Editing Windows Calculator (section)

==History==
A simple arithmetic calculator was first included with [[Windows 1.0]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Windows 1.01 |url=http://toastytech.com/guis/win1012.html |access-date=2024-08-04 |website=toastytech.com}}</ref>

In [[Windows 3.0]], a scientific mode was added, which included [[exponent]]s and [[Nth root|root]]s, [[logarithm]]s, [[factorial]]-based functions, [[trigonometry]] (supports [[radian]], [[degree (angle)|degree]] and [[gradian]]s angles), base conversions (2, 8, 10, 16), logic operations, [[statistics|statistical]] functions such as single variable statistics and linear regression.

===Windows 9x and Windows NT 4.0===
Until [[Windows 95]], it uses an [[IEEE 754-1985]] [[double-precision floating-point]], and the highest representable number by the calculator is 2<sup>1024</sup>, which is slightly above 10<sup>308</sup> (≈1.80 × 10<sup>308</sup>).

In [[Windows 98]] and later, it uses an [[arbitrary-precision arithmetic]] library, replacing the standard [[IEEE]] [[floating point]] library.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://devblogs.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20040525-00/?p=39193 |title=When you change the insides, nobody notices |website=The Old New Thing|date=25 May 2004 | access-date=2007-05-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100306165045/http://blogs.msdn.com/oldnewthing/archive/2004/05/25/141253.aspx |archive-date=2010-03-06 |url-status=live }}</ref> It offers [[bignum]] precision for basic operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division) and 32 digits of precision for advanced operations ([[square root]], [[transcendental function]]s). The largest value that can be represented on the Windows Calculator is currently {{nowrap|<10<sup>10,000</sup>}} and the smallest is {{nowrap|10<sup>−9,999</sup>}}. (Also [[Factorial|!]] calculates the [[gamma function]] which is defined over all real numbers, only excluding the negative integers).

===Windows 2000, XP and Vista===
In [[Windows 2000]], [[digit grouping]] is added. Degree and base settings are added to menu bar.
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:Calculator Vista Scientific.png|thumb|Scientific mode in [[Windows Vista]]]] -->
<!-- Observation: Actually calculates beyond what is shown on display, but losing accuracy at some point. E.g. (10/3)-3,3333333333333333… shows further three's, but when continuing to do that, at some point, it starts to deviate into a presumably irrational number with random digits.  -->

The calculators of [[Windows XP]] and [[Windows Vista|Vista]] were able to calculate using numbers beyond 10<sup>10000</sup>, but calculating with these numbers (e.g. 10^2^2^2^2^2^2^2...) does increasingly slow down the calculator and make it unresponsive until the calculation has been completed.

Unlike later versions, calculating with [[Binary number|binary]]/[[decimal]]/[[hexadecimal]]/[[octal]] numbers is included into scientific mode.

===Windows 7===
In [[Windows 7]], separate programmer, statistics, unit conversion, date calculation, and worksheets modes were added. Tooltips were removed. Furthermore, Calculator's interface was revamped for the first time since its introduction. The base conversion functions were moved to the programmer mode and statistics functions were moved to the statistics mode. Switching between modes does not preserve the current number, clearing it to 0.

The highest number is now limited to 10<sup>10000</sup> again.

In every mode except programmer mode, one can see the history of calculations. The app was redesigned to accommodate [[multi-touch]]. Standard mode behaves as a simple checkbook calculator; entering the sequence <kbd>6 * 4 + 12 / 4 - 4 * 5</kbd> gives the answer 25. In scientific mode, [[order of operations]] is followed while doing calculations (multiplication and division are done before addition and subtraction), which means <kbd>6 * 4 + 12 / 4 - 4 * 5</kbd> = <samp>7</samp>.

In programmer mode, inputting a number in decimal has a lower and upper limit, depending on the data type, and must always be an integer. Data type of number in decimal mode is signed n-bit<ref>Where n is either: 8 for Byte, 16 for Word, 32 for Dword, or 64 for Qword.</ref> integer when converting from number in hexadecimal, octal, or binary mode.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:right"
|-
! Data type !! Data type size !! Lower limit !! Upper limit
|-
! Byte  
|  8 bit&emsp; || &minus;128 || 127
|-
! Word  
| 16 bit&emsp; || &minus;32,768 || 32,767
|-
! Dword 
| 32 bit&emsp; || &minus;2,147,483,648 || 2,147,483,647
|-
! Qword 
| 64 bit&emsp; || &minus;9,223,372,036,854,775,808 || 9,223,372,036,854,775,807
|}
On the right side of the main Calculator{{Clarify|reason=What does it mean by "the right side"?|date=May 2024}}, one can add a panel with date calculation, unit conversion and worksheets. Worksheets allow one to calculate a result of a chosen field based on the values of other fields. Pre-defined templates include calculating a car's fuel economy (mpg and L/100&nbsp;km),<ref>[http://malektips.com/windows-7-calculate-fuel-economy.html Calculate Fuel Economy - Windows 7 (MalekTips)]</ref> a vehicle lease, and a mortgage. In pre-beta versions of Windows 7, Calculator also provided a Wages template.

===Windows 8.1===
While the traditional Calculator is still included with [[Windows 8.1]], a [[Metro (design language)|Metro-style]] Calculator is also present, featuring a full-screen interface as well as normal, scientific, and conversion modes.<ref name=pt-81utility>{{cite web|title=Hands-On with Windows 8.1: New Utility Apps|url=http://winsupersite.com/windows-8/hands-windows-81-new-utility-apps|work=Paul Thurrott's Supersite for Windows|access-date=September 24, 2013}}</ref>

===Windows 10===
The Calculator in [[Windows 10 editions#Release branches|non-LTSC editions]] of [[Windows 10]] is a [[Universal Windows Platform app]]. In contrast, Windows 10 LTSC (which does not include universal Windows apps) includes the traditional calculator, but which is now named {{code|win32calc.exe}}. Both calculators provide the features of the traditional calculator included with Windows 7 and Windows 8.x, such as unit conversions for volume, length, weight, temperature, energy, area, speed, time, power, data, pressure and angle, and the history list which the user can clear.

Both the universal Windows app and LTSC's {{code|win32calc.exe}} register themselves with the system as handlers of a '{{code|calculator:}}' pseudo-protocol.<!-- i.e. both register a programmatic identifier (ProgID) and link to it from their respective 'Capabilities\URLAssociations' registrations (which in turn are pointed to from the {user|machine}\Software\RegisteredApplications registries).--> This registration is similar to that performed by any other well-behaved application when it registers itself as a handler for a filetype (e.g. {{code|.jpg}}) or protocol (e.g. {{code|http:}}).

All Windows 10 editions (both LTSC and non-LTSC) continue to have a {{code|calc.exe}}, which however is just a stub that launches (via ShellExecute) the handler that is associated with the '{{code|calculator:}}' pseudo-protocol. As with any other protocol or filetype, when there are multiple handlers to choose from, users are free to choose which handler they prefer{{mdash}} either via the classic control panel ('Default programs' settings) or the immersive UI settings ('Default Apps' settings) or from the command prompt via {{code|OpenWith calculator:}}.

In the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update, a currency converter mode was added to Calculator.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Blog |first1=Windows Experience |last2=Pidgeon |first2=Elana |date=2017-12-28 |title=Windows 10 Tip: Travel easier with the built-in currency converter |url=https://blogs.windows.com/windowsexperience/2017/12/28/windows-10-tip-travel-easier-built-currency-converter/ |access-date=2024-08-04 |website=Windows Experience Blog |language=en-US}}</ref>

On 6 March 2019, Microsoft released the [[source code]] for Calculator on [[GitHub]] under the [[MIT License]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.zdnet.com/article/microsoft-is-open-sourcing-windows-calculator-on-github/|title=Microsoft is open-sourcing Windows Calculator on GitHub|last=Foley|first=Mary Jo|author-link=Mary Jo Foley|date=6 March 2019|website=ZDNet|access-date=6 March 2019}}</ref>

=== Windows 11 ===
In Windows 11, the Calculator app's user interface was modified to match the design of Windows 11 and a new settings page is present for users to toggle between the themes of the app without changing the operating system's theme. In 2021, Microsoft announced it would migrate the codebase of the Calculator app to [[C Sharp (programming language)|C#]] in order to welcome more developers to contribute to the app.