 and use excel instead.
So MS decided to make it easier for those people.

I bet if you look at users who never used Lotus 123, they never/hardly ever use
that +. They'll use =.

 

[Lencastre]

Funny thing is, I've never used Lotus 123, it is just one keystroke to
type + sign and Shift+0 to type = sign. It's that faster.

Anything else? It is just weird to replace the formula for the result.
L.

 

[Dave Peterson]

On my keyboard, there is a key just for the = sign. In fact, + is shift-=.

I don't understand the comment about replacing the formula for the result.