Microsoft is working to add a graphing calculator functionality to the Windows Calculator app in Windows 10. The company open-sourced the app earlier this month, and it’s already been the most popular project on GitHub this month.
And one of the features Microsoft will be building for Windows Calculator out in the open is a Graphing Mode, as first spotted by ZDNet. The new graphing mode is being built for use in schools and for students, so they can quickly graph equations using the built-in calculator on Windows. The feature will work much like how you can turn equations into graphs within OneNote.
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The feature actually has been in development for a long while. “We have been doing various forms of prototyping and then initial ground work on this for about a year now,” a Microsoft engineer noted on GitHub. The company also shared a list of features the new Graphing Mode will provide, including the ability to enter multiple equations and compare different plots, as well as advanced exporting abilities:
Of course, building such an advanced feature into what’s meant to be a simple calculator could significantly affect the code base for the app. But it seems like Microsoft won’t be building the graphing engine for the new Graphing Mode themselves — and instead, it will use a graphing engine built by an unknown third-party to power the feature. “We are not developing the graphing engine ourselves. We will be using one developed elsewhere, and it unfortunately has restrictive licensing,” the engineer explained.
Graphing Mode in Windows Calculator will probably take months before actually shipping in Windows 10, so you will have to wait quite a while for this. We will make sure to let you know when the feature is actually useable, however.
dontbe evil
<blockquote><em><a href="#414859">In reply to locust infested orchard inc:</a></em></blockquote><p><br></p><p>still windows 10 calculator has many more features of previous ones … but it's not the point, it was never their plan to replace your casio, for that I think you can find other specific apps</p>
dontbe evil
<p>"but but UWP sucks, you cannot do anything with UWP"</p>
dontbe evil
<blockquote><em><a href="#414887">In reply to codymesh:</a></em></blockquote><p>how exactly?</p>
dontbe evil
<blockquote><em><a href="#414905">In reply to codymesh:</a></em></blockquote><p>apologies, I missed it :)</p>
skane2600
<blockquote><em><a href="#414876">In reply to dontbe_evil:</a></em></blockquote><p>"you cannot do anything with UWP" said the strawman.</p>