As you all may know, the Microsoft Windows 10 calculator software is just an ordinary scientific calculator with basic features one can find on most calculators. But the latest news is that Microsoft has decided to add the graphing feature to their upcoming calculator for Windows 10 and the project is made open-source. The Github repo can be found here, and from the look of things, it has already about 32 contributors. With this being open-source, any developer who is accustomed to the C++ programing language can contribute to the success of the project. As spotted on The Verge, the graphing mode is the first open-sourced suggestion to be chosen. It was Microsoft engineer Dave Grochocki’s idea, who suggested that students could use the graphing feature to study algebra. He pointed out that algebra is the stepping stone to more advanced mathematics and other science and engineering courses, but it’s also a class that students in the US commonly fail.
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As you all may know, the Microsoft Windows 10 calculator software is just an ordinary scientific calculator with basic features one can find on most calculators. But the latest news is that Microsoft has decided to add the graphing feature to their upcoming calculator for Windows 10 and the project is made open-source. The Github repo can be found here, and from the look of things, it has already about 32 contributors. With this being open-source, any developer who is accustomed to the C++ programing language can contribute to the success of the project.
As spotted on The Verge, the graphing mode is the first open-sourced suggestion to be chosen. It was Microsoft engineer Dave Grochocki’s idea, who suggested that students could use the graphing feature to study algebra. He pointed out that algebra is the stepping stone to more advanced mathematics and other science and engineering courses, but it’s also a class that students in the US commonly fail.
About the Microsoft Windows 10 standard calculator and features
The Windows Calculator app is a modern Windows app written in C++ that ships pre-installed with Windows. The app provides standard, scientific, and programmer calculator functionality, as well as a set of converters between various units of measurement and currencies.
Calculator ships regularly with new features and bug fixes. You can get the latest version of Calculator in the Microsoft Store.
Here are the features you will find on the current MS Calculator App;
Here are the features you will find on the current MS Calculator App;
- Standard Calculator functionality which offers basic operations and evaluates commands immediately as they are entered.
- Scientific Calculator functionality which offers expanded operations and evaluates commands using the order of operations.
- Programmer Calculator functionality which offers common mathematical operations for developers including conversion between common bases.
- Calculation history and memory capabilities.
- Conversion between many units of measurement.
- Currency conversion based on data retrieved from Bing.
About the graphing mode.
If you are a Math student or are used to drawing graphs from either linear or say quadratic equations, then you may have come across scientific calculators with a graphing mode which produces the graphical result of a math equation like quadratic equations. an example is the TI-84 Plus—A typical graphing calculator by Texas Instruments
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| The TI-84 Plus—A typical graphing calculator by Texas Instruments |
With this feature proposed by Microsoft engineer Dave Grochocki, also a member of the Windows Calculator team, the new calculator will allow users to create graphs from mathematic equations that can be represented graphically in a similar way to Matlab's plotting mode.
Reasons behind this new development.
We all know all projects are being brought to light with an objective. As for the graphing mode which is to be added to the new MS calculator in Windows 10, the developers aim at;
- Providing a great baseline graphing experience in the Windows 10 calculator
- Ability to build and interpret functions
- Understand linear, quadratic, and exponential models
- Trigonometric functions
- Reason with equations and inequalities
Advantages this will offer.
Unlike most other graphing calculators which are expensive, having software which can easily be downloaded from the MS store will be much more easily affordable by students, and this will really come in handy to boost their comprehension and mastering of algebra.
Dave Grochocki:
Graphing capabilities in their daily tools are essential for students who are beginning to explore linear algebra as early as 8th grade. [...] At present, Windows Calculator does not currently have the needed functionality to meet the demands of students
What users will be able to achieve with the new calculator.
- Users can enter an equation so that it can be viewed on the graph.
- Users can enter multiple equations so that they can compare plots against each other and see the interactions between the lines.
- Users can edit equations so that they can see how changes affect the plot and correct mistakes.
- Users can change the graph viewing window so that they can see different parts of the plot at different levels of detail.
- Users can change line visual options so that they can clearly differentiate between multiple plots.
- Users can export graphs so that they can share it with others or incorporate into Office/Teams.
- Users can easily manipulate secondary variables in equations so that they can quickly understand how changes to equations affect the graph.
- Users can see traceable key graph features (KGF) as nodes/dots on the equations, and summon other KGFs in a list so that they can better understand the important features of a given function.
- Users can trace plots so that they can better understand the relationship between variables in the equation on the graph.
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